The Origin of the Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Tradition
In America, families carve jack-o-lanterns – lanterns made from carved pumpkins and display them to celebrate Halloween.
The Legend of Stingy Jack
The tradition was brought to America by Irish and Scottish immigrants. It originated in an Irish legend about a man named “Stingy Jack” who tricked the Devil. First, he invited the Devil to drink with him, and then convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Jack decided to keep the money and put it in his pocket next to a silver cross – the cross prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, with the bargain that the Devil would not bother Jack for one year, or take his soul if he should die.
The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing a tree to pick some fruit. When the Devil was in the tree, Jack carved the sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not climb down. This time, Jack made him promise not to bother him for another ten years, and not to take his soul when he died.
oon after this trick, Stingy Jack died. Unfortunately, God would not take Jack into heaven, because of the bargains that Jack had made with the Devil. And the Devil, upset by the tricks that Jack had played, would not allow him into hell, and sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning ember to light his way. Jack put the coal into a hollowed-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with it ever since. The Irish referred to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern.”
In Ireland and Scotland, people began made their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. Immigrants brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States, where they discovered that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect Jack o’Lanterns.
Happy Halloween!
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