The Halloween Activity Guide

Spiders

2008-10-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

If you see a spider on Halloween, it is an ancestor watching you so don't kill it.

Rosemary

2008-10-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

Put rosemary and a sixpence under your pillow before bed and you will dream of your future spouse.

Fairies

2008-10-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

Fairies are most active at Sabbats and esbats, so Samhain (Halloween) is a good time to recognize and look for them, although they prefer spring and Bealtaine might be a better time for it.

Place a libation (an offering) outside consisting of butter, milk, wine, and/or bread for the fairies. Don't eat it later on because they will have taken the nourishment and essence out of it. The fairies will (hopefully) be pleased and bless your home. If you stick around and you'er respectful enough, you might see one. Don't wear green, that's their color and they will take offense, don't have iron around as it can seriously harm them, don't take any food they might offer, and beware of Fairyland; most people don't return to tell the tale. If you want to increase the chance of coming into contact with a fairy, have a fire going and play some music. They love to party.

Gemstones

2008-10-09T15:34:00.000-07:00

Keep a black bag with agate in it to ensure prosperity in the coming year from midnight of Halloween eve until midnight on Halloween night.

Rub a piece of black jade nine times to gain strength and power.

Place an onyx stone under your pillow to protect against nightmares and incubus/succubus.

Moon

2008-10-09T12:23:00.000-07:00

A new moon on Halloween is a good omen for new beginings.

A waxing moon is an omen for good luck.

A full moon is a good omen if you are going to be doing any magical (or magickal) practices that night. Making a silent wish at midnight will ensure it will come true in the following year.

A waning moon could either mean you'll be rid of hardships, bad habbits, or bad relationships in the following year or it could mean a loss of some kind will take place.

If it is a "dark phase of the moon" it is a bad omen and you'll want to make sure to protect yourself in the coming year.

Pumpkin

2008-10-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

If you want your pumpkins to really be magical, you have to have planted them on Good Friday. They will then be able to keep evil at bay after the sun sets on Halloween night. It also helps if they are planted durring a waxing moon, and always harvest and carve them with a white handled knife.

If you want two people to fall in love, place a heart shaped piece of red wax with the names of both people (written in runes) and their astrological signs inside of a pumpkin that you have hallowed out. Along with that, include a lock of each person's hair, a seashell (for the goddess Aphrodite), a bit of powdered orris root, and some red or pink rose petals. Put the top of the pumpkin back on while saying:
Earth below and moon above,
Bring to life this charm of love.
With thy secret powers true
Let the pangs of love ensue.
Moon above and Earth below,
I pray thee yearning to bestow
Upon the two who share one heart:
Let now the enchantment start.
So mote it be!
Wrap the pumpkin up in red satin and bury it in the ground. This should be done durring the hour of Venus (If you aren't sure when that would be on whatever day you are doing this, a quick Google search should help) If you want to reverse this spell, collect the red heart of wax and burn it or boil it during a waning moon.

Offerings

2008-10-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

To be able to see fairy rings and/or hear fairy music on Halloween (as well as Lady Day, Easter, Beltane, Summer Solstice, and Christmas day), you should make a cake and place it under a tree or a bush as an offering. The cake should be made of: mistletoe, bay, thyme, rue, vervain, and yarrow.

In order to keep the Tuatha de Danann at bay, and get them to bless your home, leave part of your harvest out for them.

Trees

2008-07-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

To prevent yourself from getting drunk, cut a forked twig off of a hazel tree at the witching hour (midnight to 3AM) and carry it in your pocket.

Cut a branch off a Rowan tree that has berries on it and attach it to yourself somehow with red thread while saying:
"Rowan tree and red thread
Gar the witches dance their dead"
and it will give you protection.

In order to see whether the weather this comming winter will be cold or warm, cut a chip off of a Beech tree and if it is wet, the weather will be bitter cold, if it is dry, it will be warmer then usual.

