People have been carving pumpkins as long as I can remember. Some are better at it than others. How did this tradition start? It actually starts from a Irish myth about a man called Stingy Jack. Here is how the myth goes, Stingy Jack invited the devil to have a drink with him. Of course stingy jack didn't want to pay for his drink. He convinced the devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to pay for their drinks. The devil turned himself into a coin.Well Jack decided to keep the coin and he put it into his pocket next to a silver cross. That prevented the devil from changing back.
Jack did change the devil back but under certain conditions. The devil could not bother jack for one year and the devil could not claim jack's soul. The following year the devil was tricked by jack again. Jack convinced the devil to climb a tree to get a piece of fruit. While the devil was in the tree,jack carved a cross into that same tree. Which prevented the devil from climbing down. Jack did this so that the devil would not bother him for another 10 years. Not to much later after that Jack died. For some reason God would not allow Jack into heaven. The devil ,still mad about the tricks Jack played on him, would not allow jack into hell. Also he promised jack he would not claim his soul. He sent jack into the dark night with nothing but a burning piece of coal for light. Jack put this coal into a carved out turnip.He has been roaming the earth ever since.
That is how the Irish myth goes.The Irish began to refer to this ghost as Jack of the Lantern. Then they shortened it to Jack O' Lantern. In Scotland and Ireland people began to carve scary faces into turnips or potatoes. England used large beets.Then they would place them into windows or doors to keep Stingy Jack away.Immigrants brought this tradition with them into America.Remember I do not mean to offend anyone by this posting. I just thought people would be interested to know the origins of pumpkin carving.
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