5. Carving Jack O'Lanterns Has A Dark, Dark Origin
Jack O'Lanterns have an ancient and dark tale to explain their origins. The tale apparently originates with an old Irish legend of a man known only as Stingy Jack. Stingy Jack was, like all good men, 'tricked' into getting drunk with Satan, and when time came to pay his bill he lived up to his name and didn't want to pay. Jack convinced Satan to turn himself into a coin to pay for the drinks, without actually spending any real money. Unfortunately for Satan, our Jack was a sneaky one and he had planted a silver cross in his pocket. He pocketed the Satan-coin and the cross stopped the devil from using any of his powers or changing back. Jack promised to free Satan on two conditions; firstly, that the Devil would never bother him for at least a year, and secondly that when Jack died, Satan could never claim his soul. The legend goes on to say that Jack tricked the Devil again, gaining another 10 years of devil-free living. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice... you get the point. Years later, Jack died and God turned him away from heaven because of his tricksy ways, but the Devil had promised to never claim the soul of Jack. Jack was forced to wander the Earth forever, given only an ever-burning coal from hell for a light. He later carved a lantern out of a turnip and put the coal into it, to allow him to carry it without burning his hands. Ever since that night, Jack has become Jack Of The Lantern, the modern Jack O'Lantern and he wanders the world, looking for food to sate his hunger, and lashing out to provoke someone into killing him, giving him the death he can never have. Ancient versions of tricks and treats. This is the reason the Irish carved scary faces into turnips, beets and potatoes to scare away Stingy Jack or any other evil spirits wandering the land.