Mirror

2008-07-20T19:52:00.000-07:00

Get a mirror and a virgin candle. Light the candle and turn off the lights. Hold it in your writing hand (scrying hand, power hand, casting hand, whatever you want to call it) and the mirror in the other. Look into your reflection and say:
"Looking glass and witch's flame
Let thy powers interweave
Grant the wish that I proclaim
On this most enchanted eve
My secret wish is (state your wish)
So mote it be"
Kiss yourself in the mirror and your wish will come true.

To see into the future, sit or stand in front of a mirror with a black candle on one side, and an orange candle on the other. Light both at the same time while looking into your eyes and you will have a vision in the glass.

Some say if you look into a mirror that is illuminated by a candle on Halloween, the devil will appear, so watch out for that (unless you wanted to meet him). Although, the chances of that happening are only good if you use a black or red candle.

Oats

2008-07-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Pluck a stalk or oats. The remaining grains will tell you how many children you'll have. If the top is missing, it means you'll lose your virginity before your wedding day.

Snail

2008-07-19T12:53:00.001-07:00

Place a black snail on a flour-covered plate and tossed over your shoulder onto an ash covered fireplace. In the morning, check the snail's trail, it'll tell you the initials of your future spouce.

Walnuts

2008-07-19T12:47:00.000-07:00

Walk clockwise around a walnut tree at midnight, then ask the tree for some walnuts. Your future spouce's face will appear.

Ashes

2008-07-19T12:36:00.000-07:00

Men, scatter ashes in a walking path (side walk will do) and the first woman to walk through them will be your wife.

Eggs

2008-07-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Boil an egg and when it is cool, cut it in half and remove the yolk from one half and fill the hole with salt. Eat that half (shell and all), then place the other half under your pillow while saying:
"This egg I place beneath my head
To dream of the living
And not the dead,
To dream of the young man
That I am to wed,
Not in his apparel
Nor in his array,
But in the clothes
That he wears every day"
Don't speak again, and get into bed to sleep. Don't get a drink until the sun rises. You will dream of your future love, but if they offer you water it means they'll break your heart.

Barley

2008-07-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

If you know where to find a field of barley, you lay your head in the furrow between the 3rd and 4th ridge. The sound you hear will tell you what your future spouce does for a living. Bells means a man of the cloth, hammering sounds means a carpenter, and so on and so forth. Sometimes a voice will tell you the trade.

Kail

2008-07-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

"Pulling the Kail" is yet another love divination, but this one might have you breaking some laws.

A girl should be blindfolded and enter a bachelor's garden (If you can find a bachelor with a garden, I've got a good idea why he's a bachelor). At the witching hour (midnight to 3AM) she should pull a random stalk. Examine it to show what the girl's future husband will be like.

Tall and straight: Strong and healthy
Well grown: Handsome
Crooked: Stingy and/or hunchback
Closed white stalk: Elderly
Open green stalk: Younger than you
Dirt still clinging to roots: Wealthy
No dirt: Poor
Sweet tasting stem: Sweet personality
Bitter tasting stem: Bitter personality

You can associate any abnormalities on the stalk to the husband as well.

If you place the runts above the head of your front door, the first man who enters the house will have the same name as your future husband.

Barmbrack

2008-07-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

Bake a ring inside a Barmbrack (it's a cake. Google it for the recipe), let it cool, and cut and serve to those who are unmarried. The one finding the ring will be the first to marry.

You can bake a nut inside instead of or along with the ring. If someone who got the nut had been widowed, they would be married again. If the kernel is shriveled though, they would never re-marry.

Colcannon

2008-07-16T16:01:00.000-07:00

For parties, cook colcannon (you can google it for the recipe) and put a ring, a thimble, and a tiny doll in it. Serve a bit to everyone there. The person to get the ring will be the first to marry. The thimble means they never will. The doll means they will be the first to have children.

