History of the Jack O Lantern

The History of the Jack O Lantern

There was once a good ole’ Irish lad named Jack. Jack was somewhat of a drunkard who only worried about his own good. He led an unrighteous and evil life. As the legend has it, one October 31st night, Jack was in a pub drinking pint after pint of beer. Suddenly the devil appeared to him and told him it was time to leave that life and go with the devil. Obviously Jack was not ready to leave and pleaded with the devil to let him stay. The devil persisted that it was time so Jack asked the devil to agree to let him have one more drink first.

The devil agreed to this, but Jack had ran out of money. Being quite a cunning man, Jack asked the devil to turn into a sixpence so he could buy his beer. The devil agreed knowing he could change right back. So the devil changed into a sixpence, but instead of buying a beer, Jack put the sixpence in his wallet. His wallet had a cross engraved upon it making it impossible for the devil to escape. So there the devil was trapped. He began to beg Jack to let him go. At first Jack ignored his pleas but became gradually more and more irritated with the fierce cries.

So he decided to make a deal with the devil. The devil agreed that he wouldn’t bother Jack for 10 years if Jack let him go and so Jack did. He released the devil and was left alone. The years passed by one by one, until 10 years later, on October 31st the devil appeared to Jack again as he was walking home late that night. Again he said it was time to go, but jack still didn’t want to go with him. They were standing at the base of an apple tree and jack requested that the devil climb up and pick him and apple as a last dinner. So the devil agreed and went to grab an apple for Jack. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a cross on the trunk trapping the devil once again. This time Jack only agrees to let the devil down if he never bothered Jack again. The devil agreed and Jack carved the cross off the tree.

The devil didn’t bother Jack again, but Jack unfortunately drank himself to death shortly after anyways. After his death he tried to go to Heaven, but was rejected due to the live he had lived. After that he tried to get into hell, but was again rejected because the devil did not want to be around him and risk being tricked again.

Jack was doomed to wonder the dark gloomy roads between worlds forever. He pleaded with the devil for a light so he could see his way around. The devil threw a fiery coal to Jack which he placed inside a turnip he had been eating. This became widely known as the “jack of the lantern”, and it became a tradition in Ireland to carve out turnips and place coals inside.

When the Irish migrated to The Americas, there were not many turnips, but there were a lot of pumpkins. So they began to use pumpkins and called it the "jack o lantern". Some people say that the jack o lantern still helps jack see his way around and that he can possibly be in your presence if you have a one in your house.