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A week into the month of October and people are enjoying the change of seasons. As we already see pictures of fall foliage taking over social media, people are also excited to ring in their Halloween 2020 celebrations. The celebrations this time will be different because of the social distancing protocols amid a pandemic, but the idea to decorate homes, carve pumpkins and enjoy special treats still gets most people excited. But are you also curious about all the associations of Halloween with pumpkin? We do not mean the Jack-O'-lanterns but also the pumpkin recipes that are specially prepared this time around. Let us know why pumpkin is associated with Halloween and this season in particular. Is Halloween 2020 Cancelled? Some Netizens Are Not Looking Forward to The Spooky Festival Celebrations as 2020 Has Been Scary Enough (Check Tweets).
Pumpkins are a seasonal fruit. They are ripe and found in plenty amount in the season of fall, so that explains why a lot of people indulge in all dishes and special items made with them. It has almost become a tradition over the years to have pumpkin spice latte to pumpkin pies. Some even use pumpkin seeds for medicinal purposes. But the use of pumpkin as Halloween decoration goes back in Irish history.
The History of Jack-O'-Lanterns
An Irish folklore states, Jack was a blacksmith and he was very stingy. He had tricked the devil for his own gain. So after he died, he was denied entrance into heaven or hell. Jack was sentenced to roam the earth for eternity. The devil gave him a piece of coal to light his way back. Jack then decided to carve out a turnip, place the coal inside and made a lantern. His ghost was called the "Jack of the Lantern" which is now called "Jack-0-lantern".
In Ireland, people began to carve out turnips, making demonic faces on them to scare away Jack's wandering soul. When Irish immigrants moved to the US, the tradition continued but with pumpkins as they were readily available. The entire idea is to scare away evil spirits so the jack-o-lanterns are placed outside homes during this time of the year. Over time, they became a prominent Halloween decor and now a must-have tradition to have carved out pumpkins at the door. Not all pumpkin carvings need to be scary but it has become a famous tradition of the festival.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 08, 2020 04:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
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