The trouble with Hallowe'en

Did you know that Hallowe'en originated from Ireland? It's not surprising that not many people are aware of that fact. As a child, exactly what that meant the books never really explained but I knew from movies the Americans had a great deal of fun celebrating it. Besides, any festival that involved ghosts, skeletons, dressing up, doing clever things with exotic vegetables and annoying grumpy neighbours just had to be fun, right?

Hence at age 29 going 30, I carved my first pumpkin-this personage is called Jack O' Lantern. But why are pumpkins made into lanterns? And why is it called Jack O' Lantern?

The word Hallowe'en derives from All Hallow's Eve. It is celebrated the night of the 31st of October, the evening before All Hallows Day or more popularly known as All Saint's Day. Hallowe'en was originally a pagan festival of the dead. Celts in Ireland had a festival called 'Samhain' (pronounced 'sow-in'), which marked the official end of summer and the beginning of the Celtic New Year. On this night the souls of the dead were said to come out and move freely in the land of the living. The tradition of Hallawe'en was taken to the United States by Irish immigrants, and it is now spreading in Europe and other parts of the world. In addition to the souls of the dead, the Devil, witches and numerous spirits are believed to be out, and at the peak of their supernatural powers. How spooky is that!

What is 'Trick or Treat'?
According to an old Irish peasant practice, villager would go from house to house to ask for soul cakes(bread made with currants) in return for promises of prosperity or protection against bad luck. Nowadays, children and teenagers go from house to house asking for small gifts of money, fruit or sweets in return for not playing tricks on the people inside.

So back to why pumpkins are made into lanterns. Well, the Irish legend has it that when a notorious drunkard called Jack died, he was refused entry to Heaven because of his meanness, and he was banned from Hell because he had tricked the Devil on several occasions. However, the Devil gave him a piece of coal to help him find his way in the dark of purgatory, which Jack put into a turnip to make a lantern. The Irish made similar lanterns but when they migrated to America they could not find many turnips so they used pumpkins instead!

So there you go, a scoop on this mysterious festival called Hallowe'en!