Jack's Wagers: A Jack O' Lantern Tale

According to an ancient Celtic legend it is said that on the night of Samhain (Celtic New Year's Eve), a night that is outside the cycle of time because it belongs neither to the Old Year that has just ended nor the New Year that has not yet begun, it may be possible to discern, in the mists that separate the world of the living from that of the spirits, a man who wanders in search of the road to Paradise. He holds his lantern in a hollowed out pumpkin, and inside it there would be a burning firebrand from the embers of hell.

That man is Jack!
Jack O’ Lantern.

But who was Jack?
The only ordinary man who has a feast day dedicated to him that by now is celebrated the world over.

Why do we celebrate him on Halloween night?

Hardly anyone knows his story; “To hell with them!” Jack would say.