According to the 19th-century legend, the lost land of Lemuria lurks below the Pacific. “Lemurians” thrive on light and crystal energy. In his occult book “A Dweller on Two Planets,” author Frederick Spencer Oliver describes Lemurian survivors wearing white robes walking the bejeweled tunnels below Mount Shasta. I was inspired to make this pumpkin following a road trip to California the previous summer, which included time spent in crystal gift shops at Mt. Shasta.

I usually situate the pumpkin on my front porch for trick-or-treaters. In the apartment I didn’t have a porch, so I mysteriously left it in the lobby with no explanation and then enjoyed eavesdropping on people as they found it on their way in or out of the building.