For many people, pumpkins represent little more than
Halloween decorations and Thanksgiving desserts. For others, they represent a bountiful source
of culinary inspiration, the key ingredient in everything from bread to
soup. Still others use them to showcase
boggling gardening feats, harvesting specimens of enormous dimension. Above all, the pumpkin is one of the most
visible signs of fall's arrival.
A pumpkin is a cultivar of the squash
plant that is round, with smooth, slightly ribbed skin and deep yellow to
orange coloration. The thick shell
contains the seeds and pulp. Pumpkins,
like other squash, are native to North America.
Pumpkins are widely grown for commercial use and are used both in food
and recreation. Pumpkin pie, for
instance, is a traditional part of Thanksgiving meals in the United
States. They are also frequently carved
as jack o' lanterns for decoration around Halloween.
A jack o' lantern
is a carved vegetable, associated chiefly with the holiday of Halloween,
and was maybe named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat
bogs, called will-o'-the-wisp
or jack-o'-lantern.
A will-o'-the-wisp are atmospheric ghost lights seen by travelers at
night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes.
It resembles a flickering lamp and is said to recede if approached,
drawing travelers from the safe paths.
The phenomenon is known by a variety of names, including jack-o'-lantern, friars's lantern, hinkypunk
and hobby lantern in English
folk belief, well attested in English folklore and in much of European
folklore. In European folklore, these
lights are held to be either mischievous spirits of the dead, or other
supernatural beings or spirits such as fairies, attempting to lead travelers
astray.
The origin
of jack o' lantern carving is uncertain.
The carving of vegetables has been a common practice in many parts of
the world, with gourds being the earliest plant species domesticated by human's
c. 10,000 years ago, primarily for their carving potential. Gourds were used to carve lanterns by the
Maori over 700 years ago. According to
historian Hutton, in the 19th century, Samhain guises in parts of Ireland and
the Scottish Highlands commonly used jack o' lanterns made from turnips and
mangelwurzels. They placed an ember in
them to ward off evil spirits. Others
claim that the jack o' lanterns originated with All Saints' Day and All Souls'
Day and represented Christian souls in purgatory.
The Native American
tribes used pumpkin as a source of food for years before white men even set
foot on their soil. The first example of
the jack o' lantern appearing in American literature is in an 1837 story by
Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote The Scarlet Letter.
The carved lantern didn't become
associated with Halloween until around the time of the Civil War.
It has
become tradition among many Pagans and Witches to mark the four quarters of the
Samhain circle with jack o' lanterns and/or set one in a window or on a porch
as a beacon to Spirits. The candle flame
represents the element of Fire and the white light of pure Spirit, both very
appropriate to the season.
In a jack o' lantern, the
top is cut off the pumpkin to form a lid, and the inside flesh then scooped
out; an image, usually a monstrous face, is carved out of the pumpkin's rind to
expose the hollow interior. To create
the lantern effect, a light source is placed within before the lid is closed. This is traditionally a flame or electric
candle, though pumpkin lights featuring various colors and flickering effects
are also marketed specifically for this purpose. It is common to see jack o' lanterns on
doorsteps and otherwise used as decorations during Halloween. Today, not all pumpkins are carved. Some are painted, glued, inked, glittered, stacked
and more.
It is the
candle inside the pumpkin that has magical significance. Carve the rune Eihwaz or Othala into the wax for
communication with other realms. An
ancestral name could be carved into the candle as well. It also might be anointed with patchouli oil
or graveyard dust.
Pumpkins
are very versatile in their uses for cooking.
Most parts of the pumpkin are edible, including the fleshy shell, the
seeds, the leaves and even the flowers. Ancestors
didn't waste anything usable. While the
jack o' lantern and candle works outside, the seeds and meat can be used for
gatherings such as a Dumb Supper.
Pumpkins
are low in calories but high in fiber.
They are also a good connection to the ancestors. Today jack o' lanterns are a symbol of
harvest celebrations. Above all, they
are fun.
Jack of the Lantern
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Thanks for sharing!
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