Since some years now in Italy the end of the month of October is eagerly awaited by the children because a party has become part of our tradition: Halloween.Criticized by the church in his introduction has now been accepted as an occasion of joy and fun for children who find it the second time during the year they can dress up in a very particular carnival masks and accessories but they must have some special features: must be scary and call the world of spirits and ghosts.
But even if this party has a relatively short history in Italy in the Anglo-Saxon world is one of the most heartfelt and enduring tradition that has its roots in the distant European past. Now the party is particularly strong in the United States and Canada, but as always in far tradition is celebrated on October 31. In Europe, this tradition spread to the Celts who celebrated this way in late summer and early winter and, given the strong link of these people with their deceased, leaving food and delicacies available to ensure that the spirits of the ancestors protected them from famine and disease of the coldest season. Just visits from the dead to the living was born the tradition of dressing up is still practiced.
Halloween is now celebrated as a festival dedicated entirely to children who dress up as ghosts, skeletons, zombies, witches, vampires and other scary monsters and go from house to house, which are usually decorated with balloons, decorations, and knocking on the door saying "trick or treat?". Tradition has it that they are given candy or sweets to avoid teasing from the spirits. Such hostility, which are made by children, usually consist of throwing confetti or colored balloons on the door .... inconvenience can be avoided by giving each some candy. There are many amusement parks that decorate themed shows just for this event now that is grasped by even larger as an occasion to dress up and play outside the rules of normal clothing accessories using carnival dresses for a day.
Some traces of this custom of dressing up and pilgrimage from house to house was also found in parts of Italy, even if connected to the feast days dedicated to the commemoration of the dead. For example, in Sardinia, Liguria, Marche and other regions is traditional puppets hang to ward off spirits and in particular in some countries it is traditional to use the carving of pumpkins and other large plants that are then lit from within. In Mexico, for example, this festival is one of the biggest parties and after hearing all the houses are decorated with party decorations and city reborn with rides and stalls.
Another typical usage of this feast, the element that distinguishes the universally so-called Jack a pumpkins carved into which you insert a candle. The carving with menacing face to the tradition druid who used fire and to face the fact threatening to remove the dead who wanted to take the living from the land.
