Jack-o’-lantern are a
pretty popular tradition but, some may wonder how it came up. It originated from an Irish myth about a man
nicknamed “Stingy Jack”. Jack put the coin in his pocket (which was the Devil) beside a silver cross
because it prevented him from changing back. He made a bet with the devil
that he would not bother Jack for one year and that when Jack dies, he would
not claim his soul. Jack made the Devil climb in a tree
and he carved a cross on the tree so that he couldn’t come down.
The Devil promised not to bother Jack for another
ten years. Jack couldn’t go to heaven or hell so he was sent into the dark with
a burning coal as his light. The Irish started called his ghost the Jack of the Lantern.
Later, they made their own jack-o’-lanterns into potatoes and turnips and put
them in the window to scare away jack and evil spirits. The Americans started to use
pumpkins.
Another
popular tradition is apple bobbing. You fill a tub or large basin with water and put apples
in the water. The apples are less dense than water and can float. The player
catches the apple with their teeth. You can’t use your hands or else it is
counted as cheating.
The
last and my favorite tradition is trick or treating. They ask for candy or in some
cultures money. The children go to door and ask trick or treat. The "trick" is a threat to
perform mischief on the owners or their property. This has been customary
in North America since the late 1940s. Homeowners usually decorate their
property with Halloween decorations. In Great Britain and
Ireland, children and poor people go door-to-door singing and saying prayer for
the dead in return for cakes (souling). These both involved
trick or treating. They ask for a small skull made of sugar or chocolate.