Befana or "La Befana" is a friendly spirit in Italian folklore, similar to Santa Claus. Her name means 'giver of gifts', and she visits all the children in Italy on January 5 to fill their stockings with candy if they are good or a lump of coal if they are bad. The child's family will always leave a plate of broccoli and spice sausage plus a small glass of wine for Befana.

She is usually portrayed as an old lady, riding a broomstick through the air. Unlike a witch though, she is often smiling and she has a bag or a hamper filled with candy and/or gifts.

La Befana is the oldest Italian tradition that is still popularly continued. There are many different legends to La Befana. This is mostly due to the fact that she has existed in Italy in time before the written language. She is part of the verbal poetic tradition.[<<]

The oldest version:[<<] The images connected to the figure of the Befana are revealed in an archaic agricultural context when the homes became stable and domestic folklore was established. In Neolithic culture, the houses of villages in Anatolia (Catal Huyuk) and other places had neither windows nor doors; the only entrance was through the wide, horizontal roof. The house was entered by a ladder which was then withdrawn in a defensive action. She arrived in the homes through the chimney, an act that throughout the world is attributed to mythic figures. The Befana presents herself during the big holiday as a mythical ancestress who returns yearly. Her principal function is that of reaffirming the bond between the family and the ancestors through an exchange of gifts. The children receive gifts symbolizing archaic civilizations where they were considered the representatives of the ancestors to whom the offerings were destined, as shown by Levy-Bruhl in the structure of the new years' eve festivities in Bering. Sometimes the Befana receives offers of food. In the popular dramatization in Tuscany, Italy, and elsewhere the Befana is a masked figure who guides the cortege of postulants and receives offers from families who, in kind, receive from her the gift of prosperity.[<<]

At some point there arose the idea of putting one of your socks at the edge of your bed, which later became the practice of the stocking hung up on the chimney. Some Italian homes still do the former. Befana arrives flying on a broom, or a donkey, depending on the region you lived in. She is associated with plants and animals which in antiquity had sacred values. In mythology, the branch is home to the spirit of the ancestors, which is why it has assumed the magical function of flight and could have a role of evocation as well as of distancing from the spirit. She is a link with the family and the hearth, and she personifies a close link to fire itself, whether astral (brought from the stars, appearing as a meteor) or earthly (for example on the eve of the Befana holiday, bonfires are lit to burn her figure). This action is meant not so much as to exorcise a negative entity, as to re-accompany at the end of the big holiday the spirit of the ancestors to the kingdom beyond the tomb through the symbolism of the ascending fire.[<<]

The Epiphany holiday includes purifying rites, and benedictions with water. The water prepared on the eve of Epiphany has a sacred and warding-off-evil-spirits value and is used in critical moments of family life. In the Abruzzo, Italy, it's called "Water of the Boffe."[<<]

The next version begins in the days of King Herod. [<<]

King Herod decreed that the first born male child of the area and each male child born in that year was to be slain. [<<]

It was his desire to kill the child reported to have been born the new "King." Soldiers went along the villages throughout the country[<<]

murdering male children. One mother became so stricken with grief that she was unable to cry, nor accept the loss of her son. [<<]

She looked and looked around her house for her baby son. She became convinced that her child was not dead, but instead lost. [<<] This woman placed all her child’s belongings onto a tablecloth and bundled it at the end to carry it over her shoulder and set out searching from house to house for him.[<<] To this young mother it seemed much time had passed as she searched, in what seemed like only a few days, she came upon a child. Convinced that she had found her lost son, she placed the cloth sack containing all her son’s belongings at the base of the manger where the child laid. The young father, Joseph, gazed at the face of this stranger bearing gifts and wondered about the many years in this old woman’s past. Her face had many lines and her hair was fully grayed. She had grown old and to have a curved back from all the walking and searching she had done.[<<] The child in the manger was Jesus Christ and in gratitude to the "Old" woman’s generosity, He blessed her, and gave her the one night a year for all eternity. He named "La Befana" for "giver of gifts," she would now be able to have all the children of the world as her own. On that night, she would be able to visit each one, bringing them clothing and toys. The night now is January 5 each year and the morning of January 6, children all over Italy find their stockings filled with sweet curly candy for being very good or a dark piece of coal, with ashes if they have been bad. The term “Befana”, is of unknown origin and may be said to be a popular derivation (through various linguistic routes) of the term that indicates this holiday.[<<]

When the days of Christianity began there is this version. It is believed to have arisen in order to incorporate religion into the tradition and the legend.[<<]

