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Saint Patrick’s Day

Superstitions — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:25:01 +0000

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17th. It is an Irish Holiday, and is widely celebrated in America, regardless of one’s ancestry. To the Irish, it is a day to commemorate the Patron Saint of Ireland, St. Patrick.

All children should wear green on St. Patrick’s Day for good luck. If you don’t wear green, beware! You might get pinched by someone else as a kind of playful punishment for not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day.

There are several superstitions associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Leprechauns, or lobairein which means small bodied fellow, are little men (about as tall as a pencil) who live in the mountains of Ireland. They live alone in the forest and make shoes for a living. If you can catch one, he will give you a pot of gold or he will grant you good luck for the rest of the day for his release.

The music of the Leprechauns is very bewitching to anyone who hears it.

If you find a four leaf clover, and keeps it with you, then you will have very good luck.

Romantic minded Irish are in search of the Blarney stone. The Irish legend says an old women was drowning. A king saved her and the woman cast a spell on a stone to reward the king. The stone is set in the wall of the Blarney Castle. A kiss of this stone brings the kisser the gift of persuasive talk. The kisser is then able to speak in a sweet and convincingly manner to get what ever he wants. Talking blarney is a saying that accompanies a person who can convince you of almost anything.

Reference:
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Valentine’s Day History, Legends & Superstitions

Superstitions — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:42:11 +0000

St. Valentine, as he has become known, was a Catholic priest in Rome during the times of Emperor Claudius II. Claudius, who was known in his times as “Claudius the Cruel” had decreed that men were no longer allowed to marry. It was Claudius’s belief that single, men without families were the best soldiers. Valentine found this law absurd and went against the law, marrying couples in secret. This was soon discovered by Claudius II and Valentine was taken to prison and ordered beheaded.

It is said that in his final days in prison, Valentine wrote a letter to his jail keepers daughter who had been visiting him during his imprisonment. He signed the letter, “From your Valentine”. This is what is now thought of as the first Valentine card. St. Valentine is said to have died on February 14th and this is why we celebrate the holiday on this day. Others say it was in conjunction of the belief in Roman times that birds picked their mates on February 14th. Valentines cards, as we know them today, are said to have been around since the Victorian Era. Originally they were all handmade and decorated with pictures of hearts, flowers, birds and LOTS of lace. Traditionally they were also sent anonymously, even going as far as to go to another town so that they receiver of the card would not know where it was mailed from.

Throughout time, romantics throughout the world have had different legends pop up, all basically with the same end result, discovering your future mate’s identity. In England many traditions have been practiced. Ladies were supposed to pin bay leaves to her pillow on the Eve of St. Valentine’s Day. If she did this she was believed to see her future mate in her dreams that night. Another Valentines Day tradition occurred a hundred of years ago where children would dress up as adults and go door to door singing a Valentine song to celebrate the holiday. In Wales, people carve wooden spoons and embellish them with ornate keys, key holes and hearts, this symbolically meaning, “unlock my heart”. These spoons would be given to the valentines as gifts.

There are numerous superstitions that have been passed on through generations but here are just a few:

If a woman sees a Robyn flying over head on Valentines Day she will marry a sailor. If she sees a sparrow, she will marry a poor man, but be happy. If she sees a GoldFinch, she will marry a millionaire.
The 1st name you hear or read on Valentine’s Day will be the name of your future mate.
In Great Britain, a woman would write down the names of her sweethearts’ on pieces of paper and attach them to clay balls. She would then drop the balls into water and the first name that surfaced would be her destined future husband.

From the Middle Ages, women would write their names on pieces of paper and they would be put into a jar. If their name was drawn by an eligible man he would take her paper and pin it on his sleeve for the week and he would be her Valentine. This is where it is believed the phrase “Wearing one’s heart on his sleeve” comes from.

In England, if a young women was curious enough, and brave enough, she could summon the appearance of her future spouse by visiting a graveyard at midnight on the Eve of St. Valentines Day and singing a prescribed song while running around a church 12 times

New Year’s Superstitions

Superstitions — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:08:58 +0000

What you do the first hour of the New Year will be what you do most of the year.

Changing your undershirt or underwear on New Year’s Day can cause boils.

It is believed that babies born on New Year are extremely fortunate and lucky. It is said that babies born on the first day of the New Year will have good luck in their life and bring good luck to the family they are born in.

