It’s The Magic Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

It’s the Magic Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

It’s that time of year again! Break out the carving tools and prepare to be elbows deep in seeds, pulp, and fun! However while carving, think about why you are doing it. Lost for answers? I was too…

What is Pumpkin Carving?

We all know about Pumpkin Carving but where did it come from? Surely it is all in good fun right? Well, close, they are carved as a festive decoration to imitate the glare sometimes seen in swamps. Why would people try to imitate that though? It all goes back to a traditional Irish story about Stingy Jack.

“Jack was not a pleasant man in any way; he liked to cheat and steal to make his money. One day when Jack was passing through a town he saw a beautiful church. It had a large steeple and many small golden crosses. As the people departed the church from Sunday Mass Jack snuck in and stole all of their gold crosses and their donations from the collection plates. Now a very wealthy Jack started to make way to the nearest pub.

While drinking away his new found fortune his misdeed was found out.  The owner of the establishment noticed all of the coins Jack was paying with and accused him of stealing the Church’s donations and gold crosses. As Jack ran from the mob he saw a black robed figure that stood like an immoveable wall. When Jack approached he noticed that it was death himself. Jacks time had come, but he was not willing to die yet. With his wits around him Jack decided to fool Death.

The thief stalled his death by tempting Death with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told Death to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (Death could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin/Death disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. Death agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack’s wallet, only to find him next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the Church. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped Death of his powers; and so he was trapped.

Jack would not let Death go until Death agreed to never take his soul to Hell. Many years later Jack died as all living things do, but Death could not take him to Hell and obviously he could not go to heaven. So to guide him through the mortal world Death gave him an ever burning ember from the depths of hell. Because the ember burnt so much Jack put it a rotten pumpkin and carved holes so he could see the world.”

The Jack O Lantern is a way to see the world more clearly and avoid Death. Pretty neat history for something so mundane!