Valentine One: Pumpkin Faces

Wednesday 16 January 2013

Pumpkin Faces

Pumpkin carving is thought to come from Ireland, where turnips, mangelwurzel or beets were used.[1][2] Turnip lanterns, sometimes with faces carved into them, were made on the Gaelic festival of Samhain (31 October–1 November) in Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.[3] Samhain was a time when fairies and spirits were said to be active.[4] The purpose of these lanterns may have been threefold. They may have been used to light one's way while outside on Samhain night; to represent the spirits and otherworldly beings; and/or to protect oneself and one's home from them.[5] Bettina Arnold writes that they were sometimes set on windowsills to keep them out of one's home.[6] However, others suggest that they originated with All Saints' Day (1 November)/All Souls' Day (2 November) and that they represented Christian souls in purgatory.