From Skulls to Squash: The Hidden History of the Jack-o'-Lantern

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Somerset, Kentucky (SPA)----Every October, glowing pumpkin faces peer from porches and windowsills, a sure sign that Halloween is near. But while carving pumpkins is now a beloved family activity, this festive tradition has roots far older —and spookier —than most realize. The journey of the jack-o'-lantern is a fascinating tale that travels from ancient Celtic burial mounds to the farm fields of North America.

The story begins with the ancient Celts in Ireland and Scotland. They celebrated Samhain, a festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. This was a time, they believed, when the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead was at its thinnest.

According to Cerridwen Fallingstar, author of Broth from the Cauldron, the original custom was starkly macabre. On Samhain, celebrants would enter the burial mounds of their ancestors, light a candle, and place it inside one of the skulls. This practice was meant to honor the dead. As the tradition evolved, people moved away from using real skulls and "took to carving ‘skulls’ out of large turnips," lighting them to welcome the spirits of loved ones while simultaneously frightening away malevolent forces.

The lantern’s iconic name, however, comes from a later piece of Irish folklore, likely created to explain the pagan custom to a Christianized populace. The myth tells of a devious trickster known as "Stingy Jack."

As the legend goes, Jack trapped the devil and forced him to promise never to take his soul. When Jack died, he was refused entry into Heaven for his sinful life. But the devil, bound by his promise, also refused him entry into Hell. Condemned to roam the dark earth for eternity, Jack was given only a single burning coal from hell to light his way. He placed it inside a hollowed-out turnip to create a makeshift lantern.

He became known as "Jack of the Lantern," or "Jack-o'-Lantern," and local people began carving their own grotesque faces into turnips, beets, and potatoes, placing them in windows to ward off Jack’s wandering spirit.

When Irish and Scottish immigrants brought this tradition to the United States, they encountered a crop new to them but perfectly suited to the task: the pumpkin. This native North American gourd was, as Fallingstar notes, "large and easy to carve" and cast a "benevolent golden light."

This American squash soon replaced the traditional European root vegetables, and the pumpkin jack-o'-lantern became the international symbol of Halloween we know today. While the modern custom is more about creative fun than fending off ghostly spirits, its spooky history remains, casting a long shadow from a time when the veil between worlds was thin and lanterns were lit to greet the dead.

References

Fallingstar, C. (n.d.). As cited in "The History of Jack-o’-Lanterns and How They Became a Halloween Tradition."

History. (n.d.). How Jack O’Lanterns Originated in Irish Myth. As cited in "The History of Jack-o’-Lanterns and How They Became a Halloween Tradition."