An illustration of apple-bobbing at an Irish Halloween gathering from 1886. Along with nuts, apples
An illustration of apple-bobbing at an Irish Halloween gathering from 1886. Along with nuts, apples were the foodstuff most essential to traditional Halloween celebrations. Apples were eaten in abundance on Halloween as a harvest food which was in plentiful supply during the season. They were also used in a variety of games and divination rituals. ‘Snap-apple’ was an extremely dangerous Halloween game which involved two sticks tied together to form a cross, with an apple and a lit candle fixed to opposite ends. This apparatus would be suspended from the ceiling and the player (with their hands behind their back) would have to catch the apple with their teeth, all the while trying to avoid the flame and hot dripping wax of the candle. Apple-bobbing was a more family-friendly alternative to this activity.Different parts of an apple could be used to predict the future on Halloween. Girls named fresh apple pips after their various admirers and placed the pips on their foreheads or eyelids. The first pip to fall proved that sweetheart was unfaithful while the last to fall belonged to the boy the girl would marry. A popular Halloween activity amongst young people was to skin an apple into one long peel and throw the peel over your shoulder. With luck the peel would land in the shape of a letter which was the initial of your future spouse. -- source link
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