Mystery Of Jack O Lantern On Halloween
Historical records reveal that nearly 700,000 immigrants migrated to America during the Irish Potato Famine in 1800s
. They brought with them their customs and traditions of Halloween as also the concept of Jack O Lanterns. The age-old practice was the lantern used to be carved from a root vegetable like turnip, potato, or beet and lit within using a lump of coal or a wax candle. There was this belief that the lanterns symbolized the souls of the loved ones who had died.The lanterns were placed in window sills or on porches to warmly receive the deceased. The lanterns were also meant to ward off the malefic spirits or devils that escaped from the dead. The customary turnips, potato and gourds were relatively scarce in Americas and the immigrants found the ubiquitously available pumpkin as ideal substitute.
The pumpkin Jack O- Lantern has been an integral component of Halloween celebrations since the days of Queen Victoria. There are varying legends regarding the origin of the Jack O Lantern but the most widely believed story is the one about a Nowell Irishman called Jack.
Jack was a dipsomaniac and he got so inebriated once on a Halloween and his soul departed from his body. The Devil, ever vigilant to get such an opportunity, promptly rushed to earth. Jack was such an alcoholic that he implored the Devil to permit him one more last drink. The Devil assented but made it clear that Jack would pay for his drink as the Devil had no money. As Jack had only sixpence, he proposed the Devil assume the shape of a sixpence to pay for the drink and thereafter, the Devil could revert to his original self.
The Devil agreed to the request and converted himself into a sixpence. Jack instantly grabbed the coin and shoved it into his sealed wallet. The Devil was trapped and unable to come out and started cursing Jack. Jack and the Devil then arrived at a compromise formula whereby the Devil would be released from captivity if he spared Jack to be on earth for one more year. The Devil consented and Jack was ordained to reform his behavior over the next year. But Jack went back to his despicable drunken ways and at the next Halloween Eve the Devil appeared and demanded Jacks soul. Again, Jack was unwilling to let go his soul and therefore devised a clever trick to outwit the Devil.
He showed the Devil the delicious apples hanging from a tree and allowed the Devil to climb on his shoulders to pluck the apples. Once the Devil was perched on the tree, Jack carved a cross in the tree trunk with a penknife. The Devil could not get down and the helpless Devil conceded Jacks demand of ten years of extended life. Jack insisted that the Devil should never bother him again and the Devil powerlessly agreed. Jack then relapsed into his old drunken ways but well before the next Halloween, he died a natural death.
The story goes that the Devil refused him entry at the gates of hell, recalling his earlier promise that he will never bother Jack. Jack was ordered to return to the place from whence he came. However, to help Jack for his return journey, the Devil threw at him a burning lump of coal from hell. Jack put the burning ember inside a turnip and that served as Jack's light on his wanderings. To safeguard oneself from Jack on Halloween Eve, Jack O Lanterns are placed on porches and in window sills, so that Jack would take the light and not bother the inmates.
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