{"id":12720,"date":"2023-10-28T09:50:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T13:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/?p=12720"},"modified":"2024-10-17T11:33:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T15:33:50","slug":"turnips-the-original-king-of-halloween","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/turnips-the-original-king-of-halloween\/","title":{"rendered":"Turnips: The Original King of Halloween"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Declan Murphy<\/span><\/p>\n

Edited by Julia Georgescu<\/span><\/p>\n

Designed by Fatima Khan<\/span><\/p>\n

Published by Kiritika Rana<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The big, orange pumpkin Jack-O\u2019Lantern is a major icon of Halloween today, but the holiday was once ruled by a very different king – the humble turnip.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The modern Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the beginning of the colder dying season after the harvest. (The word \u201cSamhain\u201d is pronounced as <\/span>Sa-wane<\/span><\/i>, and means \u201cSummer\u2019s End\u201d in Gaelic.) During this holiday, people believed that the veil between the spirit world and the living world would become thin, allowing entities to pass back and forth between them. People would light bonfires and lanterns to ward off the dark, and dress in scary costumes to ward off restless spirits and evil.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the regions of Ireland and Scotland became Catholic, October 31st became \u201cAll Hallow\u2019s Eve,\u201d the night before All Saints\u2019 Day on November 1. This would later become known as \u201cHalloween,\u201d and Scottish and Irish migrants would spread the holiday to North America, where it became a fun night of trick-or-treating and costumed hijinx.<\/span><\/p>\n

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When the holiday came to the Americas, home of the <\/span>pumpkin<\/span><\/a>, the <\/span>turnip<\/span><\/a> was replaced.<\/span><\/p>\n

The use of a hollowed-out turnip as a lantern for Halloween was once a common practice in Ireland and Scotland (though potatoes or even radishes were also sometimes used). As sources of light, the turnip lanterns would help ward off evil, but their overall shape and cutouts (resembling a face) had a meaning, as well<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Tumshie, or Moot, as they are sometimes called, are also known as Jack O\u2019Lanterns, pointing to a sinister Celtic tale of Halloween. In an Irish folk tale, Stingy Jack was a wily and cunning, though shifty, conman. One night, he was drinking with the Devil and convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin to pay for the beer. After the Devil had done so, Jack put the coin in his pocket with a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from freeing himself. Jack made a deal with the Devil, saying that he\u2019d let the Devil free if he promised to never take his soul. The Devil agreed. When Jack died, he couldn\u2019t get into Heaven, and the Devil refused to take him, so Stingy Jack was doomed to walk the earth for eternity, with only a coal lantern made of a turnip to guide him.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Jack O\u2019Lantern is both an effigy of Jack, and a lantern to ward off Jack and spirits like him that wander the earth during Samhain.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no great surprise that Scottish and Irish immigrants switched to the pumpkin in the Americas. Turnips can be rock hard, and very hard to carve, while the pumpkin is softer and easier to cut, and has a naturally hollow centre in which to place the candle. Pumpkins make great Jack O\u2019Lanterns, but if you\u2019d like to try to make a turnip Jack O\u2019Lantern, give it a try! Be warned that carving a turnip tumshee is no easy feat. You will need to cut off the top to make a \u201clid\u201d and carefully hollow out the middle, then cut eyes and a mouth for the light to shine through. You will need very sharp and sturdy tools, as well as adult supervision since it can also be a bit dangerous! <\/span><\/p>\n

To learn more about how to add a festive turnip to your Halloween, watch this short video from English Heritage: <\/span>How To Carve A Halloween Turnip<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favourite thing about Halloween? Please feel free to share in the comments!<\/span><\/p>\n

Happy Halloween, and remember to play safe!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

AglampetGruodje. (2020.) <\/span>File:Halloween-2870607 1920.jpg – Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Anon. (n.d.) <\/span>Real Food Encyclopedia – Turnips – FoodPrint<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Anon. (2016). <\/span>The Rutabaga and the Turnip – Harvesting History<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Boeckmann, C. (2023.)\u00a0 <\/span>How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Pumpkins | The Old Farmer’s Almanac<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Boeckmann, C. (2023.) <\/span>How to Plant, Grow, and Harvest Turnips | The Old Farmer’s Almanac<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

English Heritage. (2018.) <\/span>How To Carve A Halloween Turnip<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Gold, M., & Donovan, B. (2017). <\/span>What Is Halloween? Origins, Meaning, and Traditions<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

History.com. (2018). <\/span>Halloween: Origins and Traditions | HISTORY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

History.com (2019.) <\/span>How Jack O\u2019Lanterns Originated in Irish Myth | HISTORY<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

LornaMCampbell. (2022.) <\/span>File:Halloween Tushie 2022.jpg – Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

LovelyGreens. (2018.) <\/span>How to carve Moots — turnip Jack-o-lanterns<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Meechan, S. (2019.) <\/span>When turnips were used instead of pumpkins for Halloween lanterns in Britain – Chronicle Live<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Nalewicki, J. (2021.) <\/span>When People Carved Turnips Instead of Pumpkins for Halloween | Smart News| Smithsonian Magazine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Oliveria, R. (2018.) <\/span>10 things you probably didn’t know about pumpkins | University of California<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Picard, C. (2017). <\/span>Why Do We Celebrate Halloween? The Dark Origins of the Holiday<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Spengler, T. (2018.) <\/span>History Of Turnips In The Garden<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Stinglehammer. (2016.) <\/span>File:Samhuinn carved turnip at University of Edinburgh editathon – 31st October 2016 01.jpg – Wikimedia Common\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Swigart, E. (2010.) <\/span>File:Halloween pumpkin – Evan Swigart.jpg – Wikimedia Commons<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). <\/span>Halloween | Definition, Origin, History, & Facts | Britannica<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). <\/span>Turnip | Description, Uses, & Cultivation | Britannica<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2023.) <\/span>Samhain | Celtic Harvest, Pagan Rituals & Bonfires | Britannica<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas, H. (2021). <\/span>The Origins of Halloween Traditions | Headlines and Heroes<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Wikipedia Contributors. (2019). <\/span>Halloween – Wikipedia<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Declan Murphy Edited by Julia Georgescu Designed by Fatima Khan Published by Kiritika Rana   The big, orange pumpkin Jack-O\u2019Lantern is a major icon of Halloween today, but the holiday was once ruled by a very different king – the humble turnip. The modern Halloween has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12720"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13800,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12720\/revisions\/13800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seeds.ca\/schoolfoodgardens\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}