People all across the country carve pumpkins in celebration of Halloween. Many people, however, don’t think about the historical origins of this widely held Halloween tradition.
The tradition of carving pumpkins at Halloween comes from an old Celtic folk tale about an immoral man named Jack. According to the tale, Jack was not allowed to enter heaven, and he was actually so bad that the devil wouldn’t let him into hell. The devil sent him out to wander the world with a burning coal placed in a carved-out turnip to light his way, which is where the term “jack-o-lantern” comes from.
People in Ireland began carving spooky designs in the sides of carved out turnips. They did this every year on All-Hallow’s-Eve to remember the tale about Jack. When Irish settlers began to arrive in America, they discovered that a pumpkin was much easier to carve than a turnip, so each Halloween they would carve pumpkins to remember their native folk tale. That is how the tradition of carving pumpkins for Halloween originated.
No comments:
Post a Comment