100witches: 68- La Befana, The Christmas WitchFrom Italian folklore, La Befana is an old witch who r

100witches: 68- La Befana, The Christmas WitchFrom Italian folklore, La Befana is an old witch who represents the New Year. A figure who has many characteristics in common with St. Nicholas and Santa Claus, Befana’s existence predates the popularization of the latter throughout Rome and Italy. She travels Italy on the night of Epiphany Eve (January 5th), flying through the sky on her broom. She is depicted as an old hag with a elongated nose, the typical Halloween style witch. Befana differs from her October sisters, however, in that she carries a large bag of presents and candy that she distributes to the children of Italy. The mythology surrounding Befana is quite interesting, as she was seemingly inserted into the Biblical narrative of Christ. As the story goes, the Three Wise Men were on the way to the baby Jesus, and stopped at Befana’s house. Known to be the best housekeeper around, she invites them in and puts them up for the night. The following day, they invite her to visit Jesus, but she declines. Upon the realization that she has missed a great opportunity, Befana rushes to catch up with the Wise Men, but fails. She spends the rest of her life searching for the baby Jesus carrying presents and gifts for him as the Wisemen had done. Fast forward several centuries, and Befana’s story is surprisingly familiar and immediately recognizable. On Epiphany Eve (from which Befana allegedly derives her name), she flies to the houses of all the children with her bag of gifts, still looking for Jesus. She is usually depicted as covered in soot, as she accesses their homes via the chimney. Befana brings the good children presents and candy, and not surprisingly, the bad children garlic, onions, or even a lump of coal. Using her broom, Befana sweeps the house as she’s leaving, representing the removal of the previous year’s problems and messes. As if this wasn’t enough, the children of course leave Befana wine and food (much better than milk). What is a witch like this doing around Christmas, especially in such a religious city as Rome? It has been suggested that Befana is descended from earlier Roman deities, whose worship was maintained by a newly Christianized populace. While this is uncertain, she has many characteristics of pagan deities, namely Strenua, who was a Goddess of the New Year. Regardless, the Catholic masses of Italy would not have knowingly maintained her story, had it not been merged with Christian mythology. While her tradition was not widespread outside of Italy, she does significantly predate Santa within Rome, who only saw his popularization in the last several decades. Whatever her history, she is certainly a whimsical addition to Christmas and New Year traditions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befana -- source link

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