Who said romance is dead? The ghosts of Halloweens past, probably. While we now associate the holiday with spooks and frights, historically, celebrations on All Hallows’ Eve came with an element of … love? A host of food-related rituals, including picking sweets from a flaming fruit medley, doubled as a mix of party games and fortune-telling, Atlas Obscura reports. In Scotland, swiping kale from the field—blindfolded, in the dead of night—would determine the physical appearance and wealth of your spouse, based on the size of the stalk and amount of still-attached dirt. Throughout the United Kingdom, young women once baked a “dumb cake” in total silence to dream about their future husband. Unsurprisingly, seeing one’s future through these rituals has had mixed results at best. But one thing you can predict with certainty? Half off candy at your local drugstore on November 1.
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