Potatoes

2008-07-16T15:56:00.000-07:00

For a co-ed party, have a bowl of mashed potatoes and mix in a button, a thimble, and a ring. Turn the lights off and let everyone take a scoop, then carefully eat it. If a boy got a button, he will never marry. If a girl got the thumble, she would never marry. If either sex got the ring, they would marry.

Shoes

2008-07-13T18:45:00.000-07:00

"Throwing The Shoe" is a method of divination in which you throw your shoe over your house. If it's pointing away, you'll travel that way in the coming year. If it's pointing toward the house, you wont be going anywhere. If it is sole down, it's good luck. It's back luck if it's sole up.

Before going to bed, place your shoes in the shape of a T then say:
"I cross my shoes in the shape of a T
Hoping this night my true love to see
Not in his riches or his worst array
But in the clothes he wears every day"
The apparition of your future spouce will appear beside you, come into view over your right shoulder, or appear in a dream. If no one appears, you wont be married in the coming year.

Church

2008-07-13T18:33:00.000-07:00

Look into the windows of a church on Halloween at the witching hour (midnight to 3AM) and you'll see the devil at the pulpit, reading the names of the sinners who will be his within the next 12 months.

Wait on the church's porch at midnight and you'll see the souls of those locals who will die in the coming year come knock upon the door. Be careful though, because you might disturbe the dead and become a "Churchyard Walker", a phantom guardian of the graveyard, and will be stuck there until someone else makes the same mistake as you and takes your place.

Fire/Candles

2008-07-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Put a needle through the center of a candle (going through the wick) and say the name of a spirit whom you wish to speak to. When the candle burns down to the needle and it falls, the spirit will appear.

You can get a hair from each love interest and tie it to a pin each. Stick them in the side of a candle spacing them lengthwise and say:
"Tis not this candle alone I stick;
But my love's heart I prick"
while you put each one in. Light the candle and when it gets to the pin of your true love, the door will open and they will appear.

Look into a mirror by the light of a candle and you will see the face of the devil.

Write the name of your enemy on a skull shaped candle and burn it at the witching hour (midnight to 3AM) and they will have bad luck or die. "Don't actually do this" goes without saying, but how am I to know your enemy wont be the next Hitler? So meditate on this before trying it, unless I'm your enemy then don't actually do this.

Light a white light just before midnight and walk around your area. If the flame sputters, there is evil around but if it is steady, all is well.

Staring into a flame will show you your future.

Drip candle wax into cold water and interpret omens by the patterns they make.

Take white stones and write a name or symbol to represent on each to represent different people. Throw them into a bonfire at the witching hour (midnight to 3AM) and let it burn out. The next day, check for the stones, any missing mean those people will die in the coming year.

Throw nuts into a fire. If they jump, your spouce will be unfaithful.To see if a couple will stay together, place a nut for each of them in front of the fire. If they both burn quietly, the couple will stay together. If one or both of them crack open, jump into the fire or apart, the couple will part.

To rid yourself of a particular weakness, write it down on parchment paper with dragon's blood ink, ball it up and throw it in your Samhain fire or a black candle.

NOTE: Always burn new candles on Halloween or it will be bad luck, and don't use Halloween candles any other time of year, it's also bad luck. Also, if a candle blows out on it's own, a spirit has done it and they might be angry.

Water

2008-07-13T17:03:00.001-07:00

Cut letters out of the newspaper and scatter them in a bowl of water. They will form the name of your future love.

Place 3 bowls out. One with clear water, one with dirty water, and one with nothing in it. Get a group to take turns being blind folded and let them place their hand over a bowl (remember to switch them around once the person playing has the blind fold on) If they choose the clear water, they will have a handsome love. Dirty, the love will have already been married. Dry, the player will have no one.

If (and this is a big if) you have a stream near by, and at one point the stream runs through an area where 3 people's properties meet, dip your sleeve in the water in that spot. Hang the shirt over a fire to dry while you sleep (I don't recommend this, but I doubt you'll find this stream anyway) and the spirit of your future love will come and turn the shirt over for the other side to dry.

