Pull up a seat, have a cuppa tea and let’s tell the wee tale of a man, a miserable mean man called Stingy Jack. Why do we tell this tale? The Jack O’Lantern legend goes back hundreds of years in Irish History. Many of the stories center around Stingy Jack.
Stingy Jack was a miserable, old drunk who took pleasure in playing tricks on just about everyone: family, friends, his mother and even the Devil himself. One day, he tricked the Devil into climbing up an apple tree. After the Devil climbed up the tree, Stingy Jack hurriedly placed crosses around the trunk of the tree. Unable to touch a cross, the Devil was stuck in the tree.
Stingy Jack made the Devil promise him not to take his soul when he died. Once the Devil had promised not to take his soul, Stingy Jack removed the crosses, and the Devil climbed down out of the apple tree.
Many years later, Jack died, he went to the pearly gates of Heaven and was told by Saint Peter that he was mean and cruel, and had led a miserable, worthless life on earth. Stingy Jack was not allowed to enter heaven. He then went down to Hell and the Devil. The Devil kept his promise and wouldn’t allow him to enter Hell. Now Jack was scared. He had nowhere to go, but to wander about forever in the dark Netherworld between Heaven and Hell. He asked the Devil how he could leave, as there was no light.
The Devil tossed him an ember from the flames of Hell, to help Stingy Jack light his way. Jack had a turnip with him, it was one of his favourite foods and he always carried one with him. Jack hollowed out the turnip and placed the ember the Devil had given him, inside the turnip. From that day onward Stingy Jack roamed the earth without a resting place, lighting his way as he went with his “Jack O’Lantern.”
On all Hallow’s eve, the Irish hollowed out turnips, rutabagas, gourds, potatoes and beets. They placed a light in them to ward off evil spirits and keep Stingy Jack away. These were the original Jack O’Lanterns.
[…] This Thursday we have Samhain (Halloween) and as I have shared before it is one of my favourite celebrations!!!! I mean I seriously love, love, love Halloween (or as I refer to it Samhain, pronounced Sow-een)! I love the costumes, the pumpkin carving – which we did on Saturday and ended up with some very cool pumpkins. I love the crispness of the air in the morning, the smell of wood smoke late at night from chimneys near by, the crunch of the leaves under my boots as I go yomping about. I love having hordes of little people who are dressed as faeries, princesses, warriors, ninjas and a myriad of other delights knocking at the door hollering “Trick or Treat!” When my kids were smaller and would go out with pillow case clutched in hand to gather farrrrrr too many sweeties, their enthusiasm and delight was positively contagious. As the mumma I was also able to impose a “mumma tithe” on the sweeties, so I would receive 10% of all the mini chocolate bars (the mini Mars bar being my favourite!) Nom, nom, nom. Yesterday we all got together as a fam dam, lit a fire, carved pumpkins and celebrated one of my boys (with a massive homemade Greek feast). It was absolutely delicious. I love these moments. Now why do we carve pumpkins? Have you ever wondered? There’s a fabulous Irish myth that you can share with your kids all about The Tale of Stingy Jack and the Jack o Lantern….. […]