Halloween and the jack-o-lantern origins

Halloween origin

The history of Halloween itself is incredibly fascinating. It was initially a Celtic religious festival, and it was believed that the barrier between the spirit world and the physical world would break down from October 31st to November 1st. The festival was called Samhain, and this holiday was later Christianized into “All Saints Day,” where you would honor your dead ancestors. Poor people would knock on others’ doors, and in exchange for “soul cakes,” they would pray for the family’s deceased ancestors. This holiday eventually turned into Halloween, which became a day of violence referred to as “Devil’s Night,” where many crimes and violent assaults occurred. One woman in 1912, Elizabeth Krebbs, was tired of the acts of violence, specifically the damage done to her garden. She gathered the community and threw a party for the children so they would not play “tricks” on the community. She is known as the mother of “Halloween.”

Stingy Jack Myth

This holiday has a specific symbol correlated to it: the Jack-o-lantern. The story of this symbol is long and has changed throughout the holiday timeline. The jack-o-lantern originated from an Irish myth first recorded by text in the 19th century. The myth tells of a man, Stingy Jack, who invited the devil to drink with him. He then convinces the devil to transform it into a coin to pay for the drinks, but he puts the coin in his pocket, which also happens to have a cross. This prevents the devil from returning to his original form, and Jack keeps him like that for a year. Eventually, he makes a “deal with the devil,” in which hell will let him go if the devil does not take him to hell. There are a few other scenarios where he tricks the devil. When Stingy Jack dies, god refuses to let such a despicable character into heaven, and the devil keeps his promise to him. Jack is then given a lit coal, which he places in a carved-out turnip and is left to roam the earth as a ghostly figure. 

Transformation of tradition

People would carve faces into turnips and place light in them to warn the wandering spirit of Stingy Jack away along with other “unsavory” spirits. This practice of the jack-o-lantern spread across Europe, changing the vegetables that were being carved depending on what was grown in the area. Many European immigrants carried the tradition to the United States and created the pumpkin jack-o-lantern, a symbol associated with Halloween in the United States. This transformation from the originally Celtic holiday to this American tradition gives us an example of how cultural traditions can be transformed over time with the influence of many different cultures. The myth of the jack-o-lantern shows us how a culture will be altered by other influences that take over, and this specific myth expresses the Celtic belief that the spirit world and the physical world borders disappear for this duration of time. This myth also shows us the Christianized version of this holiday, incorporating Heaven and Hell into this holiday and renaming it, which changed it to “All Saints Day,” which spread throughout Europe. The tradition of jack-o-lanterns then spread to the United States from the flux of European immigrants and settlers. “All Saints Day” took a turn and became a time of violence called “Devil’s Night,” in which groups would commit acts of violence and vandalism. I believe that it became this night of violence formed out of rebellion against social norms and the correlation of this holiday to the “devil.” The most recent shift of this holiday changed it to “Halloween,” which is how we know it now. It brought back the carvings of pumpkins known as jack-o-lanterns as a fun activity for children. However, we still set pumpkins outside of our house, which we carved a face into and placed a light on, just like the myth of Stingy Jack. Although we do it for different reasons, and it’s not a turnip, it is a tradition that has survived the trials of time and various cultures that held power.

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Bibliography

“How Jack O’Lanterns Originated in Irish Myth.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/news/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins. Accessed 30 Oct. 2023.