The vegetable related to purported supernatural attributes through the Halloween season is the turnip. In earlier traditions, notably in Celtic areas, turnips had been carved and used as lanterns, usually with grotesque faces, to push back evil spirits. This observe predates the widespread use of pumpkins for comparable functions.
The significance of the turnip in these Halloween traditions lies in its availability and cultural significance inside these communities. It served as a readily accessible materials for creating protecting symbols throughout a time believed to be a liminal area the place the boundary between the dwelling and the lifeless blurred. Moreover, the act of carving the turnip itself could have been imbued with ritualistic or symbolic that means.
