Great Pumpkin Carving Ideas.
A couple years ago a some great jack-o-lantern carvings showed up on the world wide web. It was a jack-o-lantern of expert, but unexceptional carving. How could it be a simple wide open mouth and 2 eyes and a nose.
What made this the best pumpkin carving was that whoever did it took the scooped out innards of the pumpkin and arranged them in a way that made it seem that the jack-o-lantern was caught in mid-vomit. Instead of looking like it was wide-eyed with surprise, you’d see that it was wide-eyed with nausea perhaps from drinking too much Halloween punch. Every time I see this image in my head I have to laugh out loud.
Another of the best pumpkin carving ideas I can remember is in the same vein. Carve a fierce looking jack-o-lantern. He should have pointed fangs in his large mouth, to go with angry slim eyes.,. Then, in one side of the mouth stick a smaller pumpkin with a frightened, horrified look on its face. Done properly this should look like the larger jack-o-lantern is eating the smaller one, a bit of malicious delight on All Hallow’s Eve.
And it’s important to note that jack-o-lanterns are an important part of the Halloween tradition, and have been for centuries. According to wikipedia, the origin of the jack-o-lantern is as follows:
Another version of the myth says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met the Devil, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting the Devil with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Since The Devil could take any shape, he was convinced by Jack to be changed into a silver coin. A coin that could be used to pay for the stolen property. They also figured that the villagers would fight who stole the coin, once it disappeared. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack’s wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. The devil was trapped and his powers gone, once the wallet with the cross inside, closed. In both myths, Jack only lets the Devil go when he agrees never to take his soul. After a while the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, the Devil had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well. With no home, where was Jack to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and the Devil mockingly tossed him an ember that would never burn out from the flames of hell. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which was his favourite food), put the ember inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He became known as “Jack of the Lantern”, or Jack-o’-Lantern.
Remember this tale when you dream up your own jack-o-lantern carving ideas!
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