We kiss those dearest to us at midnight not only to share a moment of celebration with our favorite people, but also to ensure those affections and ties will continue throughout the next twelve months. To fail to smooch our significant others at the stroke of twelve would be to set the stage for a year of coldness.

Make sure to do — and be successful at — something related to your work on the first day of the year, even if you don’t go near your place of employment that day. Limit your activity to a token amount, though, because to engage in a serious work project on that day is very unlucky.

At midnight, all the doors of a house must be opened to let the old year escape unimpeded. He must leave before the New Year can come in, says popular wisdom, so doors are flung open to assist him in finding his way out.

According to widespread superstition, evil spirits and the Devil himself hate loud noise. We celebrate by making as much of a din as possible not just as an expression of joy at having a new year at our disposal, but also to make sure Old Scratch and his minions don’t stick around. (Church bells are rung on a couple’s wedding day for the same reason.)

At midnight on Dec. 31, Buddhist temples strike their gongs 108 times, in a effort to expel 108 types of human weakness.

Italian people welcome the New Year in an extremely interesting way, by tossing old things out of their windows! Old things are tossed out in an effort to make room for the new and lucky to enter their households and lives in the year to come.

Food Superstitions:

In parts of the South, it’s traditional to eat hog jowl and black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day in order to bring good fortune.
The Pennsylvania Dutch eat sauerkraut to get rich.
A tradition common to the southern states of the USA dictates that the eating of black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day will attract both general good luck and money in particular to the one doing the dining. Some choose to add other Southern fare to this tradition, but the black-eyed peas are key.
Also from the south comes the custom of eating greens such as cabbage, collard greens, mustard greens, kale or spinach to bring money.
One more from the Southerners: eating cornbread will bring wealth.
Hoppin’ John is a traditional New Year’s Day dish in the South. Legend has it that it must be eaten before noon to guarantee good luck.
In some families, a coin is buried in the rice and peas just before serving, ensuring a fortunate year for the finder.
Eat black eyed peas and greens (spinach will work) on New Year’s Day — the peas are for good luck, the greens are for fortune (money!).
Food which should be consumed on New Years Eve is lentil soup and pork. These foods are considered ‘lucky’.
Chicken should not be eaten on the first day of the year or you will have financial difficulties for the rest of the year
Spanish Tradition: Twelve grapes are eaten at midnight, each grape symbolizing a different month. If your grapes are very sweet, then it means that specific month will also be sweet and pleasant. If your grapes turn out sour, then you know the month will also be sour, so hope that the grapes are sweet!
Pennsylvania Dutch New Year’s Superstitions:

To keep yourself healthy in the New Year, eat smoked sausage.
For good luck in the New Year, eat boiled cabbage.
For overall good health, wealth and happiness in the New Year, you should eat pork and sauerkraut.

Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes “coming full circle,” completing a year’s cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year’s Day will bring good fortune.
Cabbage is another “good luck” vegetable that is consumed on New Year’s Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency
In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year’s Day.
In Greece, One of the traditional foods served is Vassilopitta, or St Basil’s cake. A silver or gold coin is baked inside the cake. Whoever finds the coin in their piece of cake will be especially lucky during the coming year.
The Italian people eat a traditional New Year dish called cotechino con lenticchie: pork sausage served over lentils. This New Year food is eaten because of the presence of fatty rich pork sausage and lentils in it. Cotechino sausage is a symbol of abundance because they are rich in fat; while lentils symbolize money (being both green and coin shaped). This New Year food promises a double-packs of luck!

Weather Conditions on New Years Day say:

A windless New Year’s day indicates a dry summer;
A decent breeze foretells a good summer rain fall;
Floods will occur if the first day of the year is violently windy.
Examine the weather in the early hours of New Year’s Day.
If the wind blows from the south, there will be fine weather and prosperous times in the year ahead.
If it comes from the north, it will be a year of bad weather.
The wind blowing from the east brings famine and calamities.
Strangest of all, if the wind blows from the west, the year will witness plentiful supplies of milk and fish but will also see the death of a very important person.
If there’s no wind at all, a joyful and prosperous year may be expected by all.

