Perennis

I’ve never been big on Halloween. It’s never been “fun” to me. But I did find this legend that I had never heard before. Today I may spend some time learning about these various myths.

~The Jack-O-Lantern

The legend of the Jack-O-Lantern comes from Ireland from about the 18th century. With some variations the basis of the Jack-O-Lantern is as follows:

There was a stingy drunkard of an Irishman named Jack who tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree. Then Jack quickly cut the sign of a cross into the trunk of the tree, thereby preventing the Devil from climbing down. Jack made the Devil swear that he wouldn’t ever come after Jack’s soul again or claim it in any way. However, this did not stop Jack from dying and when he did he was not allowed into Heaven, because of his life of drinking, being tightfisted and being deceitful. And because of the oath the Devil had taken Jack was not allowed into Hell either. “But where can I go?” asked Jack. “Back where you came from!” replied the Devil. The way back was windy and dark. The Devil, as a final gesture, threw a live coal at Jack straight from the fire of Hell. To light his way and to keep it from blowing out in the wind Jack put it in a turnip he was eating. Ever since Jack and his “lantern” has been traveling over the face of the earth looking for a place to rest. ~

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"Wherever the poetry of myth is interpreted as biography, history, or science – it is killed. It is never difficult to demonstrate that as science and history, mythology is absurd. When a civilization begins to interpret its mythology in this way, the life goes out of it. Temples become museums, and the link between the two perspectives is dissolved. To bring the images back to life, one has to seek – not interesting applications to modern affairs, but illuminating hints from the inspired past."

- Joseph Campbell, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces"

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