Welcome back everyone. Briefly I want to just say that I have been unable to update the site mainly because of the focus on the campaign. Tonight, I actually have a little time to do some writing, as the rest of my time has been spent working, campaigning, working, paying taxes, and more campaigning the last few weeks. The good news is the Mangie Team has been doing a hell of a job getting our message and name out there, and we are hearing a lot of good things. The bad news of course is I have been unable to write as much. Such is political work I guess.
I can’t believe it is already mid-October, and as it happens Halloween is around the corner. Where the time has gone, I have no idea, but I am really excited for the Halloween season. Every year at Halloween the Mang prides himself on carving pumpkins. I used to do a couple, but last year it turned into three, and this year I am looking to do five or six carved pumpkins as well as decorating the front porch. I’ll probably end up doing a couple of patterns because some of the patterns out there are intricate and look outstanding. But for the others I will most likely create my own designs because, well, that is how I roll.
It is quite interesting the story behind carved pumpkins. Commonly these are referred to as Jack O’Lanterns. There is a folktale that goes with the origination of the Jack O’Lanterns as we know them today, and the story comes out of Ireland. There are different variations to this story, and this is only one of them.
As the tale went, there was a drunk who went by the name Stingy Jack who lived in an Irish village. Jack had a reputation around Ireland for being a prankster of sorts, causing problems for the decent villagers by tricking them, deceiving them, and generally being a public nuisance. There was not a person he did not attempt to trick, and he even played the Devil for a fool. Jack managed to trick the Devil into climbing an apple tree, and upon reaching the top, Jack placed crucifixes all around the tree to prevent the Devil from climbing down. The Devil bargained with Jack, and in exchange for the removal of the crosses, the Devil promised to not take his soul when Jack died.
Eventually Jack did die. Upon reaching St. Peter at the pearly gates, it was determined that Jack led a lousy life and caused problems for everyone he came in contact with. As a result, Jack was banished from heaven. Jack went to Hell and was greeted by the Devil at the gates. The Devil, who was somewhat bitter with Jack, decided he would uphold his promise not to take Jack either, leaving Jack to wander in darkness for eternity.
The Devil granted Jack a favor to find his way through the darkness between Heaven and Hell. He provided an ember to light the way, which Jack kept in a carved out turnip. For the rest of eternity, Jack would be doomed to walk in the darkness only to be guided by the light of his Jack O’Lantern.
It is interesting to note that the Jack O’Lantern was not a pumpkin originally, but rather a turnip. In Ireland, turnips, potatoes, and gourds would be carved out every year around October 31st to ward of Stingy Jack. As it happens, this day was an old Celtic holiday known as Samhain. This day typically would be to honor the deceased, and was considered to be the time when the veil between the world of the living and the dead was the thinnest. This is quite similar to the modern day Halloween we have come to know and love. Eventually when the Irish immigrants came to America, they discovered that pumpkins were significantly easier to carve than a turnip. Hence now we have pumpkin carving.
So that is the story of Jack O’Lantern and carved pumpkins.
As I mentioned before, Halloween is one of my favorite times of year, so in the coming few weeks I’ll probably do some more interesting writing on the subject. You can look forward to Mang’s Top 10 Halloween Movie List, as well as some more different articles on other aspects of Halloween. Maybe we’ll do something on witches, there is a lot of interesting history on the matter. Dracula also has a storied history so I might cover him in the interest of keeping the Halloween spirit.
Now, I could go on and on about political stuff, but I think for purposes of this month, we are going to do some fun stuff. I’ll keep giving some updates on my campaign, but mostly I want to try and keep the spirit of the season active on this site until November, which of course means it is already the Christmas season according to every major retailer out there. Now THAT is something to be scared about.
I can’t believe it is already mid-October, and as it happens Halloween is around the corner. Where the time has gone, I have no idea, but I am really excited for the Halloween season. Every year at Halloween the Mang prides himself on carving pumpkins. I used to do a couple, but last year it turned into three, and this year I am looking to do five or six carved pumpkins as well as decorating the front porch. I’ll probably end up doing a couple of patterns because some of the patterns out there are intricate and look outstanding. But for the others I will most likely create my own designs because, well, that is how I roll.
It is quite interesting the story behind carved pumpkins. Commonly these are referred to as Jack O’Lanterns. There is a folktale that goes with the origination of the Jack O’Lanterns as we know them today, and the story comes out of Ireland. There are different variations to this story, and this is only one of them.
As the tale went, there was a drunk who went by the name Stingy Jack who lived in an Irish village. Jack had a reputation around Ireland for being a prankster of sorts, causing problems for the decent villagers by tricking them, deceiving them, and generally being a public nuisance. There was not a person he did not attempt to trick, and he even played the Devil for a fool. Jack managed to trick the Devil into climbing an apple tree, and upon reaching the top, Jack placed crucifixes all around the tree to prevent the Devil from climbing down. The Devil bargained with Jack, and in exchange for the removal of the crosses, the Devil promised to not take his soul when Jack died.
Eventually Jack did die. Upon reaching St. Peter at the pearly gates, it was determined that Jack led a lousy life and caused problems for everyone he came in contact with. As a result, Jack was banished from heaven. Jack went to Hell and was greeted by the Devil at the gates. The Devil, who was somewhat bitter with Jack, decided he would uphold his promise not to take Jack either, leaving Jack to wander in darkness for eternity.
The Devil granted Jack a favor to find his way through the darkness between Heaven and Hell. He provided an ember to light the way, which Jack kept in a carved out turnip. For the rest of eternity, Jack would be doomed to walk in the darkness only to be guided by the light of his Jack O’Lantern.
It is interesting to note that the Jack O’Lantern was not a pumpkin originally, but rather a turnip. In Ireland, turnips, potatoes, and gourds would be carved out every year around October 31st to ward of Stingy Jack. As it happens, this day was an old Celtic holiday known as Samhain. This day typically would be to honor the deceased, and was considered to be the time when the veil between the world of the living and the dead was the thinnest. This is quite similar to the modern day Halloween we have come to know and love. Eventually when the Irish immigrants came to America, they discovered that pumpkins were significantly easier to carve than a turnip. Hence now we have pumpkin carving.
So that is the story of Jack O’Lantern and carved pumpkins.
As I mentioned before, Halloween is one of my favorite times of year, so in the coming few weeks I’ll probably do some more interesting writing on the subject. You can look forward to Mang’s Top 10 Halloween Movie List, as well as some more different articles on other aspects of Halloween. Maybe we’ll do something on witches, there is a lot of interesting history on the matter. Dracula also has a storied history so I might cover him in the interest of keeping the Halloween spirit.
Now, I could go on and on about political stuff, but I think for purposes of this month, we are going to do some fun stuff. I’ll keep giving some updates on my campaign, but mostly I want to try and keep the spirit of the season active on this site until November, which of course means it is already the Christmas season according to every major retailer out there. Now THAT is something to be scared about.
Enjoy the following video!
Your friend, political candidate, conservative capo, and spookster,
The Mang
Your friend, political candidate, conservative capo, and spookster,
The Mang
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