Già da diversi anni, in Italia come nel resto d'Europa, zucche, maschere di vampiri e fantasmi, scope da strega, ecc. nella sera d'autunno del 31 ottobre, quando luce ed ombra si confondono, nelle città, nei paesi, nei posti più sperduti, accade qualcosa che esula dall'ordinario. La gente si attarda volentieri, sapendo che il giorno seguente è la festa di Ognissanti. E' una festa che ha profonde radici nel passato, che deriva dalla festa druidica di Samain, e che oggi, all'alba del terzo milennio, riappare un po' ovunque.
Il simbolo di questa festa è la zucca (in effetti è questa la stagione in cui, prima del freddo invernale, si raccolgono quelle cucurbitacee dal volume talora impressionante), verosimilmente svuotata. Sul guscio alcuni fori rappresentano gli occhi e la bocca. All'interno, presumibilmente, ondeggia la fiamma di una candela. La zucca ricorda la testa beffarda diun cadavere. Cosa significa? E una festa che in apparenza è folkloristica e popolare. La peculiarità delle feste popolari consiste nell'entusiasmare tutte le classi sociali. E ciò avviene puntualmente nel caso della "misteriosa" festa di Halloween.
Halloween: secular and sacred holiday
The word Halloween, Old English, comes from a contraction popular All - ( saints ) - even , which literally means " holy night "or" holy evening. " The reference is explicitly Christian.
First we need to think about the date is no accident the night before the first day of November. E 'on the eve of the November 2, that the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic Church is the day of the Dead. Even this is not the case.
Although it is a joyous celebration by its very nature, All Saints has always been confused with the Day of the Dead. The Roman Catholic Church (the Protestants do not believe in saints, and therefore do not have that religion) has always encouraged the acts of devotion made on 1 November. All Saints is literally the Feast of All Saints , recognized or not. But the Roman Church can not venture out in layman of carnival Halloween. From a liturgical point of view is ambiguous position towards one side of the archetypes that have caused those carnival shows, but the other has been recovered - from a religious point of view and in a purified - By the Church itself, he could not do otherwise. It is indeed not correct to judge the profane rites of Halloween as degeneration of religious rites: in fact it is the much vilified profane rites to be the cause of Christian ceremonies. The festival is one of those "to deceive", according to Pascal, they raise a smoke screen between everyday life and its ultimate end. However, not being able to eradicate the party, whatever it is, Christianity in general has tried (which is why the condemnation of the Roman Church teaching that condemns, in the name of dignity and respect due to the deceased and the Communion of Saints, is late ) to channel it and give it a finalità in sintonia con i suoi dogmi fondamentali. E' noto che il cristianesimo si è innestato su antiche religioni che avevano i propri usi e credenze. La lunga lotta condotta dai Padri della Chiesa contro le sopravvivenze del paganesimo, poi le ingiunzioni pontificie o sinodali contro pratiche ritenute diaboliche, mostrano chiaramente che la religione cristiana non è mai riuscita a eliminare alcuni concetti ereditati dalla notte dei tempi. Non potendo eliminarli, la Chiesa cristiana li ha assorbiti.
La questione si pone attualmente nel quadro di una società laica che parte dal principio che la vita quotidiana, e di conseguenza civile e civica, e la vita spirituale, cioè l'appartenenza a una religione o a una corrente di pensiero, non hanno alcun punto in comune, poiché il cittadino è libero di pensare ciò che vuole. E' il principio della tolleranza, ma è una tolleranza non compresa a fondo. Infatti, in tutte le società antiche la vita spirituale non era affatto separata dalla vita materiale. Non c'era nemmeno distinzione fra sacro e profano - due termini che erano privi di senso - quindi Halloween è una festa al tempo stesso profana e sacra.
Una festa nuova, anzi antichissima
Nel folklore di tutte le regioni italiane, nei giorni che from the vigil of All Saints, that is, from October 31, at St. Martin's Day, November 11, linked in a continuum of celebration, from time immemorial, these are all elements of the party, based on the celebration of an important watershed calendar open to "return of the dead. " From the Alps to Sicily are, on those dates, the rites of hospitality for the deceased, to collect children or poor homes, traditional sweets from macrabro name (such as "bone death"), carved pumpkins, celebrations with dinner and libations, divination, terrifying tales. This demonstrates that the entire baggage of the party is not limited to, of course, European-derived, but also widely distributed, which exceeds (perhaps before) the boundaries of Celtic culture, which is normally given.
