Spooky Jack O Lantern

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People just love carving pumpkins on Halloween. Carved pumpkins are a sure sign of this holiday. The beginning of this tradition is a tragic tale from Celtic folklore. Once there was a farmer named Jack who got quite drunk. One time he played a trick on the Devil and when he died he found out that he could not get into either Heaven or Hell. So having no choice he had to wander in the darkness of purgatory. He needed some light to see so since there were no pumpkins he carved a turnip and made a lantern. He lit the lantern by burning a lump of coal which the Devil had tossed to him from hell. This folktale reminds me of the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas”. Even though the story is not a happy one people eventually changed from carving turnips to carving pumpkins. I have always loved to carve pumpkins in all kinds of different faces. The photo is of one of the last pumpkins I carved in Latvia even though they do not celebrate Halloween except at schools and students at bars. We always did a bit of celebrating at home. Do you carve a pumpkin on Halloween?