Let’s begin our season journey with the old classic a jack – o’ – lantern. This fun and wonderful pumpkin-carved face is an American tradition that has its roots in old Irish and Celtic traditions. When the Irish immigrated to the Americas and found the native pumpkin with its hollow core they found it much easier to carve than their old world counterparts.
Back in Ireland, this tradition was done with root vegetables such as potato, and mangelwurzel which is part of the beet family the final root is a turnip but not what Americans call a turnip although if it was large enough you could. No the Turnip of Europe is actually a rutabaga. All of these roots are much more difficult to carve than a pumpkin, yet the end result is something creepy with the look of a shrunken head a fun alternative to the pumpkin.
The start of the jack – o’ – lantern goes back to an old myth of a stingy, mean, old blacksmith named Jack who loved to prank and trick people. One day Jack supposedly tricked the devil himself. When Jack finally died he was too evil to enter heaven and the devil was letting him into hell. As a gift, the devil did give him a piece of coal to light his way as he was condemned to roam the earth for eternity. What Jack did was carve a face out of a turnip which he then placed the piece of coal in which in turn lilt his way.
As you guessed we still do that today just not to light our way. Jack – o’ – lanterns are used to welcome deceased family members, keep away spirits of malis intent, and bring forth wishes a fun tradition that people of all ages love to participate in. For a change of pace or to even add to your carving display you may want to try your hand at carving a root vegetable. They are much harder than a pumpkin and you will need to hollow it out before you can carve it. The end result will be worth it and you will connect to the ancients plus you will get a true feel in the work it took to set up these protections.
Whatever you choose to do have fun with it and don’t forget to enchant your jack to not only protect but also welcome your diciest family members so you may celebrate the new year in style.
Blessings,
High Elder Redhawk