The cult of individual martyrs and saints (known and unknown) in a single occurrence was in the early centuries after Christ. The first traces of a general celebration amounted to Antioch, and refer to the Sunday after Pentecost (for the Syriac Church during the Easter season). This custom is also mentioned in settantaquattresima homily of John Chrysostom (407) and is preserved to this day the Eastern Orthodox Church. In Rome, this festival was instead placed in the May 13, from 610, when that day Pope Bonifacio IV dedicò il Pantheon alla Vergine Maria e a tutti i santi [A. Cattabiani, Calendario , Rusconi, 1988, p.316]. Nell'VIII secolo, poi, la Chiesa romana spostò la ricorrenza all'I novembrre; a tale proposito Iacopone da Varagine, nella sua Legenda Aurea , crive che " il papa ritenne che fosse meglio celebrare la festa in un momento dell'anno in cui, essendo state fatte le vendemmie e le mietiture, i pellegrini potevano più facilmente trovare di che nutrirsi. " [J. Le Goff, La civiltà dell'Occidente medioevale , Einaudi, 1999, p. 200]. Ma il vero motivo dello spostamento derivò dal bisogno di sovrapporre una ricorrenza cristiana a una precristiana which was celebrated by the closing time of the great agricultural work and the beginning of the "dark season", and that for some people was a Verio is your New Year's Eve.
The door calendar, which runs between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, the door is characterized by the term Catholic feasts of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Dead, located precisely in the days between October 31 and November 2. The same dates, from the earliest times that preceded the Christian story, they were celebrated by the people in the rural tradition with festivals across Europe have common features. From the agricultural point of view we are in the time of plowing and sowing that will last un raccolto precoce nella stagione successiva, non appena il sole tornerà a scaldare la terra.
The Church, therefore, brought to All Saints' The November before only in Rome, from parire 731. Contributed to the spread of this occurrence especially Alcuin (735-804), an influential adviser of Charlemagne. Some time after the Emperor Louis the Pious, at the request of Pope Gregory IV (827-844), inspired in turn by local bishops, the kingdom extended to the whole works. But it took many more centuries because I became in November throughout the Western Church the feast of All Saints: it was papa Sisto IV a renderla obbligatoria nel 1475.
Nel folklore di tutte le regioni italiane, nei giorni che from the vigil of All Saints, that is, from October 31, at St. Martin's Day, November 11, linked in a continuum of celebration, from time immemorial, these are all elements of the party, based on the celebration of an important watershed calendar open to "return of the dead. " From the Alps to Sicily are, on those dates, the rites of hospitality for the deceased, to collect children or poor homes, traditional sweets from macrabro name (such as "bone death"), carved pumpkins, celebrations with dinner and libations, divination, terrifying tales. This demonstrates that the entire baggage of the party is not limited to, of course, European-derived, but also widely distributed, which exceeds (perhaps before) the boundaries of Celtic culture, which is normally given.
The cult of individual martyrs and saints (known and unknown) in a single occurrence was in the early centuries after Christ. The first traces of a general celebration amounted to Antioch, and refer to the Sunday after Pentecost (for the Syriac Church during the Easter season). This custom is also mentioned in settantaquattresima homily of John Chrysostom (407) and is preserved to this day the Eastern Orthodox Church. In Rome, this festival was instead placed in the May 13, from 610, when that day Pope Bonifacio IV dedicò il Pantheon alla Vergine Maria e a tutti i santi [A. Cattabiani, Calendario , Rusconi, 1988, p.316]. Nell'VIII secolo, poi, la Chiesa romana spostò la ricorrenza all'I novembrre; a tale proposito Iacopone da Varagine, nella sua Legenda Aurea , crive che " il papa ritenne che fosse meglio celebrare la festa in un momento dell'anno in cui, essendo state fatte le vendemmie e le mietiture, i pellegrini potevano più facilmente trovare di che nutrirsi. " [J. Le Goff, La civiltà dell'Occidente medioevale , Einaudi, 1999, p. 200]. Ma il vero motivo dello spostamento derivò dal bisogno di sovrapporre una ricorrenza cristiana a una precristiana which was celebrated by the closing time of the great agricultural work and the beginning of the "dark season", and that for some people was a Verio is your New Year's Eve.
