 The Chinese hold pumpkins as a symbol for primordial cohesion of yin and yang. The Turkish think of pumpkins as a symbol for female ovaries. Africans use pumpkin as a symbol for the world egg that contains the seeds of all human beings. And this isn't even close to the most bizarre beliefs people have held about pumpkins. And now the mythology of pumpkins. Pumpkin myths across the globe. One East Indian myth tells the story of a man whose son died. The man put his son's body in a pumpkin. That makes no sense. And then carried it to the foot of a mountain. Wait a second, how did the sun even fit in the pumpkin? Must have been a mighty big pumpkin. He later returned to the mountain, opened the pumpkin up, and was probably pretty shocked to find water, fish, and even whales flowing out of the pumpkin. Okay, the kid's one thing, but how did all the fish and water fit in there? That's why it's a myth, go with it. Of course, other people heard this story and went to check it out. And wouldn't you know it, some clots goes and breaks the pumpkin into pieces? And then the water just kept on flowing, forming rivers and even an ocean. Presumably the Indian Ocean. Other Indian myths tell of a magical pumpkin that supplied a year's supply of rice or gold and silver with it. There are also weird tales of boiled pumpkins that begin talking. Probably not saying very nice things, you know, because they're getting boiled. The Laotians of Indochina believe that all races of their people came from a pumpkin. One African myth tells a story of an evil wizard who was bitten by a snake and died. Several pumpkins then rose up from the spot where he died. Then one day some kids were passing by and just decided to chop up the pumpkins with their dad's sword. But one of the pumpkins wasn't having any of this and decided to chase after those kids. Unfortunately the kids outsmarted the pumpkin because he was a pumpkin and well you know he wasn't all that bright. And not being very bright, the villagers caught this variant pumpkin when it decided to stop and ask for directions. They then proceeded to burn it. And hopefully those kids got in trouble for stealing their dad's sword too. That's not nice. Moving on. There's a beautiful Chinese tale that tells the story of a wall separating two families. Both families planted some pumpkins on each side of the wall and as they grew and reached the top the vines joined together becoming one. And at the top of the wall a pumpkin grew. Now after some debate about what to do with the pumpkin that grew from these conjoined vines the families decided to split it in half. Luckily they didn't cut too deep for as they opened the pumpkin they found a little girl inside and named her Meng Cheng. A now for something completely different. A Michigan folk tale tells about a pumpkin so big they had to use a 400 foot long saw to cut it. There's also a couple kooky stories about pumpkins and pigs. In one a pig uses a monster pumpkin vine to cross a river and give birth to piglets. In another a pig eats its way into a pumpkin and lives there for a year. After which the vine of the pumpkin is so big they make it into a hotel in Richmond, Virginia. Which according to lore had the prettiest windows and doors you ever saw. It's time for a pumpkin spell. Sit somewhere where you can meditate. Grab yourself nine pumpkin seeds. Lovingly take the first seed and then chow down. After devouring your single seed have a cool drink of water. Then repeat this process until you have devoured all nine seeds. After you finish the last seed you can say aloud or silently. May the seeds of this holy gourd cleanse me of all negativity and fill my life with wealth and blessings. Now according to some people people have actually won jackpots because of this spell or have even encountered old friends. I don't know it's a pretty easy ritual. Give it a shot. Let me know in the comments if it works for you. Pumpkin superstitions. Now one of the reasons people carve pumpkins on Halloween is to protect their loved ones from evil spirits. The others because they look creepy and cool. Some people even used to use jack-o-lanterns specifically to scare off vampires. It was once said that jack-o-lanterns could identify who a vampire was and once identified the vampires would just be like oh you got me you tricky little pumpkin. I'll just leave you alone now. Some funky general superstitions include things like if you eat a pumpkin stalk you'll end up looking foolish because eating a pumpkin stalk doesn't already look weird. Though pointing at pumpkins it makes them rot. Once your seeds grow big then you should tell a really big lie. There are also fun rhyming superstitions. Plant pumpkin seeds in May and the pumpkins will all run away. Plant pumpkin seeds in June and the pumpkins will all come soon. Eating pumpkin seeds can calm an overly ardent nature and make you even more beautiful. A health-oriented superstition involves crushing pumpkin seeds, mixing them with oil, then putting that mixture on your face in order to get rid of freckles. But why would you? I mean look at those cute little freckles. Want to prevent bedwetting? Some people in New Orleans say to feed your kids pumpkin seeds with salt. Apparently it's best not to have your kids eat dried or cooked pumpkin leaves in the summer though as it's believed they'll get leprosy. If cows eat pumpkin seeds they won't produce milk. These are superstitions remember. It's not true. And eating pumpkin seeds can cure worms. Actually this one isn't a myth. Pumpkin seeds or pumpkin seed tea can't actually help fight off tapeworms. Regional Pumpkin Beliefs In many places in Europe it was believed you should sow your seeds on Pentecost so they can grow as big as church bells. To ensure this you'd also carry them in a large basket or bucket. In Breslau you should ask a big woman with a big bottom to sit on your pumpkin seeds so they would grow as big as her backside. However if you do this be prepared to be punched, slapped or even worse. Not a very nice belief. In Jamaica farmers believe that if a pregnant woman walks over their vines the vines will be more plentiful. A much more considerate belief than having a large woman sit on them. In the Ukraine of a boy asked a girl to marry him and she gives him a pumpkin. BAM! That just means you got rejected. If she accepts she just opens the door and says yes. What'd you expect? In Laos don't be eating pumpkin seeds at a funeral. I would think you shouldn't be eating pumpkin seeds at any funeral. Or else the dead will rise and eat them with you. That's better than them eating your brains I suppose. The Story of the Three Sisters I'm gonna finish up today with a very cool Iroquois story of creation. There once was a pregnant woman living in what was known as the Sky World which had a really righteous tree in the middle of it. And that lady asked her hubby to get some bark from that tree. Well apparently her husband wasn't very good at excavation. Or whatever you call bark recovery. Because in the process of acquiring the bark he tore a hole in the sky. Oh as the woman was eating her bodacious bark she leaned over to see where the hole led. Unfortunately she lost her balance and fell into the hole. Becoming the first person to grace the earth. You know that kind of explains a lot when you think about it. She gave birth to a daughter who eventually got frisky with the West Wind. How that works I don't know it just happened. And got knocked up with twins. But these were no ordinary twins. The left one was a colossal jerk. And apparently a bit of an idiot. Because he didn't want to come out of the womb the usual way. Instead he decides to force his way out through his mom's armpit. And no surprise this kills his mother. And in the place where the mother was buried sprouted the three sisters of the earth. Corn, beans and pumpkins. Some people say it was more squash in general not pumpkins. But we're just gonna ignore those people and enjoy our pumpkin perfection. And also encourage you to play some soothing music to your children while they're in the womb. And don't get any of those crazy ideas and decide to come out of weird places like your armpit. Please be kind, take care of each other, and have fun finding pregnant women to walk through your pumpkin patches. I guess. Could work.