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Bobbing For Apples: Prophecy and Divination Games Using Apples

On All Hallow's Eve, one of the many traditions that used to be followed was prophecy of the future using nuts and apples - with bobbing for apples being one of the most popular events.

Bobbing For Apples - Photo: Morguefile.com

These fruits of the fall season symbolized Pomona's gift of food for the winter months. (Pomona was the Roman goddess of fruit and gardens - and ancient Roman festivals would honor her around the first of November.)

Apples were an important way for young lovers to foretell their future lives together and what greater fun can there be, when you are at the right age and in the right mood, then participating in the game of bobbing for apples? However, that wasn't the only way apples were used for divination. The following article explains more about the various ways these harvest fruits were used on Halloween. Bobbing for apples is a game that we all know well. Apples are set afloat in a tub or large pot of water. They must be caught with only the teeth - no hands allowed! The surest way to get an apple is to force it to the bottom of the tub which makes it easier to get a bite on it. Of course this means submerging your entire head, so be sure to keep plenty of towels nearby.

Another version of grabbing apples with the teeth (and one that doesn't involve water) was to suspend an apple by a string and to try and bite it as it is hanging and swinging. This is very hard to do and is great for plenty of laughter.

Whom Am I Going To Marry?

Once you have the apple you are suppose to wait until midnight, where upon you can either eat the apple for good luck, or use it to find out what the future holds when it comes to relationships.

Custom has it that you could place it under your pillow so that you'll dream of your future husband or wife. Alternatively, you can also eat the apple while standing in front of a mirror at midnight. While you eat, look into the mirror and peer over your left shoulder. Your mate is supposed to appear to you in the glass. Under no circumstances should you turn around or they will vanish.

Are you interested in finding out the first initial of your future mate? This was one of the most popular activities on Halloween and there were several ways to accomplish this.

Take an apple and peel it all the way around from top to bottom in a spiral. Take the apple peel by one end with the tips of your fingers and twirl it over your head three times while reciting the following verse, and then drop it. Hopefully, the apple peeling will form the resemblance of some sort of letter. This will be the initial of your future lover.

I pare this pippin round and round again,
My sweetheart's name to flourish on the plain;
I fling the unbroken paring o'er my head,
My sweetheart's letter on the ground is read.

Another rhyme that was also used and was a favorite among American Colonial girls, was recited as they threw the peeling over their shoulders:

By this paring let me discover
The initial letter of my true lover.

Here is a way of divination that has a bit of competition to it for the unmarried ladies. This is a fun activity if you have a wood burning fireplace or you are somewhere where there is a bonfire for the evening.

Each woman takes an apple (make sure it still has the stem attached) and ties it to a piece of long string. Then hold and twirl the apple over an open fire. The woman whose apple breaks off first and falls into the fire will be the first to be married.

So what if you already have two suitors in your life and you wish to find out which one is the most desirable to continue the relationship with? There is a way to figure this out too! Cut an apple in half and remove two seeds. One seed is named for the first person and the other seed is given the name of the second person. Close your eyes and place one seed on each eyelid. The one that falls off first is not the one you should be with. If the seeds aren't falling off, apparently you can give them a bit of help by winking. (Which obviously rigs the outcome.)

If you're interested in learning more divination games to use as entertainment at your next Halloween party, check out our fortune telling party games page. And we also have some recipes for candied apples & carmel apples for those with a sweet tooth!

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