Vintage Halloween Traditions

By Kristoffer Hughes | Published: OCTOBER 1, 2013

The mass Irish immigration to the United States saw a plethora of indigenous Celtic traditions imprinted onto the New World. The Irish, in an effort to adapt and maintain some commonality and sense of community perpetuated their traditions and folk practises with zeal and vigour. And nowhere was this more apparent than in the festival that marked the end of summer, the culmination of the harvest and the dawning of winter – a festival that to the Irish Celts was called Samhain, meaning ‘Summers end’. This divine cauldron of cultural symbology was further influenced by Christian and non-Christian traditions that perpetuated the final harvest season as a period renowned for deathly and saintly function. Eventually the influence of the Dia Del Los Muertos (Day of the dead) traditions of Latin America as the influx of Latino immigrants coalesced with New World Americans gave rise to the colourful expression that today is identified as Halloween.

Whilst the ancient Halloween customs of the Celts are mostly lost to us, except for snippets of folkloric practise, what is immensely magical about the season is its adaptability. In one guise or another Samhain adapted itself to the needs of the populace and evolved over time from Samhain to Hallowtide, to Hallowmass, through All Hallows Eve and All Saints/Souls Day to Hallowe’en and what we today identify as Halloween. It is as if the spirit that is integral to the season cannot and will not be crushed from existence. It has existed since its first recording on the Coligny Calendar in the first century B.C.E. and continues to make glad the hearts of those who embrace it.

For any tradition to be relevant it must adapt and be authentically practical and appealing to any society at any given time. Anything that has no relevance to society falls out of custom and use, in essence it dies. Halloween is very much alive primarily because of the way society has reacted to it and embraced its practise. With the incorporation of Irish traditions in to the United States Halloween took off in a big way. A new candidate to replace the tough Punkie was found in the native Pumpkin, suddenly Jack of the Lantern had a new face to match a new life in the New World.

By the early twentieth century Halloween had taken hold, and a curious thing occurred. Postcards designed as greeting that could be sent to friends and relative in distant corners of the USA were widely sold. And whilst quaint and slightly silly on the surface, they inadvertently recorded for perpetuity a vast storehouse of ancient Samhain practises and traditions. They were primarily divinatory in nature, i.e. they perpetuated the belief in divination, or the ability to foretell future events. A practise that has historically been associated with Samhain/Halloween.

So, let me take you on a short journey through some of these vintage Halloween postcards and the practises they recorded.

The Bowls of Destiny

This card records an old Irish Samhain tradition of leading a young unmarried girl blindfolded into a room where three bowls are set upon a fine table cloth. The first bowl contains clean water, the second dirty water and the third bowl is empty. The young girl reaches out with her left hand, if she touches the clean water she will marry within the year a young, attractive man. If she touches the dirty water, she will marry and older man, perhaps a widower. But is she reaches for the empty bowl she will remain unmarried.

The Peel of Destiny

This card records the practise of peeling a bright red apply just before midnight on Halloween. As the clock struck the witching hour the peel would be thrown over the left shoulder, its pattern on the floor would spell out the first letter of a future husband.

Who is in the Mirror?

Unusually this card records a Halloween ritual that was traditionally reserved for women. It was customary at midnight on Hallows Eve to stand with two candles before you and a hand mirror in your right hand. As the clock struck 12 a ghostly image would appear in the guise of the future spouse.

Keep them out!

The majority of Halloween traditions pertain to protection, normally from the dead in the guise of ghouls and ghosts. This protective device is in the guise of a symbol, which in themselves are immensely powerful. Their nature is to speak directly to the subconscious mind, our lives are littered with symbols. This particular symbol the double cross has been a defensive and protective symbol since the dawn of Christendom and possibly earlier. In an Irish sense it can also be seen as the Celtic Ogham symbol for Gorze which also had protective qualities.

The above represent a small number of several hundreds of designs – many of which portray old customs. Sceptically we are compelled to perceive such things as wholly innocent, but as Witches and Pagans we can glean some insights into the Old World and old traditions of Samhain painted in ink on card.

Halloween exists because we need it, something about it makes us feel good. In a Pagan sense we remember the dead, celebrate the end of the harvest and prepare for the slumber of winter. Draw your own Halloween greetings cards if you are able, and record upon them your own traditions. Halloween belongs to you – what will do to keep its spirit alive?

A Blessed Samhain/Halloween To You All.

Text by Kristoffer Hughes.

Images copyright free – early 20th century postcards.

For more on Halloween check out this fabulous book “Halloween – The Quintessential British Guide to Treats and Frights“ by Kris Hughes & Mark Doody