Sunday, October 28, 2007

HALLOWEEN SUPERSTITIONS


Have you had enough of my posts about old Halloween customs? No, Okay, here are a few more.

I wrote in a previous post about divinations and fortune telling. Here are some images of Halloween superstitions. One of the most common superstitions at the turn of the century and into the 1910s and 20s was the idea that if you stood in a darkened room on Halloween night holding a candle before a mirror, you would see the face of your beloved.


In a variation of the candle/mirror superstition, the lady had to walk backward downstairs in order for the trick to work. That must have been hard when wearing a long dress!

Irish and Scottish superstitions focused around learning the attributes of your future spouse by pulling vegetables from the garden. In Scotland, young people were blindfolded and taken into the garden at midnight to pull kale. In Ireland, they pulled cabbages. By looking at the vegetables' roots they could tell if their intended would be short and stunted, tall and healthy or withered and old!



The boy and girl cabbages seem happy,
but what about the guys (?) in the background?


Here, a lady pulls a beet for divination,
with the help of a little imp.


A lady uses a wishbone and pumpkin seeds
marked with the letters L-O-V-E
to see her true love coming first through the door.


I've already posted about throwing an apple peel over your shoulder to determine the initial of your beloved. However, this card is so pretty I couldn't resist showing it. Here, a man is allowed in the game. I hope his name is Steve or Sam, not Dick or Dan!

7 comments:

  1. I love history and lore. These old vintage cards and all the information are so cool!!! Also loved the Fairy Halloween cards on the last post.
    :-)

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  2. I love old postcards and these are wonderful. Plus I'm learning so much about Halloween that I never knew before! Thanks!

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  3. It's interesting to read about all the old Halloween customs and the vintage postcards are great.

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  4. I did the candle in front of the face bit when I was a teenager.. didn't look much like any of my husbands but it was pretty scary hee hee xo

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  5. These old cards are wonderful Julie. Love reading the old lore.

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  6. Love the postcards, especially the lady pulling the beet ..... wonder how many accidents there were going down those stairs @}@

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