Rites of divination
Samhain and Halloween divination games
Games of foretelling played on the last night of October, with apples, nuts and a ring in a cake.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
Samhain is the Gaelic festival that marked the start of winter and the dead's nearness. It is held on 31 October and 1 November, and later became Halloween. Folk records from Ireland and Scotland describe games in which young people tried to learn their future partner or fate, using the foods and objects of the night.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Apples and nutsPlantUsed in the games.
- Barmbrack with a ringObjectWhoever finds the ring is said to marry soon.
- Candle and mirrorObjectUsed for a love divination.
- FireObjectThe hearth or bonfire.
- CostumesGestureWorn to pass unnoticed by spirits.
- Plant
- Object
- Gesture
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather Neighbours and children gather at the hearth. Step 2: Light A fire or candles are lit for the night. Step 3: Cast Apple peels are thrown, nuts are set in the embers, and the barmbrack is cut. Step 4: Read Each player reads the sign for a partner or the year ahead. Step 5: Offer Food may be left for the dead or the fairy host. Step 6: Close Fires are banked and the household goes to bed.
The games
Apples were peeled and the peel thrown to see an initial. Nuts were set by the fire for lovers' names. In Ireland a ring, a coin and a thimble baked in a barmbrack or colcannon predicted marriage, wealth or spinsterhood. Girls looked in a mirror by candlelight. Play was the point as much as prediction.
Dead and visitors
It was said that the dead and the fairy people moved close on this night. Places were set for ancestors in some homes, and people wore disguises to pass unnoticed, which is one root of modern costumes.
Modern Halloween
Irish and Scottish migrants took these customs to North America, where they merged with the Mexican Day of the Dead, trick or treating and commercial culture. Some neopagans keep Samhain as a sacred new year.
What it is for
- Love divination
- Remembering the dead
- Welcoming winter
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Barmbrack (The cake used in the game.).
More on EveryJaadu
No entries here yet. New pages are added every day.
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Samhain: Daniel Maclise, Public domain, source
- Halloween: Toby Ord, CC BY-SA 2.5, source