in
Irish history.You may be surprised to
learn that the original Jack O' Lantern was not a pumpkin. The Irish
brought the tradition of the Jack O' Lantern to America and the legend dates
back hundreds of years in
Irish history.
As the story has been told, "Stingy Jack" was a miserable old drunk who reveled in playing tricks on everyone from his family and friends to the Devil, himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. While the Devil was in the tree, Stingy Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree making it impossible for the Devil to get down the tree. Before Stingy Jack would remove the crosses, he made the Devil promise not to take his soul when he died. The Devil agreed and Stingy Jack removed the crosses and let the Devil down.
Many years later, when
Jack finally died, he went directly to the pearly gates of
Heaven and was told
by Saint Peter that he had been too mean and cruel and had led a miserable and
worthless life on Earth. He was not permitted to enter Heaven. He
then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his word and would
not allow him to enter Hell. Jack now had no choice but to wander about
forever in the darkness between Heaven and Hell. He asked the Devil how he
could leave as there was no light. The Devil tossed him an ember from the
flames of Hell to light his way. Jack placed the ember in a hollowed out
turnip. From that day forward, Jack roamed the Earth without a resting
place, lighting his way with his "Jack O' Lantern".
On Ha
llow's Eve, the
Irish hollowed out turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes, and beets. They
placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away.
These were the original Jack O' Lanterns. When Irish immigrants came to
America in the 1800's, they quickly discovered that pumpkins were bigger and
easier to carve out. We use
them still today, and many's the Halloween when my house looks like a glowing,
flickering punkin patch, all those toothy and toothless orange faces peering
into the night, shooing away the spooks.
And Stingy Jack? He's out there somewhere still, drifting and wandering. Without even a home in Hell.