House Cleaning and Household Chores:

Whatever a person does on this day will influence his activity for the rest of the year. Therefore to wash clothes will bring a year of hard
work. Washing may also cause a relative’s death.
In Tennessee, it’s said if you wash your clothes on New Year’s Day, you’ll wash someone out of your family.
From Hawaii: Don’t sweep the house on New Year’s Day.
German farmers say livestock will be safe from witches if the stables are cleaned between Christmas and the New Year.
Certain tasks were not to be done between Christmas and New Year’s Day–among them were knitting, sewing and doing the family laundry.
You clean your house before christmas and you don’t have time to clean it til after New Year’s — so no sweeping good luck out the door.
Do not wash dishes and do the laundry or there could be a death in your house that year. The theory behind it being that as you wash the dishes or laundry, you ‘wash away’ the person.

Also, do not do the laundry on New Year’s Day, lest a member of the family be ‘washed away’ (die) in the upcoming months. The more cautious eschew even washing dishes.

More New Year’s Do’s and Don’ts

DO:
To assure good luck for the New Year, one should sleep with a horseshoe under his pillow on New Year’s Eve.
All doors and windows must be opened at midnight to let out the old year. Keep doors and windows open at midnight to let the old year leave and usher in the fresh New Year.
Make lots of noise to scare away the evil spirits lurking around. People celebrate by bursting loud crackers to scare away the devils. Evil spirits hate loud noise and hence people explode fireworks and cheer aloud to send the evil spirits away. This is also the reason that church bells are rung at midnight, to ring in the New Year free from evil spirits.
It is believed that if you wear new clothes on the first day of the year, you will get many more new clothes during the year.

DON’T:
Do not break anything on this day as it sets the pattern for the entire year. Breaking things on this day is considered a bad omen as it signals destruction in the coming year. So be careful!
Crying on the first day of the year must be avoided. One must always be happy and in good spirits on New Year’s day. If you cry on New Years’ for a sad reason you will have sadness all throughout the year.

Stocking Up:

The new year must not be seen in with bare cupboards, lest that be the way of things for the year. Larders must be topped up and plenty of money must be placed in every wallet in the home to guarantee prosperity.

First Footing:

The first person to enter your home after the stroke of midnight will influence the year you’re about to have. Ideally, he should be dark-haired, tall, and good-looking, and it would be even better if he came bearing certain small gifts such as a lump of coal, a silver coin, a bit of bread, a sprig of evergreen, and some salt. Blonde and redhead first footers bring bad luck, and female first footers should be shooed away before they bring disaster down on the household. Don’t let a woman near your door before a man crosses the threshold.

A southern US superstitions says that your first guest of the year is a sign of the marriage balance for the coming year. If a man walks thru the front door first on New Year’s Day then the husband has more umph for the year, if a woman, than the wife.

The first footer (sometimes called the “Lucky Bird”) should knock and be let in rather than unceremoniously use a key, even if he is one of the householders. After greeting those in the house and dropping off whatever small tokens of luck he has brought with him, he should make his way through the house and leave by a different door than the one through which he entered. No one should leave the premises before the first footer arrives — the first traffic across the threshold must be headed in rather than striking out.

First footers must not be cross-eyed or have flat feet or eyebrows that meet in the middle.

Nothing prevents the cagey householder from stationing a dark-haired man outside the home just before midnight to ensure the speedy arrival of a suitable first footer as soon as the chimes sound. If one of the partygoers is recruited for this purpose, impress upon him the need to slip out quietly just prior to the witching hour.

Nothing Goes Out:

Nothing — absolutely nothing, not even garbage — is to leave the house on the first day of the year. If you’ve presents to deliver on New Year’s Day, leave them in the car overnight. Don’t so much as shake out a rug or take the empties to the recycle bin.

Some people soften this rule by saying it’s okay to remove things from the home on New Year’s Day provided something else has been brought in first. This is similar to the caution regarding first footers; the year must begin with something’s being added to the home before anything subtracts from it.

One who lives alone might place a lucky item or two in a basket that has a string tied to it, then place the basket just outside the front door before midnight. After midnight, the lone celebrant hauls in his catch, being careful to bring the item across the door jamb by pulling the string rather than by reaching out to retrieve it and thus breaking the plane of the threshold.

Money:

Do not pay back loans or lend money or other precious items on New Year’s Day. To do so is to guarantee you’ll be paying out all year.
Keeping your purses and wallets full of money, and keeping cupboards stocked with food is said to bring prosperity and luck in the New Year.
Pay away all your debts before New Year’s Eve as the New Year should not begin with the household in debt. Clear away all your loans, bills and debts so that you do not have any debts left for New Year.
Do not also lend money or other precious items on this day as that would mean a year spent loaning out money.

