Embers of the Damned: The Story Of Stingy Jack

 Many years before pumpkins flickered on porches, there was Jack. Jack was a trickster, a drunk, and a soul too clever for Heaven and much too wicked for Hell. Jack was condemned to walk the earth with nothing more than a hollowed out turnip and a single burning ember from Hell to light his way. It was indeed, Stingy Jack that became the ghostly face behind our flickering porch lanterns. His tale full of greed, wit, and even eternal consequence. His story is a reminder that some bargains once struck, can ultimately never be escaped, and that for us, every light we carve into the dark still carries the echo of his wandering flame. 

You see, they say that Stingy Jack was a crafty and unscrupulous man. A drunkard and a trickster who tricked the very devil himself. Not once, but twice. But, in doing so, Jack paid the ultimate price, eternal damnation to walk earth with nothing to guide him but a hollowed out turnip lit by a single ember from hell. So, how did Jack trick the devil?

One night the devil had arrived to claim Jack's soul. Yet, Jack asks the devil for one last drink. The devil agrees and transforms into a silver coin for Jack to pay for the drink. Jack traps the devil by placing the coin into his pocket next to a crucifix. This prevents the devil from reverting and in exchange, the devil agrees not to take Jack's soul for some time. 

At least ten years go by before the devil shows up again to claim Jack's soul. Jack once again tricks the devil. Jack asks the devil for an apple, and the devil climbs a tree, to retrieve the best apple, but as he is up in the tree, Jack carves a crucifix into the trunk of the tree which prevents the devil from climbing back down. In exchange, the devil agrees never to take his soul. 

Eventually, Jack passes away as humans often due. However, because of his trickery and deceitful life, he is not granted access to Heaven. The Devil, who had also promised never to claim his soul refuses him entry into Hell. Jack is doomed to roam the earth, so the Devil gives Jack a burning ember from Hell. Jack hollows out a turnip, and places the ember inside, the light meant to guide him throughout his eternal damnation. 

The History of the Jack-o-Lantern

The name Jack-o-Lantern had originally meant Jack of the Lantern, or man of the Lantern. It was referred to as the lights seen in marshes. However, because of Jack's lantern, the people of Ireland and Scotland would carve faces on to turnips or other roots placing candles or embers inside them, as part of the festival of  Samhain, known today as Halloween. This was done in part to ward off Jack and other spirits roaming the earth. It wasn't until the Irish immigrants came to North America did they discover that Pumpkin's were much easier to carve, and thus, the Jack-O-Lantern as we know it today was birthed. Today, the Jack-O-Lantern is the official symbol of Halloween, and knowing Jack's story only gives that symbol much more depth. 

In truth, the legend of Stingy Jack, endures because it speaks to something far deeper than some old Halloween custom. Because beneath the flicker of every single Jack-O-Lantern carved lies the uneasy glow of Jack's eternal punishment. Because, his soul is trapped between Heaven and Hell, forever wandering the night with his ember of regret. His story is just not trickery and consequence, but the thin line between cleverness and damnation, between light and shadow. 

As the centuries had passed this Irish tale followed it's people across the very sea, and Jack's lantern had transformed from a hollowed out turnip to the glowing pumpkins we see today. Yet, the meaning behind the gesture remains the same. Each time we carve a grin into that orange face, and set a candle within, we are echoing a ritual as old as fear itself. We are warding off what cannot rest or perhaps we are inviting it closer. 

Maybe, on a quiet Halloween night, when the wind rattles the windows and the candles burn low. Jack, he still roams, he roams the edge of the dark, seeking warmth in the lights we leave behind. After all The Mirror Watches, and in it's glow, we are reminded that every ghostly tale begins with a spark of a very human sin. 

And somewhere in the dark....his lantern still burns.