Halloween arrives on time again this year. And like every year it brings with it the controversy between those who love this party and those who hate it.
The question we ask ourselves is: how Italian is this party?
On the one hand, there are those who argue that Halloween is an Anglo-Saxon import party, imposed by the force of the media. There are those who, on the religious front, underline its pagan if not satanic aspect.
On the other hand, there are those who document the fact that in many, if not every Italian region, ancient traditions very similar to those in America existed. To name one for all, Andrea Cammilleri and the Sicilian "morticini".
But as usual, in this unlikely contrast between Christian and pagan traditions (which have always coexisted) it seems that no one focuses on the central point, on the only thing that changes reality: the name.
The name Halloween
The term "Halloween" is made up of three archaic roots ending in a single word: "all", meaning "all", "hallow" meaning "holy" and "eve" meaning "evening". Halloween simply means "all saints evening".
The name itself is therefore of Christian tradition. Indeed, Catholic, because Protestants saints do not celebrate them. And it refers to a feast that was officially set to November XNUMXst in the eighth century by Pope Gregory III, and which absorbs an earlier pagan feast.
The fact is that turning around the pole we discover that reality is always simpler than we imagined. And in fact, if Halloween is the feast of all saints, does anyone think that this festival already exists and has its own name in Italy too? And it's called Ognissanti.
Thus, one can live as a religious or civil holiday, dress up as witches or carve pumpkins, but with a little pride can one simply use the word All Saints as logical? We have this word, why not use it? If we don't say "Merry Christmas" why should we say "Happy Halloween"?