References:
pinkfreud-ga
indiaparenting.com
pnwlocalnews.com

Christmas Superstitions

Superstitions — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:17:32 +0000

Mistletoe should never be brought into the home before New Years Eve. It’s unlucky to take down mistletoe used as a Christmas decoration. Therefore, the dead piece of twig is supposed to stay there until next Christmas when it is replaced. When the old piece was taken down, it then had to be burnt by an unmarried girl or else those who kissed beneath it would become enemies.

On Christmas morning the first person down the stairs must quickly open the front door and sweep trouble out the door.

At midnight on Christmas Eve, all water turns to wine, cattle kneel facing toward the East, horses kneel and blow as if to warm the manger, animals can speak but it is bad for a human to hear them, and the bees hum the Hundredth Psalm.

If you can find a kneeling donkey on Christmas Eve, and make the sign of the cross on its back, you will get your heart’s desire.

The Irish believe that the gates of heaven open at midnight on Christmas Eve. Those who die at that time go straight through without having to wait in purgatory.

Hay carried around a church three times on Christmas Eve was said to ensure that cattle would fatten easier on less feed in the year to come.

The weather on each of the twelve days of Christmas signifies what the weather will be on the appropriate month of the coming year.

There is a game in Germany where they blindfold a goose. The girls make a circle around the goose and whoever it touches first will be the first to get married.

Place a branch of a cherry tree in water at the beginning of advent. It will bring luck if it flowers by Christmas.

Tie wet bands of straw around fruit trees to make them fruitful, or tie a stone to a branch on Christmas Eve.

Nothing sown on Christmas Eve will perish, even if the seed is sown in the snow.

Never launder a Christmas present before giving it to its recipient as this takes out the good luck.

To avoid toothaches and fevers in the coming year, tradition says you should bathe on Christmas Day.

Christmas Food Superstitions:

If you carry in your pocket a scale from a fish eaten at Christmas, your purse will be full all year.
A loaf of bread left on the table after Christmas Eve dinner will ensure no lack of bread for the next year.
If an apple is eaten at midnight on Christmas Eve, good health will follow for a year.
One portion of the Christmas cake must be saved for Christmas day, and one for New Year’s or bad luck will come the following year.
Christmas cake must also not be cut before Christmas Eve.
Stirring Christmas pudding will bring you good luck, a wish, and if you are a female a husband within the year.
As many pies as your try at different homes will be the number of happy months to come. Cutting the pie you eat yourself however is bad luck.
You will have as many happy months in the coming year, as the number of houses you eat mince pies in during Christmastime. It’s bad luck if you cut the pie yourself.

Christmas Birthday

It is considered very lucky to be born on Christmas Eve or Christmas day in most countries.
In Greece the child born on Christmas is feared to be a Kallikantzaroi or a wandering spirit.
In Poland the child may turn out to be a werewolf.
People born on Christmas are considered either fortunate, as they supposedly cannot be drowned or hanged, or unfortunate, because they are more likely to be able to see ghosts and spirits.
Those who are born on Christmas Eve turn into ghosts on that day every year while they sleep. If you were born on Christmas Eve and don’t want to have this happen to you, the remedy is to count the holes in a sieve from 11 o’clock on Christmas Eve until morning.

Christmas Superstitions About Shoes:

You should never give shoes as a Christmas gift as you are giving the recipient the means to walk away from you.
You should burn your old shoes during the Christmas season in Greece to prevent misfortunes in the coming year.
An English superstition says that if you don’t give a pair of shoes to a poor person at least once in your lifetime, you will enter the next world barefoot. This leads to an influx of shoes being donated to charity shops at Christmas time.
An unmarried girl throws a shoe over her shoulder towards a door at Christmas. If it lands with the toes pointing towards the door, she will marry within the next year.
To prevent quarrelling on Christmas day family members must place their shoes side by side Christmas Eve. It is bad luck to test this Christmas superstition!

Christmas Candles – It’s unlucky to light a Yule Candle before super on Christmas. It’s also unlucky to buy your own Yule candle or to snuff it before Christmas Eve ends, it should be left to burn itself out. If the candle is disturbed or snuffed out, back luck will befall the household. A portion of the candle should be kept to light the following years candle for good luck. A candle or lamp must be burned all night on Christmas Eve or there will be a death in the home. A steady flame is said to indicate a happy marriage and wedded bliss, a spluttering flame meant a bad tempered husband and a tempestuous relationship.

