Hello and welcome to Day 25 of Countdown to Halloween.
Today's haunting is the story the original Irish Jack-O-Lanterns carved from turnips instead of pumpkins.
The video is one of many tales with this one spinning the tale of a man named Stingy Jack who invited the devil for a drink and tricked him and when Jacked died he lived in Purgatory as the was accepted in neither Heaven or Hell and the Devil gave Jack a coal to light his want and he carved out a turnip to carry it in to roam the Earth through eternity.
Wikipedia indicates it is believed the tradition originated in 18th Century Ireland and were made to represent supernatural beings and ward off evil spirits or represent Catholic souls in purgatory.
I have to admit they do look menacing, especially the one with bloody teeth carved in it.
Have you or would you ever carve a turnip?
Thank you for stopping by and be sure to check out the other participants of this year's Countdown to Halloween at the link below
Freaky with a capital F!
ReplyDeleteIrish!? Och, no...
ReplyDeleteHalloween is generally a Celtic tradition, celebrated equally by the Scots, Irish and Welsh, and there's a lot of debate about where it actually started! It's about the only thing I patriotically protect as a Scot!
But aye, what I'm trying to say is we've had 'neep' lanterns for just as long! And yes, they are very often far scarier than the slightly friendlier-looking pumpkins! ;)