La Befana, aka a present-delivering old woman on a broom, officially ushers out the Italian Christmas season… read on…
This is an exciting nite for many an Italian child, as they will hang stockings before bed tonite in anticipation of a visit from the Befana who will fill them with yummy treats.
La Befana is a character in Italian folklore usually portrayed as a smiling old lady riding a broomstick through the air, wearing a black shawl and covered in soot because she enters children’s houses through the chimney. She fills Italian children’s stockings (calze) with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad, on January 6th. This date also coincides with the Epiphany, when the wise men are said to have arrived at the scene of Jesus’ birth. Epiphany/La Befana/January 6th marks the end of the Italian Christmas holiday season.
According to Italian legend, la Befana lived on the route the Three Magi took when they set out to visit the Infant Jesus. They stopped at her house to ask her for directions to Bethlehem as well as for food and shelter. However Befana wasn’t in a very sociable mood just then and told them to be off. Later, she had a change of heart and decided she wouldn’t mind entertaining a few guests after all. But by then the guests were far beyond recall. Befana decided to go after them in any case and set off for Bethlehem. Like them, she followed the Star in the Sky, but unlike them she was unable to find the stable where the Christ Child lay. Befana however wasn’t the sort to give up and is still flying around looking through windows and down chimney tops. She visits every house where there are children and leaves gifts just in case one of them happens to be the Christ Child. For the naughty children it is said she only leaves coal – but that is very rare since there are very seldom any really naughty children, especially during Christmas time, when they know Befana is on her way
Here an eyewitness report from my friend Giancarlo:
“The night before the Befana day, we kids used to hang a Befana sock on the “CAPPA” [hearth or stove] in the kitchen.
Our parents used to fill it with a lot of sweets, “mandarini” [mandarin oranges], and a special gift for the days we were a little bit naughty (sweet coal = sugar with the appearance of coal)!”
{Thanks again GC!}
