The Sinister Origins of The Jack O’Lantern

Creating and displaying Jack-O-Lanterns during the Halloween season is a tradition that has been passed down for centuries in nations all over the world. Children are especially participatory in this holiday ritual; In the United States, most families make a day-long outing of searching for the perfect pumpkin before helping their children carve out their nightmarish imaginings into the vegetable. In many small towns, a Jack O’Lantern, or the depiction of one, is used to signify houses which are participating in another popular Halloween tradition: Handing out candy. Before European immigrants who settled in America discovered the pumpkin, native to their new country, was perfect for this tradition various other vegetables were carved to hold candles; In England, beets were hollowed out and carved with macabre expressions. In Ireland, where the tradition of the Jack O’Lantern originated, large turnips and potatoes were first used. While this tradition is reserved mostly for the young and young at heart, the origins are much more sinister than one could imagine. Irish legends tell the tale of a man known as “Stingy Jack”, for whom Jack O’Lanterns are named. Jack was well-known in his village for being a manipulative, deceitful drunk; In fact, he was such an abhorred human that tales of him told by the townspeople were impressive enough to summon the Devil, who was unconvinced of the man’s evilness. While drunkenly wandering the town one evening, Jack came upon a dead body lying on the cobblestone path. As he approached, Jack noticed the face was distorted in a demonic grimace and discovered this “dead body” to be the Devil himself. Convinced Satan had finally come to collect his rotten soul, Stingy Jack requested the Devil join him in a final drink before dragging him into Hell. The Devil obliged, but after finishing off a round, Stingy Jack did not have money to pay, as his nickname would suggest. Jack asked that the Devi transform himself into a silver coin which he would use to pay the tab. The Devil was so impressed by Jack’s display of manipulative cleverness that he once again granted his request, and transformed into a coin. But Jack did not pay as he had promised; He instead slipped the coin which the Devil had transformed into inside a pocket, containing a crucifix. The cross in Jack’s pocket prohibited the Devil from turning back into his true form. Jack agreed to let Satan go only if he agreed to leave Jack alone for a year and to never claim his soul. Eventually, Satan agreed and was set free. One year later, the Devil paid a second visit to Stingy Jack who was once again, roaming the streets of his village in a drunken stupor. Stingy Jack believed the Devil had finally returned to collect his soul, despite their deal made one year earlier. He begged for an apple hanging high in a nearby tree before being taken into Hell, again manipulating the Devil to granting his request. Satan climbed the tree to retrieve the apple; Meanwhile, Stingy Jack was busy carving a large crucifix into the base of the tree so that he would be unable to come back down. Jack negotiated another ten years in which he would not be visited by the Devil and after he agreed to the conditions, allowed Satan to come out of the tree. Of course, Stingy Jack did eventually die. When Jack arrived at the Gates of Heaven he was turned away for his deceitful and manipulative nature in life. He met with the Devil one last time to ask to be allowed into Hell. This time, the Devil did not give into his wishes as he was still butt-hurt over being tricked by this man before. In a final gesture of good will, Satan gave Jack a burning coal straight from the fires of Hell to light his way and sent him off to eternally wander through the night, stuck between this word and the next. The Irish began referring to the soul of Stingy Jack, sometimes seen carrying a carved-out turnip containing the coal given to him by the Devil as “Jack of the Lantern”, eventually shortening it to, “Jack O’Lantern”. The Irish began creating lanterns for themselves with sinister faces, similar to the one Jack must have seen on the Devil when they first met. The lanterns would come to be displayed on All Hallows Eve to ward off Jack of the Lantern and other evil spirits wandering the earth. Make sure to carve your Jack O’Lantern every Halloween, if you don’t, you may be visited by spirits so evil, not even the Devil will claim them.

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A Witness to Spontaneous Human Combustion & Other Stories of SHC

The body of Alexander Morrison covered in slates from the roof which fell on top of his remains after the fire.

