Jack O'Lantern
Natchya Tiwari
Jack O’Lantern was a miser until he got the nickname Stingy Jack. Jack was a revel. Jack used to deceive the villagers around. Even Satan was not spared.
He used to go to drink with Satan. Then trick Satan into a coin so that he could pay for the alcohol. But when he got the coin, he put it in a pocket with a cross inside. So, Satan could not be transformed back.
Jack made two promises from Satan to let him free. The first was that Satan must not interfere with him for a year and must not receive his spirit if he dies because Jack was afraid of the dark in the Hell.
Satan promised, so he was released.
Jack later used a second trick on Satan.
He seduced Satan to climb up on the apple tree. Then he carved a cross in the middle of the apple tree. Satan could not climb down.
Now he said, "If you want to come down, you must make a promise that you won't bother me 10 years after my death”.
Jack was very sure he would not go to hell because Satan had promised. So, his soul rushed towards the gates of heaven. But due to the fact that he had done a lot of bad karma, the angels refused to open the gates of heaven.
Now, Jack had to go to Satan. But Satan was unable to receive Jack's spirit because he had promised.
Jack became a wandering soul in the human world. But with the view that he was afraid of the dark Satan, he gave a fire from the Hell and advised him to take a turnip which was a vegetable that he liked to penetrate into a hollow and put the flame inside.
Jack's spirit wandered with his trusty lamp. People would call Jack O'Lantern's soul and lamp Jack O'Lantern.
The Irish originally used beets to carve them into lamps. But later the pumpkin was used instead because in North America there were many pumpkins. While beets were rare also, the size of the pumpkin was bigger, making it easier to carve. In the Halloween season, pumpkins were carved into demons and placed on the threshold to evict Jack.