The face of a pumpkin…

Every Halloween we see pumpkins carved with faces, lit-up with a candle inside and glowing in the darkness on halloween, it got me wondering where this tradition started? I always buy pumpkins halloween time and make my favourite pumpkin recipes – pumpkin, pecan and apple spice cake, pumpkin pie, pumpkin curry and my soothing pumpkin face mask, (which I will share with you at the end of this post) you name it iv done it! It has always – while fun, seemed so wasteful to me to not actually eat the pumpkin, even though they’re plentiful and super cheap to buy this time of year. 

Its not just me that’s pumpkin mad, the minute October hits or even as early as September there’s pumpkins everywhere, pumpkin spice lattes in all your favourite coffee shops, pumpkin spice candles alight, and pumpkin picking patches open up where thousands of people flock to have their pictures taken amongst all the glorious oranges and autumnal pumpkin-y-ness… but where did it all begin? 

The Legend of “Stingy Jack” 

People have been making Jack-o’- lanterns at Halloween for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed “Stingy Jack.” According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. 

Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavoury figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”  – story sourced from history.com

I love reading old folk tales and myths like this one and imagining how over the centuries parents have told this tale to their children, and how it has been passed down through the years whilst carving pumpkins and has made the whole tradition that much more magical. Though we now carve pumpkins, it didn’t start out that way, with the tradition originating in Ireland and Scotland, people used what they had, which for Ireland was potatoes, they also used turnips and in England beetroot was used, they would carve scary faces into them and place them in their windows to scare off Stingy Jack, evil halloween spirits and monsters! The pumpkin coming from America was brought over by the Americans at some point, then the tradition was born – combining the pumpkin that was easily cored out with plenty of room for a candle within and the legend of the stingy jack turnip head together made for the perfect halloween scary face! 

So now you know! when ever you see a halloween pumpkin you can imagine Stingy Jack roaming the earth with his lit-up turnip, and think about how over the years this legend had now become such a stand out part of our halloween tradition.

MY PUMPKIN GLOW MASK

• Half a cup of pumpkin puree (raw/fresh pumpkin is best)

• 2 tablespoons coarsely ground oatmeal

• Half a teaspoon cinnamon 

• Half a teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon of honey

• 3-4 drops of lavender essential oil

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients together, and place in an airtight jar, it will keep in the fridge for two weeks.

TO USE

• Take out 1-2 scoops and smooth into freshly washed clean skin, leave on the skin for 10-15 mins, after this time wet your hands and rub it into the skin in circular motions.
• Rinse all of the mask away with water and a wash cloth, your skin should feel smooth and glow!

If you have sensitive skin remove the cinnamon, its very stimulating, and can be a bit much for sensitive skin!  Also please make sure you are not allergic to or sensitive to any of the ingredients before trying this mask.

Let me know in the comments if you enjoyed this post! Also if you tried the mask, I would love to hear about it!