Halloween is the time of year when many believe the barrier between the living and those who have gone before becomes thinner and more transparent, and when spells for Halloween are thought to have particular resonance and power.
Those who celebrate Halloween's deeper history believe strongly in its traditions and rituals, and even those who do not believe in witches and the supernatural appear to have a wish for there to be some truth in the superstitions. People like to be beguiled by "what if."
For centuries, there have been rituals performed by young women at this time of year to find out who their future lover will be, and no doubt performed just as frequently by young men although they don't appear to be mentioned in the books that cite these practices.
Scrying is the practice of looking into a reflected surface such as water or a mirror, to divine the future, and one of the most enduring
scrying rituals has been for a young woman to go to her mirror at midnight, light a candle and comb her hair. It was believed that if she concentrated silently on asking who she would marry, she would see an image reflected in the mirror of her future life partner.
There are many variations on this superstition; some suggested that she should simply allow her mind to open to the universe so that she would receive a mind image of her future lover's face.
An alternative to reflections in a glass was use the reflective properties of water as a
scrying mirror. A woman would take a lamp to light her way to a moonlit pond or stream, and then leaning over the bank at midnight to see her reflection in the water she believed she would see the face of her future lover.
Halloween is the time of year when many believe the barrier between the living and those who have gone before becomes thinner and more transparent, and when spells for Halloween are thought to have particular resonance and power.
Those who celebrate Halloween's deeper history believe strongly in its traditions and rituals, and even those who do not believe in witches and the supernatural appear to have a wish for there to be some truth in the superstitions. People like to be beguiled by "what if."
For centuries, there have been rituals performed by young women at this time of year to find out who their future lover will be, and no doubt performed just as frequently by young men although they don't appear to be mentioned in the books that cite these practices.
Scrying is the practice of looking into a reflected surface such as water or a mirror, to divine the future, and one of the most enduring scrying rituals has been for a young woman to go to her mirror at midnight, light a candle and comb her hair. It was believed that if she concentrated silently on asking who she would marry, she would see an image reflected in the mirror of her future life partner.
There are many variations on this superstition; some suggested that she should simply allow her mind to open to the universe so that she would receive a mind image of her future lover's face.
An alternative to reflections in a glass was use the reflective properties of water as a scrying mirror. A woman would take a lamp to light her way to a moonlit pond or stream, and then leaning over the bank at midnight to see her reflection in the water she believed she would see the face of her future lover.
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