Good luck on Christmas:

The first person to hear the rooster crow on Christmas Day is assured of good luck (and, in Ireland, is due a cup of whiskey or tea).
wishing someone a Merry Christmas before putting on your socks and shoes,
sneezing
eating breakfast by candlelight,
hearing a cricket chirp,
kissing the oldest person in the house,
giving coins to a beggar
stirring the Christmas pudding.
The first person to open the door on Christmas will have good luck.

Bad Luck on Christmas:

Singing Christmas carols at any time other than during the festive season is unlucky.
Wearing a new pair of shoes on Christmas day is said to bring unprecedented bad luck.
picking up nuts or fruit from the ground
leaving the dinner table before everyone has finished
sending carolers away without giving them any money
being the first one home from church
carrying a spinning wheel from one side of the house to another
stepping on cotton thread
receiving a present of new shoes or tanned leather
If you eat nuts without honey on Christmas Day, you will lose your teeth.
On Christmas Eve it is unlucky to spin or sew, to grind grain, or to leave the dishes unwashed.
It is bad luck to let any fire go out in your house during the Christmas season. The fire in your fireplace must continue to burn for the twelve days of Christmas.
If you do not eat plum pudding during the season, you will have bad luck for a year.
If you refuse mince pie at Christmas dinner, you will have bad luck for a year.

A Season of Predictions
Snow on Christmas means Easter will be green.

Whatever you dream on any of the 12 nights between Christmas and Epiphany (Jan. 6) will come to pass within the next year. The weather for the whole year is also determined during this time: as the weather is on each of these days, so will it be on the corresponding month of the following year. If you really want to know the rainfall for the next year, you can hollow out 12 onions, putting salt into each. Each onion is named after a month of the year, and there will be rain in every month where the salt in that onion is wet. And if Christmas Day falls on a Thursday, the following year will be windy.

To predict the next year’s harvest, count the stars on Christmas Eve, and there will be as many sheaves as you have counted stars. If the sun shines through the limbs of the apple trees on Christmas Day, there will be a good crop of fruit next year. But if there’s a full moon on Christmas, the following harvest will be scanty.

At Christmas women can also predict the course of their love life (not many spouse-finding superstitions work for men). Young women who go out and hit pigs with a stick at Christmas can tell the age of their husbands-to-be: if the first pig that squeals is old, that means an old husband; a squealing young pig equals a young husband. If there’s a henhouse handy, a woman can knock on its door between 11 and 12 on Christmas night. If a rooster answers her knock, she will be married, but if her knocking is followed by silence, she will never marry. Looking into a well on Christmas Eve will show the destined husband – the same can be determined by throwing a ball of yarn in the air at midnight on Christmas Eve; the arrangement of the yarn on the ground will look like the future husband’s face. If you’re unmarried and no one kisses you under the mistletoe at Christmas, you won’t marry during the following year.

The last day to indulge your Christmastime superstition is Candlemas (Feb. 2). Christmas decorations must be entirely taken down before the twelfth night after Christmas or goblins and bad luck will come. But be careful what you burn: it’s unlucky to burn Christmas greenery (except for mistletoe). Every leaf left up after Candlemas will result in either a goblin seen or a death in the house during the year.

Superstitions About Christmas Trees (from this article)
Long before anyone set up the first Christmas tree, people brought winter greenery into their homes. The superstition was that if you forgot this custom, spring might forget to return next season! Of course, that’s not the only magic of the tree: winter greenery is thought to keep away witches, spirits, and other evil forces.

People would actually decorate greenery long before Christmas superstitions came about, but they’d decorate the bushes outside their homes. Why? Because they figured those evil spirits were looking for shelter and they didn’t want them moving into their homes.

In Europe, the Christmas tree should never be brought into the house before Christmas Eve. Any trees in the house before then were thought to have evil spirits hiding in them to invade the households. The trees that were left outdoors until Christmas Eve were purified by the holy night.

There are enough Christmas superstitions about the Yule log to fill their own book — but one of the sweetest says that if you want good luck, you should cut the Yule log from this year’s tree and let it cure until next Christmas. Of course, if you let that log go out during the twelve days of Christmas you’re ruined: bad luck for the rest of the year. Keep adding wood but make sure a section of the original Yule log keeps burning. The yule log should be lit by a piece of the log used on the previous Christmas. Once that is done, no evil spirit can then enter into the house. The remains of the Yule log were also considered lucky, and would be a protection against lightning or fire.

