Lanterns Halloween and Pumpkins

November 2, 2023

I have never been a great supporter of Halloween. For one thing the idea of ghosts and witches and little devils fills me with dread. I’m not even keen on Green Men and things like that – yeh, you guessed it – a softie.

Old friends shake their heads sadly at me, implying that I am spurning the feast of All Hallows. I suppose I ought to be speeding to church for All Saints Day on November 1^st an All Souls on the second – but I don’t.

The way it appears to me today – the whole Halloween thing has become a bit spooky and tied up with myth.

I gather the Irish are to blame – poor people they get blamed for all sorts of things. It is said that a certain Stingy Jack cheated the devil for his own monetary gain. When Jack died God wouldn’t allow him in to heaven and the Devil wouldn’t allow him in Hell, so Jack was condemned to wander the earth for ever. In Ireland people began carving the faces of demons out of turnips and put candles in them. This, it was hoped would scare Jack away. The people from Ireland who emigrated to America continued the custom but used pumpkins as an alternative to turnips.

Somehow into the middle of all this came the Irish Festival of the turn of the year Samhain. A quick thinking Pope Gregory transferred the Christian feast of All Saints to November 1^st Yet again the church played a trump card to convert a pagan festival into a Christian one.

(That last sentence should ensure I get critical emails telling me that Celts were not pagans – very true!)

However as a photographer I could not resist a photographic opportunity to capture a “House of Pumpkins” There were all sorts and all sizes on offer.

Perhaps like the Irish (those in the Republic) we could adopt their Bank Holiday. I think we need one at this time of year. Maybe we could take over the pumpkins and carve the faces of our favourite politicians. Would anyone notice the difference?