Carved Pumpkins or Jack-o-Lanterns have become the main symbol of
Halloweeen, but how did the whole carving of pumpkins idea come to
pass?
In order to understand the history of pumpkin carving, we need to first look at the history of Halloween itself.
Halloween is based an an biggest and most significant ancient Celtic Holiday called Samhain
(Sah-ween), meaning Summer's end. The holiday was a night to remember
and honor those that have passed away and was celebrated on the night
with the least amount of light, October 31st, this day also marks the
beginning of Winter in the Celtic calendar. Celtics beleived that this
was the time of the year when the souls of loved ones who died that year
would then travel to the underworld. Becasue of this, it was believed
that Samhain was the time when ghosts would be present most in their
world.
The Celtics used to carve gourds and turnips and set
them on in their windows or on their porches to welcome their dead
loved ones and act as protection against evil ghosts. Instead of the
candles used today, burning lumps of coal were used to light the
jack-o-lanterns.
With the spread of Christianity and a desire to wipe out what they
considered to be "pagan" practicies and holidays, these holidays began
to be usurped and used by christians as their own and through this
process over time the Halloween as we know it today was born.
Pumpkins were not available in the eastern world, and after the
settlers arived in America, they found the large sized native pumpkins
made for better jack-o-lanterns. This is why today in America we carve
pumpkins.
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