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 |