Did you ever hear the story of the origination of the jack-o-lantern?
There is an Irish myth about a man named “Stingy Jack” who was a drunkard and as mean as they come. He stole and cheated his way through life, and many avoided him.
Every All Hallows Eve, the Devil would come to take Jack’s soul, and every year, Jack would trick him. One time the Devil climbed a tree and Jack cut crosses in the tree (or surrounded it with crucifixes, depending on which version you may hear) so that the Devil couldn’t come down until Jack allowed it, after exacting a promise from the Devil never to take his soul into hell.
Another time Jack was going to have a drink in a tavern. The devil came and said it was time for him to take Jack. Jack asked the Devil to join him in one last drink, and he did. But had no money to pay for the drinks. He asked the Devil to shape-shift himself into a coin so he could pay, but when the Devil did that, Jack pocketed the coin alongside a cross so the Devil couldn’t escape and turn back. Once again, the Devil had to promise never to take Jack’s soul in order to be set free.
Eventually, Jack died. Heaven wouldn’t take him because he had been such a sinner and shown no remorse. The Devil wouldn’t take him because he had repeatedly promised not to. So old Stingy Jack was cursed to roam the world in limbo forever. The Devil had, however, given Jack a hot ember to light his way from Hell in the dark. Jack put it into a hollowed out turnip as a lantern.
The story goes that on dark All Hallows Eve (Halloween) you might still see Jack roaming with his lantern. The Irish called him Jack of the Lantern, shortened to Jack O’ Lantern.
Some say that the reason people started making similar lanterns to put in their windows was to confuse the Devil, making him think Jack was there so he wouldn’t take their souls. To further the goal of chasing away the Devil and other bad spirits, scary faces were carved into the face of the lanterns.
And the first jack-o-lanterns were hollowed out turnips! I would think a pumpkin is much easier to work with than a turnip! I also think I’d rather eat a pumpkin pie than a turnip pie.
To inspire you if you are going to carve your own jack-o-lantern for this Halloween, here is a video of some amazing carving jobs - some silly, some disgusting, and some scary. Happy Halloween!
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