Shockingly, it involves an Irish guy...and alcohol, two of my faves...enjoy.
People have been making jack-o'-lanterns for centuries. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man nicknamed "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn't want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.
Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O'Lantern."
In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits.
So, there ya have it. Well, not being much of a Halloween guy myself, i do enjoy carvin out a punkin now and then...and the Royals have been wanting to also. So after promising them if they cleaned their rooms to our standards, we would assuredly bring their rites of Fall to fruition this evening. Here's a pictoral journey...
HRH wasn't extremely excited about digging out Jack's "slimy" guts, The Prosecutor wondered why it smelled like Jack had puked, and The X was interested in eating Jacks seeds, raw. The Prince? He just supervised on occasion, choosing his Lego's over punkin carvin night, but he did enjoy the finished product.
Yup, everbody digs Happy Jack...so to speak.
2 comments:
Jesse and Bo always loved carving pumpkins, too. I love the smiles.
I never did it much...but it was alot of fun. I did a ghost pumpkin the next night...it was ALOT easier to carve. Of course the skins texture was more akin to a honeydew than a pumpkin.
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