Kenapa labu diukir saat Halloween? Awalnya lobak!

Why do we carve pumpkins on Halloween? (They were turnips)

Tradisi jack-o'-lantern berawal dari lobak berukir di Irlandia dan Skotlandia. Imigran Irlandia di Amerika menggantinya dengan labu yang lebih besar dan mudah diukir.

Short-nya segera tayang di YouTube @geegit

Penjelasannya

Setiap Halloween, jutaan orang mengukir wajah bercahaya di buah labu. Padahal awalnya tradisi ini sama sekali tidak memakai labu.

Berabad-abad lalu di Irlandia dan Skotlandia, orang mengukir wajah seram pada umbi yang keras: lobak, bit, dan rutabaga. Menurut legenda Kelt, seorang penipu tua bernama Jack dikutuk mengembara dalam gelap hanya dengan bara di dalam lobak berlubang. Untuk menangkal arwahnya pada malam Samhain, penduduk desa menaruh lobak berukir berisi bara di depan pintu.

Saat Kelaparan Besar Irlandia tahun 1840-an, lebih dari sejuta orang mengungsi, banyak di antaranya ke Amerika Serikat. Di sana mereka menemukan labu asli Amerika: jauh lebih besar, lebih lunak diukir, dan siap panen pada Oktober. Jadi labu yang menyala di teras itu sebenarnya kisah hantu Irlandia kuno yang dibungkus buah Amerika.

Diagram dari video

Diagram GeeGit: Every Halloween, millions of people carve glowing faces into pumpkins. But originally, there were no pumpkins at all. — “Every Halloween, millions of people carve glowing faces into pumpkins. But originally, there were no pumpkins at all.”

Diagram GeeGit: According to Celtic legend, an old trickster named Jack was cursed to wander the dark with only a burning coal inside a hollow turnip. — “According to Celtic legend, an old trickster named Jack was cursed to wander the dark with only a burning coal inside a hollow turnip.”

Diagram GeeGit: During Ireland's Great Famine in the 1840s, more than a million people fled, many of them to the United States. — “During Ireland's Great Famine in the 1840s, more than a million people fled, many of them to the United States.”

Transkrip video (English)

Every Halloween, millions of people carve glowing faces into pumpkins. But originally, there were no pumpkins at all.

Centuries ago in Ireland and Scotland, people carved terrifying faces into tough root vegetables: turnips, beets, and rutabagas.

According to Celtic legend, an old trickster named Jack was cursed to wander the dark with only a burning coal inside a hollow turnip.

To ward off his spirit on Samhain night, villagers placed carved turnips with embers outside their doors.

During Ireland's Great Famine in the 1840s, more than a million people fled, many of them to the United States.

There, they found native American pumpkins: much larger, far softer to carve, and harvest-ready in October.

So that glowing pumpkin on your porch? It's an ancient Irish ghost story wrapped in an American fruit.

Sumber

National Museum of Ireland
Library of Congress
Britannica

Diagram digambar ulang dan disederhanakan oleh GeeGit. Narasi video: suara AI.

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