In the Netherlands they take a fir stick and thrust it into the fire and let it burn partially. They put it under the bed. This serves as lightening protection.

The original candles were placed on trees to frighten away the devil and evil spirits long before the tree was called a “Christmas tree.” Romans started this tradition, and they took it a step further by attaching pieces of metal so the added reflections would further terrify those evil presences.

If you’ve ever seen apple decorations on a tree, you probably didn’t realize they were part of Christmas superstitions. In the eleventh century, before the official “Christmas tree” as we know it, people would decorate trees with apples on Christmas eve to encourage luck and plenty in the coming year.

A Christmas tree should never be thrown out doors or it will attract evil spirits and goblins. Christmas trees should be burned.

Failing to decorate a Christmas Tree will cause spring to never come, but bad luck and evil spirits instead.

Halloween Superstitions and Origins

Superstitions — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 06:05:00 +0000

Halloween derives its name from the fact that in the Christian calendar it occurs the day before ‘All Saints’ or All Hallows’ Day. It was the last night of the old year according to the ancient calendar of the Celts. On that night it was said that the witches, hobgoblins, warlocks, and other evil spirits walked abroad and devoted themselves to wicked revels. But the good fairies, too, according to some folklore, made their appearance at this time, but only from the hour of dusk until midnight.

Happy Halloween!

It began as a Celtic end-of-summer festival during which people felt especially close to deceased relatives and friends. For these friendly spirits, they set places at the dinner table, left treats on doorsteps and along the side of the road and lit candles to help loved ones find their way back to the spirit world.

If you hear foot steps behind you on this night, don’t look back. It may be the dead following you. Turning back could mean that you will soon join the dead.

Girls who carry a lamp to a spring of water on this night can see their future husband in the reflection.

Girls who carry a broken egg in a glass to a spring of water (during the day) can not only see their future husband by mixing some of the spring water into the glass, but she can also see a glimpse of her future children.

Girls should go into a field and there scatter the seed of hemp. While they did so they chanted “Hempseed I sow thee Come after me and show me”. Upon suddenly turning round, it was declared that each girl would see a vision of the man who would be her husband.

To find out of your lover is true. select one of the letters which you have received from your sweetheart, especially one which contains a particularly passionate and important declaration; lay it wide open upon a table and then fold it nine times. Pin the folds together, place the letter in your left-hand glove, and slip it under your pillow. If on that night you dream of silver, gems, glass, castles or clear water, your lover is true and his declarations are genuine; if you dream of linen, storms, fire, wood, flowers, or he is saluting you, he is false and has been deceiving you.

Mashed potatoes offer a method of divining who will be the first to wed. Into the heap of mashed potatoes a ring, a three penny-bit, a button, a heart-shaped charm, a shell and a key are inserted. Then all the lights in the room are turned out, and each guest, armed with a spoon or fork, endeavors to find the hidden charms. The one who finds the ring win marry first; the three penny-bit signifies wealth; the button, bachelorhood or spinsterhood; the heart, passionate love; the shell, long journeys; the key, great success and power.

The old Celtic custom was to light great bonfires on Halloween, and after these had burned out to make a circle of the ashes of each fire. Within this circle, and near the circumference, each member of the various families that had helped to make a fire would place a pebble. If, on the next day, any stone was out of its place, or had been damaged, it was held to be an indication that the one to whom the stone belonged would die within twelve months.

Peel an apple from top to bottom. The person with the longest unbroken peel would be assured the longest life. If you threw the apple peel over your shoulder, the initial it forms upon landing is the initial of your future mate.

When bobbing for apples, it is believed that the first person to bite an apple would be the first to marry.

If you go to a crossroads at Halloween and listen to the wind, you will learn all the most important things that will befall you during the next twelve months.

A person born on Halloween can see and talk to spirits

To prevent ghosts coming into the house at Halloween, bury animal bones or a picture of an animal near the doorway.

If a girl puts a sprig of rosemary herb and a silver sixpence under her pillow on Halloween night, she will see her future husband in a dream.

In Britain, people believed that the Devil was a nut-gatherer. At Halloween, nuts were used as magic charms.

