Mystery: This is the story behind carving pumpkins on Halloween

In October, the pumpkin is not only served on the table at Zoetermeren. The orange vegetable is also used as decoration. Now that Halloween is gaining ground in the Netherlands, you can spot more and more pumpkins at houses in Zoetermeers. Often hollowed out and with a creepy face. Where does hollowing out pumpkins come from?

There do according to magazine Quest two stories are told about the origins of hollowing out pumpkins. Anyone who thinks that this tradition originated in America is wrong. We can look for this closer to home; both theories start in Europe.

Exorcising evil spirits

The first is about the ancient Celts. These people celebrated a festival called Samhain around October 31, the end of the harvest season. It was believed that during Samhain the spirits of the deceased could visit earth. To protect themselves from evil spirits, the Celts made lanterns from tubers and beets. They carved scary faces into these vegetables and placed candles in them.

When the Celts emigrated to America, they discovered pumpkins. A vegetable that was available in abundance and much easier to cut. The tubers and beets were slowly replaced by these orange ones.

Legend of Jack

The second theory has its origins in Ireland. A man named Jack is said to have deceived the devil twice. He had convinced the devil to leave Jack alone for ten years. In case of death, the devil was not allowed to take Jack to hell. The man died. He couldn’t go to hell, but he wasn’t welcome in heaven either because of his tricks. According to legend, Jack was doomed to wander forever and used a hollowed out tuber with a candle inside to light his path. To scare Jack, the Irish carved scary faces into vegetables. They put a candle in it and placed the deterrent in front of their houses.

Here too, after the emigration of Irish people to America, the pumpkin became much more popular to use as a repellent. This story gave rise to the term ‘jack-o’-lantern’ which is another name for hollowed out pumpkin. Nowadays, carving and decorating pumpkins is purely decorative.

Source: Quest.