This an actual carved turnip. The one the only the original Jack O' Lantern!!! but then a big round orange gourd moves in the neighborhood and takes over! He does not even have to grow underground! He gets all the sun, the praise, treated like a celebrity and the recognition for the job you did for 10o years and what do you get? Made into soup.The nerve!
Only one day before Halloween and I wanted to share the folk tale that started the whole reason for carving out a pumpkin and lighting it on Halloween. It really had nothing to do with All Hallows Eve but, like the Christmas tree(pagan origin way way way before Christianity this story will come at Christmas time), which has nothing whatsoever to do with the birth of Christ, once one person starts a trend and you live during a time with no TV, radio, record player etc. any diversion is wonderful. And when it has caught on as a trend, everyone starts doing it. When the holiday is only one day a year and the main decoration reflects the artistic talent and pride of the home owner, competition to "keep up with the Jones's" is bound to follow. The great things about envy, pride and vanity (3 of 7DS ) are that they spawn better and better displays.
an aside note: The reasons and story behind the carving and lighting of a pumpkin on Halloween are deeply rooted in the Catholic religion which makes the
pumpkin aka
Jack O Lantern, a true Christian religious symbol to represent purgatory, where as the Christmas tree comes from a Pagan tradition. The amazing paradox is the day associated with evil, witches and all things unholy has it's major icon representing a lesson of what happens when you fail God. The Christmas tree, used for the day of all good, kindness, and honoring the Messiah,which all Christians use to mark and celebrate the birth of Christ, very well could be considered blasphemy because it's true purpose is to honor the Pagan gods . Direct violation of one of the ten commandments "Thou Shall Have No Other God's Before Me"!
History of the Jack O'Lantern
The Irish brought the tradition of the Jack O'Lantern to America. But, the original Jack O'Lantern was not a pumpkin.The Jack O'Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History. As the story goes, Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who liked to play tricks on everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. Once the Devil climbed up the apple tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. The Devil was then unable to get down the tree. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses and let the Devil down.
Many years later, when Jack finally died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was too mean and too cruel and had led a miserable and worthless life on earth. He was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared and had nowhere to go but to wander about forever in the darkness between heaven and hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out Turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".
On all Hallow's eve, the Irish hollowed out Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack O'Lanterns. In the 1800's a couple of waves of Irish immigrants came to America. The Irish immigrants quickly discovered that Pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out. So they used pumpkins for Jack O'Lanterns
an aside note: The reasons and story behind the carving and lighting of a pumpkin on Halloween are deeply rooted in the Catholic religion which makes the
pumpkin aka
Jack O Lantern, a true Christian religious symbol to represent purgatory, where as the Christmas tree comes from a Pagan tradition. The amazing paradox is the day associated with evil, witches and all things unholy has it's major icon representing a lesson of what happens when you fail God. The Christmas tree, used for the day of all good, kindness, and honoring the Messiah,which all Christians use to mark and celebrate the birth of Christ, very well could be considered blasphemy because it's true purpose is to honor the Pagan gods . Direct violation of one of the ten commandments "Thou Shall Have No Other God's Before Me"!
History of the Jack O'Lantern
The Irish brought the tradition of the Jack O'Lantern to America. But, the original Jack O'Lantern was not a pumpkin.The Jack O'Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History. As the story goes, Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who liked to play tricks on everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. Once the Devil climbed up the apple tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. The Devil was then unable to get down the tree. Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the devil promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses and let the Devil down.
Many years later, when Jack finally died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was too mean and too cruel and had led a miserable and worthless life on earth. He was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and would not allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared and had nowhere to go but to wander about forever in the darkness between heaven and hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell to help him light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out Turnip, one of his favorite foods which he always carried around with him whenever he could steal one. For that day onward, Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his "Jack O'Lantern".
On all Hallow's eve, the Irish hollowed out Turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack O'Lanterns. In the 1800's a couple of waves of Irish immigrants came to America. The Irish immigrants quickly discovered that Pumpkins were bigger and easier to carve out. So they used pumpkins for Jack O'Lanterns
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