Should Halloween be imported to and celebrated in Italy or not?
Halloween is an Anglo-Saxon tradition. It had started long before the Romans occupied Celtic territory. It has its origin in an ancient Gaelic festival. It was a celebration of the end of the harvest season in Gaelic culture. How many of us know the origin and the real meaning of this 
tradition? I’m sure very few people know these things. So there is no reason to celebrate something that means nothing for the majority of us.
Surfing in the net I found that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when spirits can make contact with the physical world. The reason why costumes were worn in ancient times is that it was an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them. Clearly Halloween has pagan origins. On the contrary in Italy the most important celebrations are strictly linked with Christian religion. We celebrate All Saints' Day the 1st November and All Souls' Day the 2nd. Because it has such a current religious meaning for us it has no sense to celebrate a pagan tradition like Halloween.
Some Italian people have already started to celebrate Halloween, especially children. Certainly they enjoy themselves with traditional activities like trick-or-treating, costumes parties and Jack-o’-lanterns. It’s funny to carve pumpkins into silly or scary faces and lit them with a candle inside. Again I’m convinced Italian people have no idea of the real meaning of these symbols. It’s simply another business imported from other countries to create a more consumer society.
One last thing is that Halloween is celebrated in United Kingdom, United States, Ireland and Canada. My question is : “Do we belong to the same culture?”. More or less we are all part of what we call Occident. We share some beliefs, values, habits, symbols but there are still some differences within our culture. This is not a weakness for us. We have to defend our differences even if we recognise we are part of the same culture.
tradition? I’m sure very few people know these things. So there is no reason to celebrate something that means nothing for the majority of us.Surfing in the net I found that Halloween is one of the liminal times of the year when spirits can make contact with the physical world. The reason why costumes were worn in ancient times is that it was an attempt to mimic the evil spirits or placate them. Clearly Halloween has pagan origins. On the contrary in Italy the most important celebrations are strictly linked with Christian religion. We celebrate All Saints' Day the 1st November and All Souls' Day the 2nd. Because it has such a current religious meaning for us it has no sense to celebrate a pagan tradition like Halloween.
Some Italian people have already started to celebrate Halloween, especially children. Certainly they enjoy themselves with traditional activities like trick-or-treating, costumes parties and Jack-o’-lanterns. It’s funny to carve pumpkins into silly or scary faces and lit them with a candle inside. Again I’m convinced Italian people have no idea of the real meaning of these symbols. It’s simply another business imported from other countries to create a more consumer society.
One last thing is that Halloween is celebrated in United Kingdom, United States, Ireland and Canada. My question is : “Do we belong to the same culture?”. More or less we are all part of what we call Occident. We share some beliefs, values, habits, symbols but there are still some differences within our culture. This is not a weakness for us. We have to defend our differences even if we recognise we are part of the same culture.
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