I think it’s wonderful that Reformation Day is now the most popular holiday after Christmas. We scare ourselves as a reminder of death and damnation. Children go around receiving unmerited candy, which symbolize the gift and the sweetness of salvation. We wear masks to symbolize the doctrine of vocation. We carve pumpkins. . . .uh, I don’t know why we do that. Someone help me in my crusade to co-opt Halloween for Reformation Day.
via Reformation Day as Halloween | Cranach: The Blog of Veith.
I believe that the lighting of the Jack O’Lanterns is part of the All Hallow’s Eve ritual. Hallows Eve being the night before All Saints Day. The lit pumpkins were intended to scare away the restless spirits that haunted the earth.