Folklore of the Jack O Lantern

An old Irish folk tale tells of Jack, a lazy yet shrewd farmer who uses a cross to trap the Devil. On story says that Jack tricked the Devil into climbing an apple tree, and one he was there, Jack quickly placed crosses around the trunk or carved a cross into the tree bark, so that the Devil couldn't get down. Another myth says that Jack put a key in the Devil's pocket while he was suspended upside-down.
Another version of the myth says that Jack was getting chased by some villagers from whom he had stolen, when he met the Devil, who claimed it was time for him to die. However, the thief stalled his death by tempting the Devil with a chance to bedevil the church-going villagers chasing him. Jack told the Devil to turn into a coin with which he would pay for the stolen goods (the Devil could take on any shape he wanted); later, when the coin/Devil disappeared, the Christian villagers would fight over who had stolen it. The Devil agreed to this plan. He turned himself into a silver coin and jumped into Jack's wallet, only to find himself next to a cross Jack had also picked up in the village. Jack had closed the wallet tight, and the cross stripped the Devil of his powers; and so he was trapped. In both myths, Jack only lets the Devil go when he agrees never to take his soul. After a while the theif died, as all living thing do. Of course, his life had been too sinful for Jack to go to heaving; however, the Devil had promised not to take his soul, and so he was barred from hell as well. Jack now had nowhere to go. He asked how he would see where to go, as he had no light, and the Devil mockingly tossed him an ember that would never burn out from the flames of hell. Jack carved out one of his turnips (which was his favorite food), put the ember inside it, and began endlessly wandering the Earth for a resting place. He become know as "Jack of the Lantern", or Jack-o-Lantern. - source unknown.

A friend of mine gave me the above article. I thought it was an interesting story at the time, so I think it makes an interesting blog. Its not to late to get a toy wooden guy for your child's Halloween costume. Arrow gift shop has an incredible assortment of guns for the holiday.