The body of Ginette Kazmierczak

Jeannie Saffin 
The only known case of Spontaneous Human Combustion which was witnessed was that of Jeannie Saffin of London, England on September 15, 1982. Jeannie Saffin was 61 years of age but had the mental capabilities of a six year old and lived with her 82-year-old father, Jack Saffin. While in the kitchen, Jack noticed a bright flash out of the corner of his eye. Turning to Jeannie to ask if she had seen it as well as, Jack Saffin noticed his daughter was on fire, sitting perfectly still with her hands in her lap. Don Carroll, Jack’s son-in-law entered the house just in time to see Jeannie in flames. Jack and Don rushed her to the sink in an attempt to stop the fire from consuming her but it was too late. Jeannie went into a coma and died eight days later. The flesh on her face, hands and abdomen had entirely burnt away to the subcutaneous fat. Don Carrol claims he saw flames coming from Jeannie’s mouth and said she was “roaring like a dragon” although no burns were found in Jeannie’s mouth. While perhaps Mr. Carroll was exaggerating just a bit, many instances of supposed spontaneous combustion witnessed in the 1400s-1600s claim similar phenomenon. One example is the case of Polonus Vortius, a knight in Milan, France who died sometime between 1468-1503 during the reign of Queen Bona Sforza. The parents of Polonus Vortius claimed he drank “two ladles of strong wine” then vomited fire and was consumed by the flames. At the time of Jeannie Saffin’s death the only source of ignition was the pilot light in the gas stove. On the day of the incident, she was wearing nylon which investigators blame for her death. Jack Saffin had earlier emptied the ashes from his pipe before reloading it with fresh tobacco. Investigators theorized an ember fell on Jeannie, remained there for quite some time as Jack reloaded his pipe, only later to set Jeannie’s clothes on fire when Don Carroll entered the house and a gust of wind stirred the ember. Technically this would be possible but it is a bit of a stretch to explain away the incident. Jeannie Saffin’s official cause of death was recorded by coroner, Dr. John Burton, as “broncho-pneumonia due to burns”, reportedly due only to the fact that when Jeannie’s family attempted to explain the spontaneous combustion they had witnessed, he replied “No such thing.”.
More recently, “Spontaneous Human Combustion” had been reported as an official cause of death.
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Survivors of Spontaneous Human Combustion

In 2013 a 9-day-old infant, “Baby Rahul”, made headlines when his mother, Rajeshwari Karnan admitted him to a local hospital in India to seek treatment for his burns which she claimed were caused by spontaneous combustion. Rahul was discovered lying in his bed, on fire, by a neighbor who heard the child’s screams. Professor R. Jayachandran, Rahul Karnan’s pediatrician believed his burns may have been caused by gasses expelling through his skin and theorized it may be a genetic condition. Twenty-five year old Rajeshwari has an older daughter, Narmatha, who has never suffered a believed instance of SHC. Since Rahul’s initial incident, Rajeshwari claims her son has spontaneously ignited on three other occasions. In January 2015 Rajeshwari Karnan admitted Rahul’s 10-day-old baby brother to Kilpauk Hospital in India after his feet supposedly caught fire while she was in the bath. The unnamed baby’s had burns covering 10% of his feet and had to spend over one month in the hospital recovering. The hospital was incredibly reluctant to release the newborn from the believing one of the parents, most likely Rajeshwari, was suffering from Munchausen by proxy syndrome and had set fire to her own children for attention. “Munchausen Moms”, mothers who harm their children to gain attention and sympathy (usually by way of slowly poisoning their children) have gained infamy in the past few decades as this mental illness which can affect either parent, but usually the mother, has seemingly become more widespread. Hospital dean Narayana Babu stated, “All tests reveal he [unnamed Baby Karnan] is completely normal. The parents went through psychiatric counselling and were found to be normal.”. The Karnans told reporters their community has ostracized them after the repeated burnings of their two children.

Frank Baker claims he has survived repeated instances of “partial spontaneous combustion” which he was diagnosed by a doctor. The doctor who supposedly diagnosed Frank with “partial spontaneous combustion” has never come forward or been mentioned by name. The first time Frank burst into flames, it was witnessed by a close friend. Frank claims he has spontaneously combusted three times since the initial incident. For several years, Frank Baker has been soliciting money for “Spontaneous Combustion Research”. I am not convinced, but here is his story in his own words.

Jack Angel is probably the most well-known survivor of SHC when in fact, he never experienced spontaneous combustion nor did he claim to. On November 12, 1974 Jack Angel was taking a shower in his mobile home in Savannah, Georgia when the water suddenly stopped flowing. When he went to check the water pressure, he was sprayed with scalding hot water. Jack Angel filed a civil-action suit in the Fulton County Superior Court over the burns which he received after being sprayed by the faulty water tank. Somehow, the accounts of this run-of-the-mill lawsuit has morphed into a wildly false story of surviving spontaneous human combustion. Today, people claim Jack Angel fell asleep on a water mattress and awoke to find a hole burnt in his stomach but his clothing intact. During the lawsuit with the water mattress company a doctor confirmed at the trial that Jack Angel had burned from the inside out.
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If you enjoyed this article, you might also like Evidence Suggests Spontaneous Human Combustion is a Reality, A Witness to Spontaneous Human Combustion and Other Stories of SHC, Cause of Death: Spontaneous Human Combustion and Other Stories of SHC and Children Who Remember Dying in Terrorist Attacks in their Past-Life