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History of Jack O'lanterns |
| As part of the Samhain celebration, Celts would bring home an ember from the communal bonfire at the end of the night. There is some evidence that they carried these embers in hollowed out turnips, creating a lantern resembling the modern day jack-o'-lantern. The more direct origin of jack-o'-lanterns, however, is folklore from 18th century Ireland, where ancient Celtic traditions remained a significant part of the national culture. A very popular character in Irish folk tales was Stingy Jack, a good-for-nothing miser who, on several occasions, avoided damnation by tricking the devil, often on All Hallows' Eve. In one story, he convinced Satan to climb up a tree for some apples, and then cut crosses all around the base of the tree so the devil couldn't climb down. The devil bargained with Jack, and Jack agreed to let him down in exchange for the devil leaving him alone forever. Many people carve happy, sad or scary faces into their pumpkins and use them as decorations outside their homes or in windows. Eventually, Jack died and he was turned away from Heaven because he had lived a life of sin. Honoring their agreement, the Devil wouldn't take him either, so Jack was cursed to travel as a spirit in limbo forever. As Jack left the gates of Hell, the Devil threw him a hot ember to light the way in the dark, and Jack kept the ember in a hollowed-out turnip. The legend was that on All Hallows' Eve, you could see his spirit still wandering in the darkness, carrying the turnip lantern. Traditional jack-o'-lanterns, hollowed-out turnips with embers or candles inside, became a very popular Halloween decoration in Ireland and Scotland. Folk tradition held that they would ward off Stingy Jack and other spirits on Halloween, and they also served as representations of the souls of the dead. Irish who emigrated to America brought the tradition with them but replaced the turnips with pumpkins because they were more plentiful. Pumpkins were easier to carve than turnips, and people began to give their jack-o'-lanterns frightening faces. -By Tom Harris |
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