Light the Way: The Story of the Jack-O-Lantern

Figure 1: Jack-o-lanterns (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

The end of October is marked by a variety of holidays, including Samhain, All Saint’s Day, El Dia de los Muertos, and Halloween.  A favored past time of Halloween is the tradition of carving a pumpkin, which is referred to as a jack-o-lantern (Figure 1).  Jack-o-laterns have a very long history, as well as an interesting origins story.  Many people, however, are unaware of this history, which is the topic of today’s blog post.

The tradition of carving pumpkins is a relatively new one.  It is a tradition that stems from the United Kingdom (Ireland, Scotland, and England) where for centuries various types of gourds were carved and lit around this time of the year.  The Irish and Scotts preferred to carve potatoes and turnips (Figure 2), while the English chose beets.  The exact origins of this tradition are believed to have Pagan roots and were related to harvest festivals.  Unfortunately, the original stories of how and why such practices began are unknown, but they may have derived from natural acts of decomposition of plants in marshy areas.  These plants sometimes catch on fire during this process, and a story to explain this phenomenon may have been born.  

Figure 2: Carved turnips were the original jack-o-lanterns (Source: CBC)

A more common story about the origins of the jack-o-lantern, however, comes from Irish folklore, and it is the tale of Stingy Jack, who tricked the Devil multiple times.  The first time was when Jack invited the Devil for a drink at a local tavern, but when it came time to settle their bill Jack refused to do so.  Instead he convinced the Devil to turn into a coin, which he then kept near a Christian cross.  This trapped the Devil, which angered Him greatly, but He bargained for his release with Jack by agreeing not to bother him for a year and not take his soul if Jack died during that time.  The Devil honored his word and returned a year later to have His revenge on Jack, but Jack was once again not having it.  He asked the Devil to pick some fruit from the top of a tree, and when the Devil was up in the tree Jack trapped Him by carving a cross into the base of the tree.  The Devil once again bargained for his freedom, but this time the penalty was ten years before He and Jack would meet again.  Unfortunately, Jack passed away during that time, but his consequences did not.  God was offended by Jack’s trickery and refused to allow him entrance into Heaven.  The Devil was weary of Jack’s antics and also refused him entry into Hell.  This left Jack cursed to roam the Earth as a lost soul, but God took pity on him, so to speak, and gave him an eternally burning ember to light his way as he traveled.  Jack carved a gourd and placed the ember in it as his lantern to light his way.  It is said that people carved gourds and left them at their windows either to commemorate Jack’s deeds or to scare him and other wicked spirits from entering their homes, lest they be tricked, too.

But this begs the question as to how exactly pumpkins became the carving medium of choice?  This is an easy question to answer.  Immigrants from the United Kingdom came to the US and found the native gourd, the pumpkin, a better medium for continuing their tradition, hence how the new tradition was born here in the United States.  So whatever your reason for carving a jack-o-lantern this year you will now have some cultural knowledge to accompany your past time.

Works Cited

Brinn, Jan. Pumpkin carving: The history of the jack-o’-lantern. 8 October 2015. Electronic. 2 August 2019.

History.com Editors. History of the Jack O’ Lantern. 27 October 2009. Electronic. 2 August 2019.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The History of 'Jack-O'-Lantern'. 2019. Electronic. 2 August 2019.