#dream lore

Sweep the Haints Away

This is a practice that seems to have spread through the Southern Appalachian states (particularly Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, and parts of Georgia) from their mountain regions.

It’s believed that you can take your broom, open the doors to the house, and sweep the haints — a southern term for ghosts that comes from Gullah Geechee people [3] — out of the home, along with sweeping away ill health, bad fortune, and money problems.

This is to be done in the days before Halloween and never on Halloween, for doing so on Halloween is believed to sweep out all the good health and good fortune along with the bad.

It's also taught that you can distract haints from causing mischief or harm in your home is you leave a newspaper out for them to read. Some recommend taping newspaper pages up on your door or wall on Halloween, while others say that leaving a newspaper open on the porch or stoop is enough to distract the haints from entering the home.

Jack-o’-Lanterns

Jack-o’-lanterns have a role like that of gargoyles on cathedrals, believed to scare away malevolent or evil spirits that might otherwise decide to come for a visit. Some beliefs see the jack-o’-lantern as offering lights to guide the wandering spirits along on Halloween night.

The practice of carving jack-o’-lanterns was brought stateside by Cornish, Welsh, Irish, and Scottish [4] immigrants , though turnips (and sometimes beets) were used instead of pumpkins before the practice came our way. The turnip versions of a jack-o'-lantern were called tumshies and tumshie lanterns in Scotland. Pumpkins were the American spin and have become, arguably, some of the most iconic and recognizable Halloween-related imagery in the world.

The Widdereshins Walk

Some believe that the key to protecting the home from evil spirits is to walk around the home — some say backwards, some say counterclockwise, and some say both backwards and counterclockwise — before sunset on Halloween. This is said to ward away evil from that night on until Halloween comes again.

The name widdershins walk comes from the German term 'widdershins,' meaning to move in a counter-clockwise direction or to move in the opposite direction of usual. Widdershins is from the Middle Low German weddersinnes, which means "against the way" [5].

Halloween Divination in Southern Appalachia:

Divining with Three Bowls

This is a custom very likely stems from a three-bowl Scottish divining custom, which you'll find more about below.

What to do:

-Take three bowls and fill one with water, one with watered-down whiskey or wine, and one with vinegar.

-The player of this ‘divination game’ enters the room with their eyes closed or blindfolded and are guided to the bowls.

-They dip their finger into one of the bowls, and whichever bowl they choose foretells their fate.

Choosing the bowl of water means that one will lead a peaceful life without upheaval or strife.

Choosing the bowl of watered-down whiskey or wine means that one is to come into money or know monetary abundance, that one is to travel, and that one will have a grand life.

Choosing the bowl of vinegar denotes that one will be poor.

Now, what the bowls are filled with varies from one region to the next, but where I’m from (and per my grandmother's stories), it's most common to use water, watered-down wine or whiskey, and vinegar. In some areas, just wine is used in the second bowl, and milk or dishwater is used instead of vinegar.

This custom seems to hail from a Scottish folk practice of divining what one’s future spouse will be like. In this version, the first two bowls are filled with clean water and dirty water (respectively) and the third bowl is left empty. The clean water promises an attractive, young, bachelor or maid. The dirty water foretells a widow or widower. The empty bowl means that you’ll remain unmarried.

There is also an Irish divination game, púicíní, similar to this, in which an array of plates or saucers are used instead of three bowls. An item would be placed on each saucer for a blindfolded (the name púicíní comes from the Irish word for blindfolds) player to choose from. The items were traditionally a ring, rosary beads, water, a lump or bit of clay, a bean or pea, and a coin. Whichever item was chosen foretold the player's future — the ring meant one would marry, the rosary beads meant that one would be taking holy orders, the water meant that one would emigrate elsewhere, the clay foretold of death, the bean or pea warned of poverty or monetary loss, and the coin promised wealth or monetary gain. [6]

Divining with a Candle and Mirror

This is a simple form of mirror scrying using any ordinary mirror and a candle. It’s said that if you stand in front of a mirror in a dark room while holding a candle at midnight, you will see your future play out (or some symbol of your future) in the mirror, appearing over your left shoulder.

Halloween greeting card, 1904.

