I Wanted To Predict My Husband When I Was 11 Too!

Once upon a time in the good ol' days of elementary and middle school, I dreamed of love much in the same way Abigail Williams and Elizabeth Paris did in Salem. Those first afflicted girls used oomancy, or "divination by eggs." Like we practiced ourselves in class, the small bit of divination involved pouring an egg white into a "Venus Glass" filled with hot water. Depending on what the shape of the egg white resembled, the girls could guess at their future husband's occupation. It was seemingly fun and harmless, and yet it became a massive source of blame for their later afflicted state in court. 

John Hale's account of the events confirmed as much. He claimed the girls "did try with an egg and a glass to find [their] future husband's calling; till there came a coffin, that is, a specter in the likeness of a coffin. And [they] were afterward followed with diabolical molestation... A just warning to others, to take heed of handling the Devil's weapons," (The Salem Witch Hunt: A Brief History With Documents, 54-55). 

While our methods as girls weren't quite so messy (or dare I say, scientific?), I can recall with fondness one trick I participated in to indulge my desire to know the future.

We didn't have a name for it, and I honestly can't remember when I learned this game, but it all started at lunchtime. We'd gather around our tables in the cafeteria and check our lunch boxes for the magic fruit: an apple.

If you were lucky enough to have one, you pulled it out and delicately began twisting the stem. For every twist, you'd say the corresponding letter of the alphabet. One twist for "A," two twists for "B," and so on.

When the stem fell off the apple, the letter you last spoke was either the first initial of your crush or the first initial of your future husband! Naturally, we tried to rig the game as much as we could, especially if your poor crush was named Alex or Victor. Took a certain skill of strength to reinforce our hopes.

The game is widely known, and plenty of people have throwback videos on TikTok indulging in the act of fortune-telling, usually to see if the trick mirrors whomever they ended up with.

I started to wonder if this game had any more magical or devilish roots, and if the apple itself held any symbolism our silly game overlooked. I decided to dive into some research about the childish game of divination to see if I may have been just as susceptible to witchy affliction back in the late 1600s if I'd been caught twisting an apple's stem. Is it any different than oomancy?

More widely associated with the mantra "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," the fruit actually has several links to myths and magics. "The fruit eaten by Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden in Christian mythology is often said to be an apple," and thus is "linked to truth-seeking and divine knowledge." 

The apple is also present in much Greek mythology, usually representing youth and strength, and occasionally fertility. But it's present in Norse and Irish mythology too, as well as Wiccan rituals and medicinal magic.

Here are some interesting pieces of lore associated with apples:

"Wiccan lore views apples as a sacred symbol."

"A common bit of marriage folklore says that, if an unmarried woman peels an apple in one long, continuous piece, then throws it over her shoulder, the peel will fall in the shape of the first letter of her future spouse’s name."

"Apple blossoms are a great ingredient for love magic. Their action is said to be gently seductive. They are also used for peace, contentment, and success. This suggests that they’d be a useful addition to any spell for attracting happiness into one’s life."

"There are countless other appearances of the apple in stories of old. There is Avalon, meaning Isle of Apples, from Arthurian legend, the land of the fairies and the dead that’s ruled over by Morgan le Fay. There is Merlin the magician, who lived and worked in a grove of apple trees, ingesting fruit from his orchard that gave him sight and the power of prophecy."

"The apple has also been depicted in ancient stories and fairy tales as being quite the opposite of life-giving, instead seen as ominous, dangerous, and even poisonous. Think of the Garden of Eden, or the story of Snow White by the Brothers Grimm. The poisonous apple in this story is 'beautiful to look upon, pale with rosy cheeks, and everyone who saw it longed for it, but whoever ate of it was certain to die.'"

"When it comes to witchcraft and magic, the apple historically has strong associations with love... divination... knowledge and wisdom... Witches, as well as the pagan Celts and Druids, knew the secret that the apple holds—that within it, the seeds form a perfect pentagram resembling earth, air, fire, and water bound by spirit. The apple has a strong connection to the pagan sabbat Samhain (October 31 to November 1) and is considered the food of the dead."

"Apple love divination has a long history. You might try this age-old ritual traditionally performed on Halloween night: To see a vision of your future partner, turn out the lights, light a candle, cut an apple into nine pieces, and eat eight of them while gazing in the mirror. Pierce the ninth piece with your paring knife and hold it over your shoulder. The apparition of your future partner is said to appear to you and take it."

"Apples also were held in high regard in my Puerto Rican household growing up as apples can help divine one’s future.  See, when you twist the stem off of an apple, you are supposed to recite the A,B,Cs until the stem twists off. When it comes off, you are to note the letter you were at. That letter, depending on the quirkiness meter of your family, can signify: the first letter of your future spouse’s name, could be the first letter of the name of the person who is giving you the evil eye, or it could be the method by which someone is trying to blacken your cloud (curse you, give you bad luck, etc)."

So the exact tracing of how the stem twisting game became commonplace in my childhood isn't entirely clear, but it's evident that apples as a tool of love, divination, and magic have roots across cultural practices. I've yet to be afflicted (and in yet to confirm my future husband) but perhaps I should be a tad warier about the apple's magical roots before I revert to my 11-year-old methods of fortune-telling...