The door calendar, which runs between Autumn Equinox and Winter Solstice, the door is characterized by the term Catholic feasts of All Saints and the Commemoration of the Dead, located precisely in the days between October 31 and November 2. The same dates, from the earliest times that preceded the Christian story, they were celebrated by the people in the rural tradition with festivals across Europe have common features. From the agricultural point of view we are in the time of plowing and sowing that will last un raccolto precoce nella stagione successiva, non appena il sole tornerà a scaldare la terra.
Un proverbio popolare ricorda infatti che " Chi semina in ottobre miete in giugno " così come un altro detto consiglia che " Per Ognissanti siano i grani seminati e i frutti rincasati ". In effetti questo è un tempo nuovo, si chiude la trascorsa annata agricola e se ne apre un'altra: come testimonia l'usanza, tutt'ora diffusa, di rinnovare i contratti d'affitto al giorno di San Martino, l'11 novembre.
Per recuperare l'antico significato simbolico di questo periodo occorre rifarci a ciò che si sa della tradizione celtica che è l'unica ad avere tenacemente conservato i brandelli dell'antica cultura e religione agraria dall'opera di pulizia effettuata nei secoli dall'evangelizzazione cattolica. Così scrive Alfredo Cattabiani (autore di notevoli libri sul folklore e tradizioni popolari): "... Un tempo nelle terre abitate dai Celti, che si estendevano dall'Irlanda alla Spagna, dalla Francia all'Italia settentrionale, dalla Pannonia all'Asia Minore, questo periodo di passaggio era considerato un Capodanno: lo si chiamava in Irlanda Samain (Samonos in gallico) ed era preceduto dalla night is still known in Scotland as Nos Galan-gaeaf, Kalends of night in winter, during which the dead entered into communication with the living in a general cosmic reshuffling (...)
The Church, therefore, brought to All Saints' The November before only in Rome, from parire 731. Contributed to the spread of this occurrence especially Alcuin (735-804), an influential adviser of Charlemagne. Some time after the Emperor Louis the Pious, at the request of Pope Gregory IV (827-844), inspired in turn by local bishops, the kingdom extended to the whole works. But it took many more centuries because I became in November throughout the Western Church the feast of All Saints: it was papa Sisto IV a renderla obbligatoria nel 1475.
Per sostituire senza snaturarle troppo le caratteristiche di "festa dei morti" dell'antico capodanno celtico (il Samain celebrato nei primi giorni di novembre), e probabilmente non solo celtico, prendendo atto che comunque il popolo, e in larga parte anche il clero, continuava ad osservarle, la Chiesa poi dedicò il giorno successivo, 2 novembre, alla Commemorazione dei defunti: fu Odilone di Cluny, nel 998, a ordinare ai cenobi dipendenti dell'abbazia di celebrare l'ufficio dei defunti a partire dal vespro del primo di novembre, mentre il giorno seguente i sacerdoti avrebbero offerto al Signore l'Eucarestia pro omnium defunctorum rest. The ritual then spread gradually to the rest of Europe, arriving in Rome in the fourteenth century. [A. Cattabiani, Calendar cit, pp. 311-12; ID., Almanac , A. Mondadori, 1994, p. 332].
According to his biographer, Odilon Mercoeur would not be satisfied with ordering the celebration of All Saints' Day Nov. 2, but would also have organized the commemoration of the liturgy.
the evening of All Saints, after vespers, will play all the bells and recite the office of the Dead. The next day, after morning prayer, the Mass will be celebrated for the dead as in the solemn days, the sound of bells. All the brothers celebrate Mass in private or in public for the rest of the faithful departed and give a meal to twelve poor. We want, ask and command that this decree is always observed in the monastery of Cluny, as well as in all other monasteries that depend on it, and if someone will take example from our practice, which is filled by all the blessings.
Indeed, the commandment, which was originally reserved for the monks of Cluny, in the 50s of the XI century it became a general rule observed in all the Christian churches. E 'become a party institution that is no longer contested by anyone, and dotting the liturgical year in the same way as other parties. No pope has never formalized as the Day of the Dead feast controlled, but it is a custom observed by all Christendom, as evidenced by the solemn commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the decree by Odilon Mercoeur by Pope John Paul II November 2, 1998. ;
According to his biographer, Odilon Mercoeur would not be satisfied with ordering the celebration of All Saints' Day Nov. 2, but would also have organized the commemoration of the liturgy.
the evening of All Saints, after vespers, will play all the bells and recite the office of the Dead. The next day, after morning prayer, the Mass will be celebrated for the dead as in the solemn days, the sound of bells. All the brothers celebrate Mass in private or in public for the rest of the faithful departed and give a meal to twelve poor. We want, ask and command that this decree is always observed in the monastery of Cluny, as well as in all other monasteries that depend on it, and if someone will take example from our practice, which is filled by all the blessings.