This divination could be performed at any time of the year, but is strongly associated with Halloween and New Year as this was when it was most commonly performed.

Divining by a Ring and Flour

This is another Appalachian divination game that comes from Scotland, Ireland, and England. It's used to foretell whom amongst a group will be the first to marry. Simply hide a wedding ring in a pile of flour and let the unmarried folk have at it! Whoever finds the ring will be the first to marry among them.

Bobbing for Apples

When bobbing for apples, the first to bite an apple and pick it up in their mouth will marry within the year.

Old English print included in 'the Book of Hallowe'en,' 1919.

My grandmother used to play this as a child. This divination game was also played in Scotland, Ireland, Newfoundland, and England. Apple bobbing was introduced to those regions by the Romans, from whom this divination custom hails. [7][8]

Catch an Apple, Catch Your Soulmate / Snap Apple

Similar to apple bobbing, snap apple is a game played to catch apples. Instead of the apple floating in water, though, the apples are tied to strings or ribbons, hanging from a stick or from the ceiling or rafters. The apple is then named the apple for your intended. If you can catch the apple in your mouth and take a bite, your love is meant to be.

Halloween Customs of Southern Appalachia Involving Spirits & Food:

The Last Supper

Where this custom originated, I can’t rightly say. I know of it being practiced in areas of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, and it may be practiced elsewhere as well.

It’s said that if you’ve had a haint in the home, then Halloween is the perfect time to ease them out the door. One of the methods of ridding the home of a ghost, spirit, or haint is to include them in a meal. It shouldn’t be just any old meal, but a special one, like a holiday meal or a Sunday supper with all the fixings. Include a seat at the table for the spirit, serve up a plate of food for said spirit, and go on about enjoying your meal as normal with your household.

When dinner is over, you tilt the spirit’s chair to lean forward against the dining table. This leaves the spirit with nowhere to sit. Some practices also call for tipping/leaning all the chairs in the house or filling them with items so the spirit can’t find anywhere else to make itself comfortable. Other practices call for closing the doors that lead from the dining area into the rest of the house before putting the spirit’s chair out of commission. This way, the spirit can’t just leave the room and flit off elsewhere in the house before you open the nearest door or window leading outside.

You can usher the spirit out with your words, but you should do so kindly. In the south, we’re not like to rush anyone off, even haints. It’s rude and inhospitable.

To keep the spirit (or any unwanted company, for that matter) from returning to your home, sprinkle black pepper on the floor after they’ve left and sweep it out through the door they left by.

Food Offerings for Spirits

This is less commonly practiced in more populated areas of Southern Appalachia these days, but it can’t be left out. You know how at Christmas some children leave out cookies and brandy or milk for Santa, and carrots for the reindeers? Well, in Southern Appalachia some folk leave food out on Halloween as an offering to the spirits out roaming. Sometimes this is food made specifically for that reason (pies or cakes, cookies, sweet breads), and sometimes this is a portion of what was had for dinner and/or dessert that night.

It’s believed that leaving a plate of food outside of the house for the spirits on Halloween night will keep the more troublesome spirits from stopping in at your house for good. This custom likely hails from Ireland, where it's still practiced by some.

Spooky Southern Appalachian Dream Lore:

(Note: While only a couple of these dream beliefs pertain explicitly to Halloween, I selected a few that fit general spooky Halloween themes of spirits and death. These beliefs may be shared throughout various southern folk practices and some beliefs might differ from region to region.)

Morning dreams come true, and dreams on Halloween morning will bring twice as much happiness, sadness, or wealth as your dream promised.

If you want to keep from dreaming or having nightmares on Halloween night (or any night, really), place both shoes under the foot of your bed before you go to sleep.

Dreaming of the dead (ghosts or spirits) is said to mean you’ll live a long life.

Dreaming of a dead person you knew is a sign that their soul needs prayers.

To dream of the dead means to hear from the living. (Expect news.)

Dreaming of a baby means you’ll soon hear of a death.

To see a coffin in your dream promises a death in the family.

Dreaming of an empty coffin is a bad sign.

Dreaming of a filled coffin is a good sign.

Dreaming of a black cat means that a relative or close friend of yours is a back-stabber.

To see a funeral procession in your dream is a portend of death to come.

