The Jack O’Lantern story begins with the Celts who lived in the region of Great Britain, Ireland and Northern France over 2000 years ago. The Celts history, traditions and customs laid the foundations to the holiday of Halloween. The Celts year ended on October 31st with a celebration called Samhain. This celebration marked the end of the Season of the Sun and brought forth the Season of Darkness and Cold. During this celebration the Druids, the Celtic priests, would have their people extinguish their homes’ fires. The Druids would create a sacred bonfire during this celebration. When the celebration was over then the Celtic people would take the embers from this fire to restart their homes’ fires. These new fires would warm their homes and protect them from the evil spirits during the winter months that were to follow.
The embers of these fires were very important to the Celtic people and so were their fires in their homes. Their fires were kept going all the time, every day– they were important to their survival. Also keep in mind their climate and the Sun’s position in the sky during these winter months gave very little natural light for these people to see by. The Celtic people started using gourds and root vegetables, like turnips and beets, as lanterns by hollowing out the inside and carving windows into the face of the vegetable. This allowed them to carry and transport these embers without worry of snuffing out the fire. The windows also allowed light to help guide them. This is one example of how a lantern was created and the beginnings of the Jack O’Lantern.
The Jack O’Lantern traditionally uses a pumpkin as the body of the lantern but this does not show up in folklore until the mid 1800’s. The use of the pumpkin and the name Jack O’Lantern seems to be a North American tradition and term. Even though that this is a Halloween tradition in North America the folklore comes from many sources from outside America. Here are a few:
An old Irish folk tale tells of Stingy Jack, a lazy yet shrewd farmer who uses a cross to trap the Devil. One story says that Jack tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree, and once he was up there Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the bark, so that the Devil couldn't get down. Another myth says that Jack put a key in the Devil's pocket while he was suspended upside-down.
Another version of the myth says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met the Devil, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting the Devil with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told the Devil to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (the Devil could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin/Devil disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find him next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. In both myths, Jack only lets the Devil go when he agrees never to take his soul. After a while the thief died, as all living things do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaven; however, the Devil had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and the Devil mockingly tossed him an ember that would never burn out from the flames of hell. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which were his favorite food), put the ember inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He became known as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o'-Lantern.
There are variations on the legend:
Some versions include a "wise and good man", or even God helping Jack to prevail over the Devil.
There are different versions of Jack's bargain with the Devil. Some variations say the deal was only temporary but the Devil, embarrassed and vengeful, refuses Jack entry to hell after Jack dies.
Jack is considered a greedy man and is not allowed into either heaven or hell, without any mention of the Devil.
An African-American variant holds that Jack, here called Big Sixteen, actually killed the Devil and was later refused entry to hell by the Devil's widow.
Despite the colorful legends, the term jack-o'-lantern originally meant a night watchman, or man with a lantern, with the earliest known use in the mid-17th century; and later, meaning an ignis fatuus or will-o’-the-wisp. In Labrador and Newfoundland, both names "Jacky Lantern" and "Jack the Lantern" refer to the will-o'-the-wisp concept rather than the pumpkin carving aspect.
There are other variations to the folklore that can give roots to the beginnings of this tradition and also creating some Great Ghost stories. Making a Jack O’Lantern is just fun. Keep it safe – if there is a potential for a fire to start because of the candle inside your Jack O’Lantern, use a battery type candle instead. Create eerie designs and place your Jack O’Lantern in a dark corner or a window. Give those Trick or Treat’rs something to talk about.
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