Indeed, the commandment, which was originally reserved for the monks of Cluny, in the 50s of the XI century it became a general rule observed in all the Christian churches. E 'become a party institution that is no longer contested by anyone, and dotting the liturgical year in the same way as other parties. No pope has never formalized as the Day of the Dead feast controlled, but it is a custom observed by all Christendom, as evidenced by the solemn commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the decree by Odilon Mercoeur by Pope John Paul II November 2, 1998. ;
Renowned celtista Markale Jean points out that at the time of these decisions, the Western Church and Christianity were not a little influenced by Irish monasticism, which abounded in the Carolingian court counselors and priests trained in that model. [J. Markale, Halloween. History and traditions , The Age of Aquarius, 2005, p.115]. So the establishment of these Christian holidays, fatte nascere per assorbire culti pagani, dovette essere motivata principalmente dalle caratteristiche dell'ambiente celtico, entro il quale le feste dei morti dei primi di novembre non avevano perso smalto.
La cristianizzazione non portò comunque a una vera rimozione dei contenuti e delle forme originali della festa (anche in Italia Ognissanti non ha mai avuto una propria precisa fisionomia, perlomeno a livello popolare, ma è sempre stata un'appendice anticipata del Giorno dei Morti, riservata quasi esclusivamente a culti e devozioni funerarie e manistiche).
Dall'Europa all'America e ritorno
summer of 1845, a disaster struck Ireland. The crops of potatoes, which provide the main food for poor people - more than two million people - were affected by a fungus that rots the tubers did: the crops were lost, as happened in subsequent years, resulting in what was then called the Great Famine, which reached maximum severity in 1849. The famine, combined with endemic diseases, caused between eight hundred thousand and a million victims, and drove a million and a half of Irish people, most of the popular classes, to seek salvation overseas. [R. Kee, History of Ireland, Bompiani, 1955]. Later were added to this migration, even the Scots. In 1890 the Irish who lived in the United States were approximately two million. They brought with them customs and beliefs related to their ancient New Year, and also in America had continued, as the Scottish immigrants, who were fewer in number, to celebrate Halloween.
During the eighteenth century with the binding of Halloween customs and beliefs relating to All Saints Day and All Souls' came loose, and, except for areas in which the stronger was the Catholic presence, the party was no longer perceived as rivolta alla redenzione delle anime del purgatorio per mezzo della preghiera. Al tempo dell'immigrazione irlandese e scozzese in Nordamerica, per i giovani festeggiare Halloween consisteva nel mascherarsi e andare in gruppi di casa in casa ballando, cantando e chiedendo doni, e nel fare scherzi ai vicini, come ad esempio ostruire i comignoli, sradicare gli ortaggi, scardinare le porte, liberare i cavalli dalle stalle. Nell'ambito domestico invece l'intrattenimento era costituito da giochi e pratiche divinatorie dalle quali si ricavavano previsioni riguardanti principalmente il futuro matrimonio delle ragazze.
Questa celebrazione fu mantenuta dagli immigrati irlandesi e scozzesi come simbolo di identità etnica, ma non poteva conservare who had the same meaning in the villages of origin: turned into a party town, particularly tense in the fun. Some elements of the original form, however, were not abandoned: the lanterns made from turnips were substituted pumpkins carved in the shape of the head, but young people continue to dress up doing the begging from house to house and getting sweets, apples, peanuts, coins in exchange for a poem or a song. It also maintained the tradition of jokes, which sometimes intrude into vandalism: for example, pulled up plants from the gardens, is disfigured pumpkins lit or posed on the steps on the porch, took off their hinges and gates, shutters, awnings are reversed, it felled signs and fences, si bloccavano in vario modo le strade, e nelle aree rurali, gli attrezzi agricoli e le ruote dei carri venivano messi sui tetti.
