{"id":135,"date":"2012-10-29T06:40:15","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T10:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rickzullo.com\/?p=135"},"modified":"2020-10-05T21:47:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T19:47:40","slug":"halloween-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rickzullo.com\/halloween-in-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Halloween in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"
Halloween in Italy is a fairly new concept, having only recently been imported from the U.S. and is still struggling to gain traction, especially outside of the larger metropolitan areas. Normally, Italians will embrace any opportunity to indulge the children. But you get the sense that they haven\u2019t yet fully understood the reason behind this strange holiday.<\/p>\n
For kids growing up in the U.S., Halloween is one of the best times of the year. You’re allowed to dress up like your favorite monster, superhero, or cartoon character and for doing so, you\u2019re bombarded with enough candy to rot every tooth in your head twice over.<\/p>\n
Frankly, I was a little confused myself as to the origins of this creepy excuse for a holiday\u2014until I did a little research.<\/p>\n
And since Halloween can be a time for ghost stories and tall tales of every sort, allow me to narrate one version of how this odd combination of sweet treats and departed souls came about.<\/p>\n
Like many of our modern celebrations around the world, Halloween has its roots in ancient religious rites<\/a>. The Roman version of this tale involves the Emperor Constantine and his desire to appease the masses by crafting a harmonious transition from Paganism to Christianity.<\/p>\n Before his rule, all Christians had to be buried outside of the Aurelian Walls.\u00a0 However, wanting to increase his own popularity by showing support for the latest fashion in deity-worshiping, he decided to allow the Christians to move the bones of their saints, martyrs and the rest of their ancestors from outside of Rome to within its walls.<\/p>\n