Pumpkins On The North Fork

Pumpkin Picking On The North Fork Is Wonderful, Especially When You Know Why We Do It

By Nancy Keeshan

These days both local farm stands on the North Fork and pumpkin patches on the North Fork are busy with families in search of the perfect pumpkin. Nothing represents the fall season or Halloween better than the pumpkin. Most people don't know why we pick pumpkins or why we celebrate Halloween. Where did Halloween originate? Why do we make Jack-o-lanterns? Why do we trick-or-treat? Here are some answers!

The modern celebration of Halloween is a descendent of an ancient Celtic festival that dates back in Irish history over 3,000 years. The festival was called Samhain, pronounced "sow" (like cow) and "ain." This word meant "the end of summer." It was a celebration much like our own New Year's Eve and marked the end of the Celtic year. It began on the eve of October 31st and ended at sundown on November 1st.

The Celtics were an agricultural people and the end of summer marked a time when their lives changed radically. The harvest was over, the cattle were brought in from the fields and they would live mostly inside for the winter. They believed that turning points such as the end of a season or a year were magical times. During these significant times, they believed that the veil between the world of the dead and the living was so thin that the living could communicate with the dead. On the eve of this festival one could talk to the dead and say goodbye or ask for help. There wasn't anything evil about this as the Celts did not believe in heaven or hell, demons or devils. These were creations of the Christian religion that came to Ireland at a later time.

The Celts did, however, believe in fairies. These were little people that lived in mounds under the earth. During the festival of Samhain, it was said that the fairies would appear and play tricks on humans, causing all kinds of mischief. Throughout the years, it became and Irish Celtic tradition that people go from house to house imitating the fairies. They would beg for treats and goods from neighbors. Failure to supply these goods often resulted in a practical joke beginning played upon the homeowner. This was the origin of trick-or-treating.

Centuries later, Christians throughout Europe celebrated this time of year as All Saints Day on November 1st. Some people still believed in the ancient traditions and still believed that the souls of the dead would wander around on the eve before All Saints Day. They called this eve All-Hallow's Eve. To hallow means to honor as holy. This name eventually became Halloween! On Halloween, families would gather around fires in the middle of villages to feast, tell stories, and keep warm and safe during the night. Some of them would dress up in animal skins to keep warm. Some of these animal skins were sometime complete with animal heads. These were the first Halloween costumes!

The Jack-o-lantern has been made by people for centuries to celebrate Halloween. This tradition also came from Ireland although it began years after the Celts.

The story goes that there lived a man whose nickname was "Stingy Jack." One day, Jack was having a drink with the devil and did not want to pay. He convinced the devil to turn himself into coins that he would use to pay for the drinks. When the devil did so, Jack took the coins and instead of paying for the drinks, he stuffed them into his pocket next to a silver cross, preventing the devil from changing back into his own form. Jack eventually freed the devil under the condition that he would not bother him for one year and should he ever die; he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again played a trick on the devil. He told the devil to climb a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While the devil was in the tree, Jack carved a cross on the trunk of the tree so the devil could not climb down. Jack made the devil promise him that he would not bother him for another ten years, and he freed him from the tree. At the end of the story Jack dies and when his spirit makes its way to heaven, God decides that he does not want such a deceitful man in heaven. At the same time, the devil, naturally upset at Jack for his trickery and his promised never to claim Jack's soul, refused to take Jack into hell. Jack's spirit was forced to roam the earth at night with only a burning coal to light his way. Eventually Jack put the coal in a hollowed out gourd and has been roaming the earth ever since. The Irish began to refer to this spirit as the Jack of the Lantern and than Jack-o-lantern for short.

When the Irish immigrated to America during colonial times, they brought with them all of these ancient traditions and that's pretty much the whole story!

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