31 Oct 2012

STINGY JACK - THE MYTH OF JACK O LANTERN.




Just some of the wonderful creations by artists Ray Villafane and Andy Bergholtz (you can view more HERE and HERE) - wonderful aren't they?



Stingy Jack invited the Devil to partake in a drink with him though, stingy by name and stingy by nature, it wasn't a drink he planned on paying for soooo....

Having convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that he, Jack, could use to pay for the drinks, he then decided to keep the money and, putting it in his pocket next to a silver cross, prevented the Devil from changing back until ......

Eventually having taken pity on the Devil Jack agreed to set him free on the condition that he wasn't bother to him for one year AND if he, Jack, should die the Devil  would not claim his soul.

Anyway .....

A year goes by and once again Jack tricks the Devil by getting him to climb up a fruit tree on which Jack carves the sign of a cross thus preventing the Devil from coming down until he has promised not to bother Jack for the next 10 years.

Soon afterwards though Jack dies and as God would not allow such an unsavoury reprobate into Heaven AND the Devil, though upset by the tricks played on him, keeps his word and does not claim Jack's soul thus allowing him into Hell, Jack is sent off into the night with only a burning coal which he puts into a carved turnip to light his way.

And so thus has Jack been roaming the Earth ever since.

Traditionally carved by the people of Ireland and Scotland out of turnips or potatoes (in England we used large beetroots) and placed in windows and doorways to frighten away Stingy Jack and any other wandering evil spirits, immigrants took the tradition of the 'Jack O'Lantern' with them to the US where they soon found pumpkins made great lanterns.


Happy Halloween 

PS. Go visit the Blond Duck HERE for yet another Pumpkin Song.

13 comments:

R. Ramesh said...

yes Happy Halloween
tracy:)

Kelly said...

I'm always totally fascinated by the creations from professional pumpkin carvers. Some of them are amazing!!

I like your Tracy with the witch's hat. :)

Trac~ said...

Great carvings!! Thanks for sharing! Happy Halloween! :)

Betty Manousos said...

very interesting story!!

happy halloween!

xx

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

Happy Halloween!

I just love Ray Villafane's work!

Suko said...

Cute Pumpkin song! I've only carved a couple of pumpkins (I am not very good) but I do appreciate the skilled efforts of others, such as the pumpkin art featured here. Happy Halloween, Petty!

Sridharan said...

Amazing creativity..!

Golden Eagle said...

Great Halloween story! Jack was certainly devious.

Blond Duck said...

Thanks for the shout out! :) Happy Halloween!

Kalyan said...

Nice reading about it...Happy Halloween!

anilkurup59 said...

That is typical Halloween treat . thanks.

Jenners said...

I am freaked out and loving the second photo of the pumpkin carving! (They are all good but that one really caught my eye). And I never knew this story so thanks for sharing it!

Gina said...

Okay first off the pumpkin carvings are creepy! *-* secondly I've never heard of stingy Jack but loved the story; thanks for share! ^_^