Jack O´ Lantern, the legend about the origin of the Halloween pumpkin

A few days ago I showed you how to make a halloween pumpkin. Today, we are going to see what the origin of that tradition is so that we can teach it to our children.

Carving vegetables with a sinister face to place a candle inside, is an ancient tradition with Celtic and Anglo-Saxon origins. At first turnips or beets were carved, but when the Irish immigrated to the United States, they got to know pumpkins and realized that, being larger, they were easier to hollow out and carve.

But, if the tradition of carving vegetables is so old, why is it associated with Halloween today? Mid-nineteenth century, Irish immigrants, began to spread numerous legends and folk tales that explained their traditions. among them the one that concerns us today, the Legend of Jack O´Lantern

The Legend of Jack O'Lantern

Legend has it that many years ago, on a night of samhain, a man with a reputation as a trickster, drunkard and quarrel, known as Stingy Jack, had the misfortune to meet the devil himself.

Apparently, the devil had heard of Jack's bad deeds and his ability to cheat even the cleverest. Jealous that someone could surpass him in that regard and determined to verify the veracity of the facts, the devil wanted to find out for himself Jack was up to his reputation and, if so, take his dark soul to hell. 

That night, as usual, Jack had had too much to drink and was very drunk, wandering the countryside, when he came across a mysterious figure in the middle of the road. But still drunk, Jack quickly realized that this being was the devil who had come to collect his ill-fated soul.

Getting caught, jack asked the devil one last wish in exchange for his soul. this wish was one last drink of beer. The devil saw no reason to refuse his demand so he accompanied him to a tavern and let him drink his fill. When it came time to pay, Jack tricked the devil into converting himself into a silver coin with which to pay off the debt before accompanying him to hell. But Jack had no intention of giving away his soul, so he decided to keep the coin keeping it in his pocket and, knowing that the devil could not bear crosses, he also kept a silver cross next to the coin. The devil, knowing there was no way to escape, had to promise Jack that He wouldn't be back for her soul for ten years. 

Ten years later, Jack and the devil met in a forest to pay off their debt. The devil was willing to take his soul with him, but Jack still had no intention of giving it to him so he quickly hatched a new plan saying: "As a last wish ... Could you please take that apple down from that tree?" The devil thought he was losing nothing, and in one leap he reached the top of the tree, but before the devil knew it, Jack quickly marked a cross in the bark of the tree. Then the devil could not come down. Jack forced him, once again, to promise never to ask for his soul again. The devil had no choice but to accept.