Beth Owl’s Daughter reminds us that tonight is “Punkie Night,” an ancient celebration from Somerset England which is celebrated by the carving of pumpkin-like mangolds. Beth writes, “Throughout Somerset, locals use the term “spunky” to refer to Will-o-the-Wisps — a ball of light seen at night rising up from a marsh or bog.” In Christianized England these “spunkies” were thought to be the souls of unbaptized children who wandered eternally through the night, but the pagans saw spunkies as being trickster sprites; the carved and lit pumpkins were meant to turn the tables and trick the spunkies.