The Legend of "Stingy Jack"
People have been making jack-o'-lanterns at
Halloween
for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man
nicknamed "Stingy Jack."
According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the
Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name (stingy:tacaño), Stingy Jack didn't
want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself
into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks.
Once the Devil did
so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a
silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his
original form.
Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that
he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he
would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil
into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in
the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that
the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to
bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such
an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had
played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not
allow Jack into hell.
He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a
burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out
turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began
to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then,
simply "Jack
The irish tradition travelled its way to North America together with the Irish people, once there, pumkins were easier to find on Autumn
If you want to be more historical this year try to carve a turnip instead of a pumpkin
how to carve a jack-o'-turnip