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October 2002

To prep the Kids at Kurokawa School system for Halloween, we had a Halloween lesson featuring Jack-O-Lanterns for the month of October. We sang a special Halloween song, studied Halloween ABCs and made personal Jack-O-Lanterns.  The Lanterns got prizes for 3 catagories: Prettiest, Ugliest and Scariest.

The story of Jack O‘Lantern:

The story of Jack O’lantern

Card: A 

Long ago there was a man named Jack.  He was a bad man.  He liked to drink heavily, gamble, lie and steal.  But he was also very clever.  On Halloween night, Jack met the Devil in a bar and decided to trick him.  He offered the Devil his soul in exchange for some beer. The Devil didn’t have any money because he didn’t have any pockets to carry it in.  Jack suggested that if the Devil changed into a coin, Jack could pay the bartender and then the Devil could change back and they could have a last drink together.  Because it was a dishonest idea the Devil liked it.  But when he changed into a coin, Jack quickly put the coin into his pocket.  Jack had a silver cross in his pocket and it stopped the Devil from changing back.  The Devil was trapped.  Jack would not release the devil until he promised to leave him alone for ten years. 

Card B:

 The Devil agreed and Jack released him.  To save himself from the Devil, Jack decided to become a good man and escape the Devil by going to heaven when he died.  He stopped drinking and fighting and cheating everyone… for awhile.  But ten years is a long time and eventually Jack forgot and returned to his old ways.  When the Devil appeared on Halloween night ten years later, he wanted Jack’s soul.  Thinking quickly, Jack said “I’ll go, but before we go, will you get me an apple from that tree?”  The Devil, thinking he had nothing to lose, climbed the tree to get the apple.  Jack quickly took out his knife and cut a cross in the tree.  The Devil was trapped.  He couldn’t get down from the tree and he couldn’t get Jack’s soul.  Jack made him promise to never take his soul.  The Devil, having no choice, agreed.

 Card C:

 Many years later, when Jack was an old man, he died.  First he tried to get into heaven, but because he had lived such a bad life he couldn’t get in.  When he went to hell, the Devil had to reject him because of the promise to never take his soul.  “But where can I go?” Jack pleaded.  But the Devil wouldn’t listen and threw a burning coal from the hellfire at him to make him leave.  Jack took the coal and put it in a pumpkin to make a lamp.  He uses it to light his way as he wanders the earth forever and ever.  Today, Jack’s lantern is called a Jack O’lantern.  We put Jack O’lanterns in front of our house to keep evil spirits from coming in.