L'usanza di festeggiare la vigilia di Ognissanti, nel corso di alcuni decenni, si estese al di fuori delle comunità irlandesi e scozzesi e coinvolse vari gruppi etnici (per alcuni dei quali, del resto, non era affatto inusuale dedicare i giorni tra fine ottobre e inizio novembre a forme celebrative e rituali incentrate sul culto dei morti), subendo un cambiamento in senso consumistico, con la vendita di maschere, costumi, dolciumi, decorazioni, appositamente preparati per la festa. Già tra la fine dell'Ottocento e inizio del Novecento i simboli e i prodotti di Halloween si fecero più standardizzati: blacks cats and bats, witches and ghosts become the subjects of the decorations and costumes, the favorite colors were orange (or yellow) and black.
the late thirties they tried to put a stop to the pranks and vandalism committed by young teenagers, and transform into a Halloween party child, encouraging alms carried out by children dressed up and introducing the formula for the trick or treat? (Literally "despite or gift?" Formula that is made in Italian with "trick or treat?").
Before the United States are a party of all in its current form. From there, recently, much of Europe and Italy also have re-imported la celebrazione.
In the British Isles during the Saints not only honor the dead (which was believed to return to earth at that time), but also lit bonfires, young people playing games, and the poor went door to door asking for food (bread and cakes) in exchange for prayers for the souls in purgatory. The beggars were holding lanterns in their hands made from hollowed turnips, in which the light of the candle was a symbol of a soul from purgatory lanterns called Jack O 'Lantern , named after the protagonist of an Irish legend, Jack, who at his death, "had not neither found a place in Hell or Heaven, and who is condemned to wander the earth forever "brightening the way with a burning stick inserted into a hollowed turnip.
During the eighteenth century with the binding of Halloween customs and beliefs relating to All Saints Day and All Souls' came loose, and, except for areas in which the stronger was the Catholic presence, the party was no longer perceived as rivolta alla redenzione delle anime del purgatorio per mezzo della preghiera. Al tempo dell'immigrazione irlandese e scozzese in Nordamerica, per i giovani festeggiare Halloween consisteva nel mascherarsi e andare in gruppi di casa in casa ballando, cantando e chiedendo doni, e nel fare scherzi ai vicini, come ad esempio ostruire i comignoli, sradicare gli ortaggi, scardinare le porte, liberare i cavalli dalle stalle. Nell'ambito domestico invece l'intrattenimento era costituito da giochi e pratiche divinatorie dalle quali si ricavavano previsioni riguardanti principalmente il futuro matrimonio delle ragazze. Questa celebrazione fu mantenuta dagli immigrati irlandesi e scozzesi come simbolo di identità etnica, ma non poteva conservare who had the same meaning in the villages of origin: turned into a party town, particularly tense in the fun. Some elements of the original form, however, were not abandoned: the lanterns made from turnips were substituted pumpkins carved in the shape of the head, but young people continue to dress up doing the begging from house to house and getting sweets, apples, peanuts, coins in exchange for a poem or a song. It also maintained the tradition of jokes, which sometimes intrude into vandalism: for example, pulled up plants from the gardens, is disfigured pumpkins lit or posed on the steps on the porch, took off their hinges and gates, shutters, awnings are reversed, it felled signs and fences, si bloccavano in vario modo le strade, e nelle aree rurali, gli attrezzi agricoli e le ruote dei carri venivano messi sui tetti.
L'usanza di festeggiare la vigilia di Ognissanti, nel corso di alcuni decenni, si estese al di fuori delle comunità irlandesi e scozzesi e coinvolse vari gruppi etnici (per alcuni dei quali, del resto, non era affatto inusuale dedicare i giorni tra fine ottobre e inizio novembre a forme celebrative e rituali incentrate sul culto dei morti), subendo un cambiamento in senso consumistico, con la vendita di maschere, costumi, dolciumi, decorazioni, appositamente preparati per la festa. Già tra la fine dell'Ottocento e inizio del Novecento i simboli e i prodotti di Halloween si fecero più standardizzati: blacks cats and bats, witches and ghosts become the subjects of the decorations and costumes, the favorite colors were orange (or yellow) and black.
the late thirties they tried to put a stop to the pranks and vandalism committed by young teenagers, and transform into a Halloween party child, encouraging alms carried out by children dressed up and introducing the formula for the trick or treat? (Literally "despite or gift?" Formula that is made in Italian with "trick or treat?").
Before the United States are a party of all in its current form. From there, recently, much of Europe and Italy also have re-imported la celebrazione.
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BIBLIOGRAFIA:
Halloween - Storia e tradizioni
di: Jean Markale
Edizioni L'Età dell'Acquario, 2005
Halloween - Nei giorni che i morti ritornano
di: Eraldo Baldini - Giuseppe Bellosi
Ed. Einaudi, 2006
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