What better way to entreat you all to have a Happy Halloween than a Jack O'Lantern getting on with his dirty sinful business?
Well, for lack of other substance, I've done some research on the etymology of the term "Jack O'Lantern":
Although there are many folklore and urban legends which try and account for the derivation of this term, my personal favorite concerns an Irish goat-herder, Jack O'Lantern, who hoodwinks the Devil out of a pint Guinness.
Jack O'Lantern is storied to be the abbreviation of an old phrase used to describe night watchmen; it supposedly began with "man with the lantern" which somehow eventually mutated into "man of the lantern"; this sounds strange but is not that uncommon (e.g., "man of the cloth"). When it became socially awkward to refer to someone as a "man of the lantern," people adopted the term "Jack Lantern," which is also not that uncommon (e.g., "Joe Sixpack"). Another history of "Jack Lantern" is about a sixty year old man who was killed by wolves while carrying a lantern and an upside-down map around in the woods for 3 years.
What does this have to do with a hollowed out pumpkin meant to scare the Huggies off unwitting kids? Apparently the custom of putting out carved vegetables at Halloween did originate with the Irish. Leading up to, and during, the Great Potato Famine, the Irish would place lit candles inside carved-out vegetables on their windowsills to ward off evil spirits wandering around on the eve of All Saints Day (which, if you remember your holiday history, November 1 is All Hallows Day--a goofy derivation of All Saints Day--the evening preceding which is All Hallows Eve, or Halloween). Since this practice was actually wasting tasty and eatable vegetables, they switched to pumpkins--which have no practical purpose--when they migrated to America.
Since Mr. O'Lantern is usually just a side-thought and dressing for Halloween every year, let's all choose this Halloween to show Jack the reverence he deserves.
Thanks for all the laughs Jackie-O.
4 comments:
That's a face of relief if ever I saw one.
What does a Jack drop? Candle wax?
He drops a piece O' Pumkin Pie.
He actually Looks like he is pushin one out right now. He is leaning a little to the left.....sort of getting up on one side.....strainin' to help it out.
God bless those pagans.
Post a Comment