#125: Jack-o’-Lanterns
Lighting up the dark, dark night of All Hallow’s Eve
It’s that time of year again, when the leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping, and there are pumpkins on my doorstep. Halloween has been and gone, and today is All Saints Day, November 1st. It is the beginning of a new month, and Christmas is drawing closer.
Yet there are still pumpkins outside my door. Or, to be more exact, one pumpkin, a collection of oranges, and a turnip. When the shops run out of pumpkins, you have to be inventive. And I must say, the inside of oranges are a lot tastier than the insides of pumpkins (except when they are made into a pumpkin pie of course).
Forget the candy or the dressing up, it’s the jack-o’-lanterns which are my favourite part of Halloween, because first you have to make them. These particular jack-o’-lanterns were made the night before Halloween in the company of friends and laughter, as we attempted to carve impressive faces into the sides of our various vegetables and fruit. When you finally have your finished carving it is a proud moment to light the tea-lights, switch off the lights, and stand back to admire your creative efforts, glimmering in the dark on the windowsill. It is this flickering orange light which becomes a comforting light on your doorstep, inviting people to come and knock on your door for ‘trick-or-treat’. And in the coming weeks these jack-o’-lanterns will start to rot, because they are only made of perishable materials, and their faces will melt, making them look a lot creepier than they do now.
On Halloween jack-o’-lanterns are the temporary lanterns used to light the paths of trick-or-treaters on that dark night. And, like all Halloween traditions, they have various potential symbolisms. While the term most likely originally referred to a man carrying a lantern, they have moved into spookier territory now, as some people say that jack-o’-lanterns are evil spirits, while others say that they are placed on doorsteps to ward off the evil spirits wandering the streets on that spooky night. To add to their complicated existence they have also been linked with the folklorish will-o’-the-wisp, an enticing host-light in the forest, leading travellers off the beaten path.
Maybe jack-o’-lanterns are the contained versions of these will-o’-the-wisps? They provide a container or cage for that enticing light, which can no longer wander and lead travellers into unsafe territory. Jack-o’-lanterns trap a potentially dangerous light within the orange bowl of a pumpkin, and as this light illuminates the wacky faces which have been carved into it, it lights up safe paths for those travellers of the street on All Hallow’s Eve, guiding us on until the new day dawns on All Saints’ Day, and Christmas approaches.