Eat a salted herring right before going to bed and the spirit of your future love will come to offer you water to drink while you sleep.

At midnight, carry a candlelit lantern or oil-burning lamp to a spring and look into the water in complete silence. You'll see your future spouce's image appear. If none appears, you wont marry in the coming year.

Go to a spring of water at sunrise on Halloween carrying a glass with a broken egg within. Pour fresh water and look into the glass. You'll see a vision of your future spouce and children, if not, they aren't in your near future.

To find out who will die in the following year, write the names of people you know on ivy leaves and put them in a bowl of water. Leaves that turned black, shrivles, or had an image of a coffin on them meant those people will die. Leaves with black spots mean illness and red spots mean violent death.

Put scraps of lead into a spoon and melt it over a candle. Pour it into cold water and the shape it takes will tell you what your future spouce will do for a living by it's shape.

Fill a cauldron with water and a handfull of the herb mugwort. Hold a black candle and an orange candle in either hand over the cauldron (tilt them inward so the wax drips in the water) and repeat what it is you want to know thirteen times in the form of a question. The dripped wax will form your answer in the form of a symbol.

Cabbage

2008-07-13T16:59:00.001-07:00

If you happen to have a cabbage patch (not the doll) you're in luck, and also probably very rural.

Get a group together and blindfold each other, pull up a cabbage each and examine the root. You'll be able to conclude the quality of your future loves by comparing the roots.

I can't give you any tips. You're the one with the cabbage patch, you should know root quality better than I.

Another option is to cut the cabbage open and the apparition of your future spouce will appear, if none does, you'll die alone.

Apples

2008-07-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

Apples are an important symbol in superstition and the occult, so you'll have to stock up on them for a lot of Halloween activities.

Eating an apple before bed on will ensure your good health for the next 12 months.

If you burry an apple, a unicorn will come. You'll have to have a lot of patients for this one.

If you're a girl, stand in front of a mirror at midnight while eating an apple and combing your hair. You're future husband's image will appear over your left shoulder.

Peal an apple in one long piece and throw it over your left shoulder into a bowl of water. The initial of your future love will form. If a number appears it will either be a digit in their birthday, your future wedding day, or the day you'll meet them. The peal will be long, so if you don't have a large bowl or caldron, the toilet will work just fine.

Peal an apple in one long piece and hang it over the front door. The first man to enter will have the same initials as your future love.

If there is a group of you, have everyone tie a string to the stem of an apple and told them over a fire. The order in which they fall is the order that you'll be married. The last one to fall will remain unmarried.

If you happen to have a co-ed party, try bobbing for apples. Have each apple stem be tied with a string and held by a different guy. The girls will bob for apples and whatever apple they get, they will marry the guy on the other end. You can also play this the other way round'. If you aren't having a co-ed party, replace strings by carving initials of the opposite sex into the apples and it works the same.

If you don't have a co-ed party, play bobbing for apples and the winner will take an apple and place it under their pillow. In their dream, their future love will appear to them.

If you have two or more people, place a coin in the side of an apple. Then hang the apple from and string and tie two people's hands behind their backs. They will attempt to remove the coin using their teeth and the first to win will be the first to be married. Take cation while playing this game...Maybe use a small coin so you don't kill yourself.

Another partner actiity is to stick a coin in an apple and hang the apple from the ceiling. The first person who can extract the coin with their mouth will be the first to marry.

Cut an apple into 9 slices and eat them one by one while alone, looking into a mirror, and lit by a candle. Once you get to the 9th piece, spear it on a knife and hold it over your left shoulder and your future spouce will come and eat it.

If you are torn between two suitors, eat an apple and save two seeds. Place one on either cheeck, naming each one after either suitors. The last one to fall is the one you should pick.

If you want to know if someone loves you, take an apple seed and name it after this person. At midnight say:
"If thee love me, pop and fly;
If thee fool me, lay and die"
If the seed makes noise, they love you. If it is silent, they don't.

