Posted on : October 30th, 2018
Happy Nut-Crack Night! That’s an old Scots and Northern England name for the October 31st holiday of Halloween. It’s starting to get pretty cold in Great Britain at this time of year and people would often sit by the fire, eating the last harvest of nuts and playing divination games. Given that nuts were already close at hand, the most popular game was known as “The Oracle of the Nuts.” You simply throw the nuts into the fire with various intentions and allow the flames to tell your fortune!
The Scottish poet Robert Burns described one of these practices: “Burning the nuts is a favourite charm. They name the lad and lass to each particular nut, as they lay them in the fire; and accordingly as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one another, the course and issue of the courtship will be.” In other words, Burns is saying that the couple roast a pair of nuts together. If the nuts lie quietly together, that’s a good sign! But if one or the other jump away, the relationship is not meant to be.
Another game is for a young man who was undecided about which woman to pursue to name a nut after each choice. The nut that burns most brightly indicated the level of passion that might be aroused with that choice. A female version of the same game was to test which potential love would be most faithful. They would place nuts representing each man on a fire grate. If the nut jumped or cracked he would be unfaithful. If the nut burned brightly, he had true love in his heart for her.
In some parts of Europe the oracle was not nuts placed in a fire but eaten. Nuts would be ground into a flour and made into cakes or some kind of dessert bread. If you ate one before bed, you were supposed to have very prophetic dreams. You might even dream of your future husband!
In other places, the ground nut flour was combined with butter, sugar and sweet spices to make Soul Cakes. People would go door to door singing a song and asking for Soul Cakes. If they received one they would recite a prayer for anyone in the household, even a pet, who had died in the past year. It is said that this tradition is the origin of the current practice of going Trick or Treating.
So remember to include nuts in your Halloween celebration and have a Happy Halloween!
Maisie Jane’s California Sunshine Products, Inc. was founded on strong beliefs and passion for offering unique, flavorful, top-quality, nut products. We strongly believe in earth-friendly practices that start on our family owned and operated orchards. We use Organic farming practices and continue in the process by using all-natural ingredients with no preservatives or GMOs. We believe in honest, friendly and helpful customer relations at all levels. We take pride in every task, every day, with every person.
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