Halloween history and the Stingy Jack Legend

                         

                         Halloween ppt from marinosa

In order to understand where this well-known popular Irish tradition comes from, we devoted one session to telling the story of Stingy Jack, the origin of the present famous pumpkin  we use on Halloween  to scare away the evil spirits.  

According to an Irish legend, Stingy Jack used to be a scoundrel fond of drinking and evil. On two occasions the Devil came for his soul but Jack played a trick on him avoiding death. When he finally died, unable to enter Heaven because of his evil behaviou in lifer, he went down to Hell's door where he met the Devil, who, keeping his word, took revenge on Jack and did not let him in. That's why Stingy Jack was punished to wander in the dark with a burning coal as a lantern for the rest of eternity.

Read this old Irish story about how the scoundrel "Stingy Jack" became " Jack-o-lantern' , the popular scary pumpkin. Click here for reading the story : Legend of Stingy Jack,

Watch this video of a film short performing the legend.