Turnip
Your Lanterns!
By Katharine Clark, Photos (and turnips!) by Darren Peets
We are all accustomed to seeing our familiar bright orange pumpkins this time of year, carved into leering or wickedly grinning Jack O’Lanterns. They’re fun, they’re messy in a nice way, and they let our creative juices – as well as pumpkin guts –flow! However, in the beginning, not only were these vegetable patch pals serious business, they weren’t even pumpkins.
Back in old Ireland it was believed that on the Eve of Samhain (America’s Halloween) those that had passed on were able to come back in spirit and visit their loved ones left behind. However, friendly spirits weren’t the only ones allowed to roam free! Mischievous ghosts and even darker creatures were free to walk the night as well.
In order to welcome their loved ones, but keep evil at bay, folks would put a lantern in each window of any room where a person had died. (Back in those days, people were not sent to hospitals but cared for at home until they slipped away). If a family had lived in a home for generations, almost every window would need a lantern. Those made of metal and using oil could be quite costly, and usually reserved for use in the barn, or for sewing or reading in the evenings. A simpler solution was needed, and it was outside, growing in the fields.
Ireland did not have a native pumpkin plant, but it did have turnips. They were plentiful, large enough to hollow out, and the shell that was then created was sturdy enough to stand up to the heat of a candle. It could safely hold a burning light throughout the night, welcoming the dearly departed back home.
Yet, there was another problem. How do you welcome those you love in, while keeping dark forces out? It was believed that dark spirits were frightened away from those homes where people remained on watch against them. It was clear that hard working farmers could not stay up all night staring out the windows… but the turnips could! By carving faces into the front of the turnips, the light could shine even brighter to welcome in friendly spirits, and would resemble a fierce human face to ward off the rest. Jack O’Lantern was born.
In 1842, during the Irish potato famine, Irish folks immigrated to America in large numbers, seeking a new life and a new beginning. However, they brought many of their old customs with them. Here in the States, old ways found new expression. Using turnips for Samhain carving gave way to using a different vegetable, plentiful and cheap, especially in the East, and ready to harvest just in time for Samhain. The pumpkin was also orange, but much larger and with a much tougher shell than turnips. They were closer in size to the human head as well, and afforded more space to carve even more interesting faces and expressions. They could even be dressed up with hats, pipes and scarves.
In America, it became less common for folks to live out their days at home, but a Jack O’Lantern could still be placed in a window or on the front porch to welcome and guide the spirits from the old land and the new, and as a reminder to us all to be careful what we welcome into our homes that night. Along with the treat of being surrounded by loving spirits, is the trick waiting to be played by mischievous forces.