Every culture has its own inherent and distinct ways of celebrating the holidays. In the United States and a lot of countries, the months of December and January are spent celebrating Christmas and New Year’s. January 6, for most Christians, is called the “Feast of the Three Kings,” or simply “Three Kings.” On this day, it is believed that the Three Kings visited Jesus in his manger and brought gifts to him.
In Italy, despite being a predominantly Catholic nation, they celebrate the Feast of Epiphany or La Befana. This celebration is named after Befana, a witch who gives children sweets if they are good and coal if they are naughty. Children also receive tons of gifts during La Befana (even more than they do on Christmas), being the last day to exchange presents before the holiday season officially ends (Segan, 2021).
During the holidays, visiting my great aunt — who has lived in Italy for decades — was a memorable experience. As she told me interesting stories about Italian culture — and in fluent Italian no less — my eyes caught a most unusual sight hanging by her front door. It was a doll of an old witch riding a broomstick. For an old witch, she was wearing quite a friendly smile. My grandmother told me her name was Befana and that she was an old Italian witch who served as a symbol of protection in Italian homes.
La Befana or the Feast of Epiphany, the national holiday dedicated to her, is an occasion that is celebrated by Italians as enthusiastically as Christmas. The term Befana originates from the Greek word, epiphania, which means "epiphany." Like many forms of folklore, La Befana has numerous and varying origin stories. The most widely accepted origin story is connected to the Three Kings mentioned in the Bible.
Before they visited the infant Jesus, the Three Kings or Magi were said to have visited Befana to ask for directions and invite her to go with them to visit Jesus. However, she declined their invitation as she had a lot of housework to do. Shortly after the Three Kings left, Befana regretted staying and decided to follow them, but was not able to find them anymore. Instead, she decided to interact with the children she encountered along the way; giving them candy if they were nice or coal if they were naughty (Bezzone, 2020).
As I observed with my great aunt’s Befana statues, she is usually depicted as an old lady. In stark contrast to the joy and warmth exuded by Santa Claus, Befana does not exactly have an aura of friendliness about her. She wears a long, plain dress with an apron, a scarf covering her messy hair, and flies on her worn broomstick (Crowell, 2017).
Despite this, Italian children anticipate her candies more than Santa’s presents. While Americans leave out cookies and milk for Santa Claus, Italians typically leave out wine and local food for Befana when she arrives at their house. Children also leave out stockings for her to place her gifts in when she visits.
The celebration of La Befana was heavily encouraged by Benito Mussolini to reduce American influence on national holidays such as Christmas and New Year celebrations (Marchetti, 2021). Aside from encouraging inherently Italian traditions, the celebration of La Befana is a symbol of hope — an event of epiphany wherein Befana sweeps away the problems of the previous year. Many towns in Italy — particularly in the regions far from Rome — practice their own traditions of celebrating Befana. The elements that are never missing in all of these festivals are the candies, the "coal" (sweet coal, for which there are recipes you can find online!), the exchanging of gifts, and the women dressed in Befana costumes.
On January 5, Italians celebrate La Befana in the main town squares with a bonfire — a tradition called falò del vecchione. Pieces of wood or a large straw figure commonly called il vecchio (the old) are burned (Campolonghi, 2022). In Urbania, the Italian municipality where Befana is believed to have lived, an annual festival is held wherein Italian women dressed up as Befana “fly” down from the town’s main bell tower, while children are given candies and people eat lots of panettone bread. In Venice, there is the Regatta delle Befana, where women in Befana costumes compete in a regatta race along the Venice Grand Canal (Segan, 2021). Meanwhile, in Rome, the holiday is celebrated in the Piazza Navona, the Epiphany market that sells candies and all things related to Befana (Oddone, 2021).
