Tomorrow we begin the month of October. October gives us a full month of colorful autumn and ends with the spooky day of Halloween. There are people who enjoy this holiday especially children and those who think it a pagan event. Personally I have always enjoyed Halloween just for the fun of it with nothing other than that. A kind of autumn celebration with carved pumpkins, colorful leaves and the ghosts and ghoulies just for fun. That is how I look at Halloween. Unfortunately here in Latvia they are not into this holiday and only children at school dress up but afterwards don’t go trick or treating and young adults enjoy going a bit crazy in the pubs in Riga.
In the U.S. it is common to see carved pumpkins most everywhere and in some other parts of the world as well. There are also gourd-like orange fruits that get carved with ghoulish face and illuminated by candles. Actually the tradition of carving pumpkins comes from an Irish folktale. This tale is about an unusual man whose name is Stingy Jack. It originated in Ireland because long ago large turnips and potatoes were used for carving faces. When Irish immigrants arrived in America they could carve out pumpkins.
The story of Stingy Jack comes from an Irish myth where Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Since Stingy jack didn’t want to pay for his drink he tried to get the
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On the other hand the Devil was still upset about the trick Stingy Jack had played on him and since he had given his word not to claim Jack’s soul then the Devil didn’t want to let Jack into hell. Instead the Devil sent Stingy Jack into the dark of night with only a burning coal to light the way. He put this coal into a carved out turnip and ever since has been roaming the Earth. The Irish started referring to this ghostly character as “Jack of the Lantern” which later simply became Jack O’