Crossroads

2008-07-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Go to a crossroads on Halloween and listen to the wind. You'll hear what will come in the next year. At midnight, you'll hear the names of those who're local that will die in the coming year.

If an adult has been bewitched or a child is stolen by faries and you want to rescue them...I hope you have connections. You'll need an ointment from a fairy doctor or wise woman to put on your eyelids. That will enable you to see faries and their world. Once you've done that, go to a crossroads and when the faries pass by throw a handful of dust from the crossroads on them, disabling their powers against you and then you can demand then free your friend or replace the child they stole with the halfling they've left in it's crib.

Giving Birth

2008-07-13T16:37:00.000-07:00

If you happen to find yourself pregnant and due around Halloween, try to make giving birth your Halloween activity.

If you aren't pregnant but hope to be, look at the moon. A full moon on Halloween means fertility in the coming year, maybe you can partake of some of that.

A child born on Halloween will be protected against evil and have second sight. If the father happens to be a vampire, double the good fortune, for the child will have a talent for sensing and slaying vampires.

Taking A Stroll

2008-07-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

If you go for a walk on Halloween you might want to pay attention to a few things. Even though these aren't things to DO, per se, you might want to try them if you're looking to die.

If you hear someone walking close behind you, don't look back because it might be Death.

Looking at your shadow in the moonlight is back luck.

Hunting isn't adviced because you might wound a wandering spirit.

Dumb Cake

2008-07-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

The Dumb Cake is a special cake made at midnight on Halloween in with flour, water, eggs, and salt. When we say cake, it isn't a birthday cake, but more a pancake. Pour it on a hot griddle, then you have 2 options.

#1 The top of the cake must have the initials of everyone present pricked on the top. The initials of the future partner of the person concerned will appear on the cake. This has to all be done in silence.

#2 You take a piece of the cake and eat it, taking the rest with you as you walk backward to bed and place it under your pillow. You will then have a dream of your future love will appear.

NOTE: This is best done by an unmarried virgin. Also, you can do this on Christmas Eve, Midsummer Eve, and Saint Agnes's Eve.

Dumb Supper

2008-07-12T21:22:00.000-07:00

A dumb supper is a meal you have at midnight on Halloween, it's also a type of seance. It is done in complete silence (hence the dumb (aka deaf) in supper), and totally backward (hence the dumb (aka stupid) in supper, due to the way you'll look). It is ideal to do this with guests but you do have to be totally QUIET, so choose your guests wisely.

What You Need

You need to have a meal perpared with courses. In a traditional dinner, you have the entree (sometimes a soup course and it usually doesn't have red meat), then a light course with vegetables or sometimes fish, the main course, the salad course (though you might be used to it being served after the soup), dessert, then a cheese course. You don't need all these courses, but more than one is necessary. Also, you will have to set the table (forks, knives, spoons, ect. Although, if all you have is a spork, it will do)

You may want to have some personal items of those who have passed, but I'll get to that later.

The Dumb Supper

NOTE: You'll be walking backward the whole time so you might want to practice before hand lest you fall and scare off the spirits or make your guests laugh. On that note, NO NOISE may be uttered from anyone's mouths from midnight on until the Dumb Supper is over.

Unlock all the windows and doors in the house, and leave them open. I hope you live in a good area.

Have everyone seated at the table before midnight without having yet set the table. Leave empty chairs at the table and remember to serve these seats because that's where the spirits will be eating. You can place personal items of the spirits you wish to join you at the empty seats, or you can leave the seat open to any spirit that wishes to join you. The best items to choose are things that the person used or were close to in life. If you want to dine with your deceased grandfather, his reading glasses might be a good choice.

At the stroke of midnight, walk backward and place the settings out in reverse (check wiki if you aren't sure what the right order is). Make sure 9 eatable things on the table (salt, pepper, butter, ect, all count). Then serve the food backward (cheese first, then dessert, ect).

If you do see someone appear in the once vacant seats, don't be alarmed. If you make a noise, the dumb supper is over and they'll be likely to leave.