It is amazing to see scary pumpkin-head lanterns giving that toothy smile and finding a favor on Halloween for so long. Actually, Jack-o-Lanterns owe their origin to the ancient ceremony of feasting and welcoming the dead by the living, a custom that was quite prevalent in almost all the communities in the past. With time, this ceremony combined with the popular art of making masks that were believed to embody the deities and spirits, to give birth to the tradition of carving pumpkins as Jack-o-Lanterns.
There was a time when people used to keep relics of their ancestors in the form of heirlooms. Even their bones, such as the skull, was saved and used to honor them on celebrations and festivities, inviting them to join the parties and festivities. These bones of the ancestors and patriarchs were kept safe over generations and were considered sacred for the reason that old religions believed in presence of ghosts everywhere.
It was thought that the dead were only the altered form of living spirits. People used to invite their deceased relatives and ancestors to a party, by putting their skull at the meal, along with other members of the family. Since Halloween originates from the pagan festival Samhain, this pagan tradition got transported to the present in an altered form, where a pumpkin is carved to look like a person’s head and made a part of all Halloween celebrations.
Halloween calls for pumpkin carving and indulging in artistic endeavors. You can fire your imaginations and use your creativity to the hilt in carving pumpkins. People with good artistic and craft skills prefer carving their pumpkins freehand, but those with underdeveloped artistic skills can still create beautiful and detailed designs on their pumpkin by using stencils for their carvings.
Jack-o-Lanterns are the most important symbols of Halloween and the celebrations are incomplete without them. They have a traditional association with the holiday. Carving Jack-O-Lanterns on pumpkins is a very famous Halloween activity amongst children and adults. People also use them as decorations on the Halloween day.