Some believe if you catch a snail on Halloween night and lock it into a flat dish, in the morning you will see the first letter of your sweetheart written in the snail’s slime

You should walk around your home three times backwards and counterclockwise before sunset on Halloween to ward off evil spirits

If you see a spider on Halloween, it could be the spirit of a dead loved one who is watching you

If you ring a bell on Halloween, it will scare evil spirits away

If a candle flame suddenly turns blue, there’s a ghost nearby

A burning candle inside a “Jack-o’-lantern” keeps away evil spirits, ghosts and goblins.

If a candle suddenly goes out by itself – as if from a wind or breath, it usually means that a ghost has come to call.

You should always burn new candles on Halloween – for good luck. Never burn Halloween candles any other time of the year, since this may bring bad luck.

Looking deeply into the flame of a candle on Halloween will give you the gift of looking into the future

If you light an orange-colored candle on Halloween night and let it burn until the sun comes up you will have good luck.

Put you clothes on inside-out and walk backwards on Halloween if you want to meet a witch.

Halloween History:

370 AD - ”Eve of All Hallows (Saints)” feast associated with the “Night of Mischief.
5th to 19th centuries - Religious celebrations continue in western Europe on eve of Feast of All Saints, which was introduced to replace pagan festivals of dead. During this time Irish and Scottish immigrants celebrate customs imported from homelands.
20th century - Increased urbanization brings Halloween from farms to cities. Pranks increase in cities – term “Trick or Treat” finally appears in print in the 1930s. Urban violence on Halloween increases – forcing churches, social clubs and neighborhoods to organize “safe” celebrations to combat street violence.

Why did the pumpkin become part of Halloween?

Carved pumpkins were actually a very old Irish custom because it was so easy to put a candle in a hollowed-out pumpkin or turnip and use it to light your way.
However, the custom of carving out a face on a pumpkin was much more popular in North America where this member of the squash family was available in large numbers. People began to cut out a comical or frightening face and put it on their porches or doorsteps on Halloween night.
The name “Jack-o’-lantern” comes from an old Irish folktale told by parents to their children. If you carve a scary face on a pumpkin you can frighten people on Halloween.

Where did “Trick or Treating” come from?

Trick or treating is also called “guising.” It has several beginnings. It began with the Irish custom of going from door to door to collect money, bread, cake, cheese, eggs, butter, nuts and apples in preparation for the coming Feast of St. Columkill. Another custom, from Europe, was the begging of “soul cakes” for oneself in exchange for promises of good luck or protection against bad luck.

Couples and Matchmaking:

But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead. In particular, many had to do with helping young women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they would someday–with luck, by next Halloween!–be married.

In 18th-century Ireland, a matchmaking cook might bury a ring in her mashed potatoes on Halloween night, hoping to bring true love to the diner who found it. In Scotland, fortune-tellers recommended that an eligible young woman name a hazelnut for each of her suitors and then toss the nuts into the fireplace. The nut that burned to ashes rather than popping or exploding, the story went, represented the girl’s future husband. (In some versions of this legend, confusingly, the opposite was true: The nut that burned away symbolized a love that would not last.) Another tale had it that if a young woman ate a sugary concoction made out of walnuts, hazelnuts and nutmeg before bed on Halloween night, she would dream about her future husband. Young women tossed apple-peels over their shoulders, hoping that the peels would fall on the floor in the shape of their future husbands’ initials; tried to learn about their futures by peering at egg yolks floating in a bowl of water; and stood in front of mirrors in darkened rooms, holding candles and looking over their shoulders for their husbands’ faces.

Other rituals were more competitive. At some Halloween parties, the first guest to find a burr on a chestnut-hunt would be the first to marry; at others, the first successful apple-bobber would be the first down the aisle.But what about the Halloween traditions and beliefs that today’s trick-or-treaters have forgotten all about? Many of these obsolete rituals focused on the future instead of the past and the living instead of the dead. In particular, many had to do with helping young women identify their future husbands and reassuring them that they would someday–with luck, by next Halloween!–be married.

New Years Eve and Day

Superstitions — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:12:20 +0000

You’ll ‘cut off’ fortune if you use scissors on new years day

April Fool’s Day

Superstitions — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:44:47 +0000

April Fool’s Day is celebrated on the first day of April each year. It is common practice to play practical jokes on family and friends on this day.

Playing practical jokes after 12 noon is bad luck.
Failing to respond in a jovial manner to practical jokes is bad luck.
Being fooled by an attractive girl may be a sign of a good relationship with her.
Getting married on April Fool’s day predicts the groom will always be ruled by his bride.
Children born on April Fool’s Day will have good luck in all things except gambling.