Carved Pumpkins or Jack-o-Lanterns have become the main symbol of Halloweeen, but how did the whole carving of pumpkins idea come to pass?
In order to understand the history of pumpkin carving, we need to first look at the history of Halloween itself.
Halloween is based an an biggest and most significant ancient Celtic Holiday called Samhain (Sah-ween), meaning Summer's end. The holiday was a night to remember and honor those that have passed away and was celebrated on the night with the least amount of light, October 31st, this day also marks the beginning of Winter in the Celtic calendar. Celtics beleived that this was the time of the year when the souls of loved ones who died that year would then travel to the underworld. Becasue of this, it was believed that Samhain was the time when ghosts would be present most in their world.
The Celtics used to carve gourds and turnips and set them on in their windows or on their porches to welcome their dead loved ones and act as protection against evil ghosts. Instead of the candles used today, burning lumps of coal were used to light the jack-o-lanterns.
With the spread of Christianity and a desire to wipe out what they considered to be "pagan" practicies and holidays, these holidays began to be usurped and used by christians as their own and through this process over time the Halloween as we know it today was born.
Pumpkins were not available in the eastern world, and after the settlers arived in America, they found the large sized native pumpkins made for better jack-o-lanterns. This is why today in America we carve pumpkins.
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