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Why does the Jack O'Lantern represent Halloween? One popular version of an Irish legend
tells of Jack drinking too much liquor at a local pub on All Hallow's Eve. The
more drinks Jack consumed the more his life was slipping away. As the
intoxicated Jack stumbled home, the Devil demanded that Jack come to Hell with
him because of his evil ways. Jack, who was not too eager to die, convinced the
Devil to climb a nearby tree to pluck him an apple. As the Devil climbed the
tree, Jack carved a cross in the tree's trunk--preventing the Devil from coming
back down. The angry and deceived Devil demanded that Jack release him. But
first, the clever Jack wanted to make a pact with the Devil. Jack made the
Devil promise that when he died the Devil would not claim his soul. The Devil
agreed and Jack set him free. On the following All Hallow's Eve Jack
died from his excessive drinking. He was forbidden to enter the gates of Heaven
because of his mean and evil habits. Desperate for a resting place, Jack tried
entering Hell, but the Devil denied Jack access because of their previous
promise. The Devil gave the rejected Jack a lighted coal to help him find his
resting place. Jack, who was munching down on a turnip at the time, placed the
coal inside the turnip to light his way through the dark night. Since then,
Jack has been roaming the world with his jack o'lantern looking for a place to
rest. The use of Jack O'Lanterns as festive
lights at Halloween is a legendary custom that descended from the Irish who
used carved out potatoes, beets, or turnips as lanterns. Pumpkins were not used until Irish
immigrants came to America and realized that these big orange squashes were
more abundant and cheaper than beets or turnips. Charles Mims |
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