To see a black horse in your dream is a sign of bad luck. To dream of a black horse on Halloween night is double the bad luck.

To see more than one moon in your dream is a sign of death to come.

Some Halloween-Related Superstitions & 'Granny Wisdom' of Southern Appalachia:

(Note: As with the dreams, not all of these will be specifically Halloween-related. Some of them will be about Southern Appalachian beliefs pertaining to spirits and spooky things in general but seemed fitting to include in this Halloween post.)

Those born on Halloween will have the ability to walk among/speak with spirits and will be gifted in the arts of divination.

Rocking an empty rocking chair (or letting it keep rocking after you’ve gotten up from it) invites spirits into the home (or invites them to take a seat).

If a wild bird gets loose in your house, it’s believed to be an omen of death.

Never go into a graveyard alone on Halloween night, lest the dead drag you down with them or you become possessed by a spirit. (I suppose no witnesses means that no one knows to do anything about it, leaving you a bit screwed.)

If you hear a dog howl three times on Halloween night, it means someone you know will die within the following year. (This may be a variation on the southern US superstition that hearing a dog howling three nights in a row is a portend of death.)

Painting your front door, porch floor/porch ceiling, or porch steps a certain shade of bright, paler blue (known as Haint Blue) will keep spirits from entering the home. This stems from the southern belief that spirits can’t cross some bodies of water. The blue is believed to symbolize water and confuse the spirits.

If you hear footsteps behind you on Halloween, don’t look back. It may be the dead following you and if you look at them, it’s believed they’ll have the chance to possess your body through your eyes.

If you hear someone say your name but no one’s near to say it, don’t answer. It’s believed it’s a spirit trying to gain power over you and answering them will allow them to follow you and torment you further.

If you think a spirit might have tried to follow you home, turn out your pockets and brush off your clothes before entering your house. This is believed to shake the spirit off of you.

Never loan anyone money on Halloween, or you’ll never get it back.

Hanging a mirror near your front door will help protect the home from evil spirits, said to confuse them upon entering the abode.

Opening the windows and covering the mirrors in the home of someone who has recently passed on will allow the spirit to move on from the house. Opening the windows helps them leave the home and covering the mirrors is believed to keep the spirit from getting confused or falling into the mirror and being stuck there.

CITATIONS, SOURCES, & FURTHER READING:

CITATIONS-

[1] Williams, John Alexander (2002, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press); 'Appalachia: A History'

[2] Abramson, Rusy and Haskell, Jean (2006, Knoxville; University of Tennessee Press); 'Encyclopedia of Appalachia'

[3] Robinson, Kelly (2004), 'The Haints of the South Carolina Lowcountry: History and Mystique'

[4] Hutton, Ronald (1996, Oxford University Press); 'The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain'

[5] [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/widdershins]

[6] (2015, Irish Archaeology), [http://irisharchaeology.ie/2015/10/halloween-in-irish-folklore/]

[7] Johnson, Ben (2022); 'Halloween in Scotland' [https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Halloween-in-Scotland/]

[8] McDonnell, Ciara (2020); '5 Halloween Games to Play At Home This Week' [https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/advice/arid-40071011.html]

SOURCES & FURTHER READING: While the majority of what I've written of the customs and practices comes from family tales, I've included sources for the same or similar customs that readers are welcome to utilize if they wish to learn more about these traditions.

A History of Putnam County, Tennessee - McClain, Walter S.

Death, Witches, and Superstitions - Appalachian History

Eyes on the Rocks: Halloween in Appalachia - Richards, Jake

Heebie-Jeebies, Willies, All Overs, Jimmies, Shivers, Jimjams - Pressley, Tipper

The Frank C. Brown Collection of NC Folklore

'the Granny Curse' - Russell, Randy; Barnett, Janet

‘Kentucky Folklore’ – Alvey, R. Gerald

‘Kentucky Superstitions’ – Thomas, Daniel Lindsey, Ph.D.; Thomas, Lucy Blayney, M.A.

‘Old Scottish Customs: Local and General’ – Guthrie, E.J.

'Seedtime on the Cumberland' - Arnow, Harriette Louisa Simpson

We Hold Our Own: Protecting Hearth and Home in Southern Appalachia - Richards, Jake