The feast and legend of La Befana goes back to the 4th century AD. However, Italy only started widely celebrating Befana in the 19th century. Most scholars agree that Befana is linked to a Roman belief that women flying over fields symbolizes prosperity for the
next year (Thimmesh, 2019). Another Roman goddess similar to Befana is Diana, the goddess of the moon, who brings prosperity to the lands she visits. She is viewed as a motherly figure, often depicted as a guardian of children.
Today, Italians have come to see Befana as more than just an old witch; becoming a figure that is constantly adapted to changes in societal views and attitudes (Folklores and Symbols of La Befana, 2021). Among others, she is regarded as an advocate of justice for her fair treatment of children; giving candy to the "good" ones and coal to the naughty ones. Her commitment to housework, her functional manner of dressing, and the relatively simple life she lives compared to Santa Clausare interpreted by some as expressions of a proletariat life. Even her non-usage of reindeer or animals for transportation is seen as her concern for animal rights.
Many people wonder why predominantly Catholic Italy celebrates a figure like Befana as she is linked with Roman pagan traditions. Interestingly, it was actually the Catholic Church that encouraged Befana to be adopted alongside Christmas. This was a strategic way to encourage people to adopt the Catholic Church’s teachings since the holidays still contain elements of beliefs they once held as important (Bonvicini, 2011). Let us not forget that many elements of Christmas are pagan; the lighting of the Christmas tree, for example, can be traced back to paganistic origins of lighting similar trees.
Despite the surprising origins of many of the traditions we celebrate today, we continue to celebrate them because we find meaning in them. The messages hold relevant and meaningful, hence, our continuous enthusiasm for celebrating them. After all, who would not want to believe that like Jesus, we, too, would be blessed with prosperity when visited by the Three Kings or Befana?
As for La Befana, the importance that Italians ascribe to it stems from Befana’s association with the values of prosperity and generosity that are reflective of Italian culture. Indeed, if you are lucky to have observed or celebrated the holiday in Italy, you will know that it is a day that is joyous and highly anticipated by all. If the smiles and happy spirits of the people are not enough, the sweet delicious desserts eaten during the occasion are sure to bring a hopeful start to the new year.
As for me, discovering Befana is now a way for me to show appreciation and celebrate my great aunt and all the nonnas who constantly wish me well, despite the fact that they would make me do chores even during the holidays. Moreso, I believe that the message of La Befana is resonant not only during Christmas, but also in our everyday lives. Befana reminds us to sweep away the problems of the past, whilst sharing the blessings we have with the people around us.
References
Bezzone, F. (2020, January 1). La Befana (Christmas Witch). Life in Italy.
Bonvicini, A. (2011, January 2). The Befana Comes by Night… i-Italy.
Capolonghi, C. (2022, January 6). The feast of the Befana between history and tradition.
Crowell, N. (2017, May 8). The Story of Befana, The Italian Santa Claus. Culture Trip.
Folklores and Symbols of La Befana. (2021, October 16). Icy Tales.
Hallet, V. (2022, January 5). La Befana brings holiday treats 12 days after Christmas. The
Washington Post.
Marchetti, S. (2021, January 3). Why Are Italians Worshiping An Ugly Witch? Forbes.
Oddone, L. [Learn Italian with Lucrezia]. (2021, January 6). How Italians celebrate Jan 6th, il
giorno dell’Epifania (la Befana). [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpW0Y6Zhj_o
Segan, F. (2021, January 6). La Befana: Celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany in Italy. La
Cucina Italia. https://www.lacucinaitaliana.com/trends/news/la-befana-
Thimmesch, D. (2019, December 20). The legend of La Befana. ItaliaRail.
https://www.italiarail.com/culture/legend-la-befana
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About the author
Cheska Rufo is a sophomore from BS Management. Italy is one of the top places she wants to visit (and even live in). She is a huge bookworm and can get easily lost in a good book. Her fondest memory of literature is finishing her school library’s collection of Nancy Drew books. She writes for various school and outside publications, one of which is Plaridel Magazine. Her articles tackle the arts and life experiences as she believes that the humanities, and arts (in all its forms) make life worth living for.
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