The Washington times., 1901-10-27
SOME HALLOWEEN SPELLS
Legends of Supernatural Aid Sc
cured on the Mystic Night.
The Time When Spirits Walk and
Ecrie Things Are Abroad-The
Sports and Old Customs INDUCED
INA Strange Incident Related.

The near approach of al HnlIows
Eve, or Halloween. calls On mind the
ancient superstition hat have made
this night the period pa- exec ence
when spirits walk abroad and airy
takes, and witch hath ver 10 charm.
The quaint old customs imported into
this country from En- sua Ireland. and
Scotland, wherewith been usual
from time immemo ta celebrate
Halloween, are fast wing luL These
time honored custons combined I'm a
whimsical manner innocent amusement
with kind of temp,ing ~ The iuhu-
ences of the neither worlL laat gave 10
them a fascination am cad atuac-
tiveness peculiarly Their .Hr For a
description of these fam 40 obssr-
vances of Halloween, ~ + heir glolr,
the curious may consu HIrus caIs-
brated poem. But, le the ias t
should prove too much ..- arI-
can reader, more expli i- i'd
| and picturesque, account OF E-e
! quaint ceremonies may b- 1ar. set
| down.
The sport of ducking for apple al-
! belt in no way connected with the un-
seen world, appears to have survived
longest, as it has always perhaps been
most popular, with children at least.
AS is doubtless well known, the apples
are simply set ahoat in a tub of water,
| into which the Juveniles. by turns, duck
their heads with the view of catching
an apple. Great fun goes on in watch
ing the attempts of the youngsters in
| the pursuit of the swimming fruit,
which wriggles from side to side of the
! tub. and evades all attempts to capture
it; while the disappointed aspirant is
Obliged to abandon the chase in favor
of another whose turn has now arrived.
The apples provided with stems are
generally caught first. and then comes
the tug of war to win those which pos
sess no such appendages. Some com
petitors will deftly suck up the apple. if
a small one. into their mouths. Others
plunge manfully overhead in pursuit of
a particular apple, and, having forced
it to the bottom of the tub, seize it
firmly with their teeth, and emerge
dripping and triumphant with their
prize This venturous procedure is gem
orally rewarded with hurrah by the
lookers-on, and is recommended by
those versed in Halloween aquatics as
the only certain method Of achieving
success. In recent years practice has
been introduced, probably by some So
licitous parents. timorous on the subject
Of their children catching cold. of drop
ping fork from a height into the tub
among the apples. and thus turning the
sport into display of craftsmanship.
1t is said, however to form but an in
different substitute for the joyous mer-
riment of ducking and diving.
Those ceremonies wherein the influ-
ence of the supernatural is evoked are |
perhaps, seldom praeticed nowadays, |
though the sec recy which is enjoined in |
their performance precludes any GER |
tain statement, or even reasonable con- |
lecture. on this point. Even the most |
nervous maid might be tempted, for in
stance. in. the dead of night and all |
alone. to eat an apple before a looking |
glass. with a view of discovering an |
image OF her future husband over her |
shoulder. i should be mentioned, how
ever that there are several well-authen-
ticated instances on record of persons
who, either from the effects of their
own imagination or some thoughtless
practical joke, sustained such severe
nervous shocks while essaying these
Halloween spells, as to seriously inn
peril their health.
Another of these, what may perhaps
be termed unhallowed, rites of All Hal
lows Eve. is to wet a shirtsleeve, hang |
1t up to the fire to dry, and lie in bed |
watching 1t till midnight, when the APP
partition of the individuals future life
partner will come in and turn the
sleeve. Burns thus alluies to the prac-
tice in one Of his songs:
The last Halloween / was wankin'
Ny drunkit Cart-sleeve, We ken;
His likeness cam up the house stlnkin,
And the very gray breeks o Tam Glen!'
Other rites for the invocation of
spirits might be cited. such as the sow
ing of hemp seed, and the winnowing of
three wechts of nothing, that is, repeat
ing three times the action of exposing
corn to the wind. In all of these the
effect sought 70 be produced is the same
the appearance of the future husband
/
scription of them will be found in the
poem of Burns before mentioned. 1t
may be remarked that an ancient pOpu-
lar belief ascribes TO children born on
Halloween the possession of certain
mysterious faculties, such as that of
and holding converse with
beings. 1t will be recol-
ected that Sir Walter Scott makes use
# this circumstance in his romance of
The Monastery"
The following curious and well au
.henticated story which was narrated
BY thoroughly credible person may
appropriately be cited as a remarkable
tribute to the genuineness of certain
phases of the supernatural, as mani
,ested at least to the favored few, on
Halloween:
MIR. and Mrs. NJ. were happy young
couple who, in the middle of the eight
.enth century, resided on their own es-
ate in a pleasant part of the province
If Leinster, in ireland. Enjoying a
handsome competence, they spent their
ime in various rural occupations, and
he birth of a little girl promised to
.rOwn their felicity and provide them
With an object of perpetual interest. {
IN the Halloween following this last
vent the parents retired to rest at their
usual hour Mrs. NJ. having her infant {
m her arm, so that she might be reused 9
W the slightest uneasiness it might ex J
lihit From teething or some other all {
nent the child, about midnight. became c