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Epiphany and La Befana
In Italy a kindly old witch, the Befana, flies on a broom on Epiphany Eve and fills children's stockings with sweets.
About Epiphany and La Befana
On the night of 5 January Italian children are told that the Befana, an old woman in rags, visits houses on a broom, leaving sweets for the good and a lump of coal, now often sweet coal, for the naughty. A legend says she refused the Magi a bed on their way to Bethlehem and has searched for the child ever since. The figure is often linked to Roman and pre-Christian winter customs, and she is also compared to figures like Perchta in the Alps. Bonfires burn old figures of the Befana in parts of northern Italy to mark the end of the old year. Unlike witches in the witch-trial period, she is regarded with affection.
Entries tied to it
Also part of it, and being written: Epiphany (The feast of the Magi.).
Written by the EveryJaadu desk with AI assistance. Background: "Befana" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from place to place and family to family, and are described as belief and practice. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Perchta: Holger Uwe Schmitt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source