Halloween: Nightmare Before Christmas

Halloween: Nightmare Before Christmas

Mummy, will you tell me the origin of the Halloween?
My beloved, what has darkness got to do with light.
You are a child of light and not one of the children of the midnight.
You must avoid all the evils that must not be seen.

My beloved, don’t forget the Word of God.
Lest you go astray in this oddly-wobbly world.

Do Not Be Yoked With Unbelievers:
14.Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
2. Corinthians 6:14 (New International Version.)

Yet, I will tell you the origin of this sin.
The fetish ritual of darkness
Burning ember in a hollowed out pumpkin.
Ghouls dancing round and round the cypress.

As told to me by the strange witch in the gothic hooded cloak
Who suddenly appeared with a Jack ‘O Lantern
At the very moment it struck 12 on my Grandfather’s Clock
She showed up in our tavern
She was amusing like the whimsical woman in a fable
Then she laid the ugly illuminated pumpkin on the table
And told me this horrifying and terrifying tale
As I listened, I became very feverish and pale.

This is based on an old Irish legend about the drunk, Jack. One day he was out in the woods and tricked Satan into a tree to throw down some fruit. Once Satan had helped him he carved a cross into the tree and trapped him there. He then struck a deal that Satan would leave his soul alone when he died. This backfired when he died since heaven would not take him either. When he kept bothering the Devil to let him in the Devil gave him a burning ember instead. He carried the ember in a hollowed out turnip (sometimes described as rotton) to light his way as he wandered through eternal darkness on the earth. Eventually this was replaced with the pumpkin in America and became the modern Jack-o-Lantern
Jack-o-lantern - the genesis

According to Rees & Rees, the folks who were abroad in the night imitating the fairies would some- times carry turnips carved to represent faces. This is the origin of our modern Jack-o-lantern. It became popular as house decorations in the United States after immigrant Irish discovered how much easier pumpkins were to carve than turnips, unleashing what has turned into quite an art form in the last decade or so. This later assumed a spooky touch, especially when the glowing faces appear from the darkness.

So my dear son, beware of the nightmare before Christmas.