The three Wise Men were in search of the Christ child when they decided to stop at a small thatched house to ask for directions. They knocked ( in some versions 3 times) and an old woman holding a broom opened the door only enough to see who was there. She did not open it all the way because she was alone and cleaning, with some things baking in the oven, and trusted no one. She saw in front of her three very wealthy men from different walks of life. They were in need of directions to find the Christ child. She had never seen men like this and was a bit frightened. They explained the glory of God and how there was a star in the sky to show them the way but with the clouds, they had lost the star and they had become lost. The old woman was unaware of who these three men were looking for and could not point them in the right direction. They thanked her anyway and requested her to join them on the importance of their journey. She replied that she had much to much housework to do. Later as time passed in the evening she felt as though she had made a mistake. She took her freshly baked treats along with some of her precious things and put them in her tablecloth (sometimes stated as a clothen bag). She then set out to go and catch up with the three men. After searching for hours and growing tired she could not find them. Thinking of the opportunity she had missed the old woman stopped every child to give them a small treat in hopes that one was the Christ child. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany she sets out looking for the baby Jesus. She stops at each child's house to leave those who were good treats in their stockings and those who were bad a lump of coal. [<<]

Today – fast facts[<<] As time passed varying degrees of the story were made unique to each area of Italy. [<<]

Some versions just state that she is a sweet older woman who is the equivalent of what many people consider to be a good witch since she is from the earth and magical. She brings these gifts to children just as the wise men and all the believers of that time when Jesus was born brought gifts to Jesus. For this reason the epiphany falls on the twelfth night, not just because that was the night the Wise Men arrived, but it was the night the tradition of giving gifts that are precious to the new born. This is how the day you are baptized, and given gifts on that day began. [<<]

Similar ideas in other countries are, Frau Holda and Berchta who visit homes during the Christmas period. [<<]

The Befana is important as Santa Claus in other countries because of the shared idea of distinguishing the children that are bad and good.[<<]

Sometimes she looks like an old sweet plump grandmother, sometimes she has a pointed nose and chin, sometimes she is very thin.[<<]

The figures of the Kings Magi, in the historical tradition, before the bible, were priests of the sacred fire. They were a privileged caste who, in the Zoroastrian Persia, waited until the fire expired. The Magi symbolized the three worlds: earthy gold, celestial incense, and myrrh from beyond the grave. These three substances can be linked to each of the three sacred fires of Vedica, India, and Avestica, Persia. Therefore, it is possible, through fire and gifts, to establish a connection between the Magi and the figure of the Befana with the holiday. In biblical times they were incredibly wealthy Kings who brought the items most precious in their land. Each with a significant value attached. Each item has many different significances that are related to life, health, and death.[<<]

La Befana arrives through the chimney and on her way down picks up the ashes and then the lumps of coal that she leaves for the bad children. In the past parents often did this to teach the children a lesson. The coal in some homes is a recipe of hard sugar with black food coloring. This is given to the bad children in hopes they learn a lesson for the following year.[<<]

Some families only serve warm baked goods this day, but most as with the present times do give gifts of toys, candy, and money. [<<]

Tradition depicts her as a benevolent and curved old woman with a hooked nose and a pointed chin.[<<]

During the night between January 5th and January 6th she flies through the skies riding a broom/or donkey and carrying over her shoulders. As a sign of welcome to the nice old lady some people, especially in the South, lay on the table a small meal which consists of a sausage and broccoli and which is accompanied by a glass of wine.[<<]

Befana also exists in various other popular traditions. For instance in the evening of January 5th a puppet representing "The Old Woman" (symbolizing the bareness of winter) is burnt in the main square of some small centers to bode a fertile spring.[<<]

There was a time, over twenty years ago, when the Italian government declared that Epiphany was no longer a holiday. In all of this nation’s history that was the only occasion on which the uproar from Italian "children" (both old and young!) was widespread and unanimous. As a consequence the decree had to be overturned, which gave back to this holiday all of its fascination. This is a significant day to Italians because it marks the end of the Christmas season and the day that the three Wise Men arrived at the manger of the Christ child. [<<]

As the saying goes, "Epifania tutte le feste porta via"; or, "Epiphany takes away all the festivities". [<<]

popular Italian song:[<<]

La Befana vien di notte, con le scarpe tutte rotte, col cappello alla romana,viva viva la Befana![<<] La Befana vien di notte, con le calze tutte rotte, con le toppe alla sottana, viva la Befana![<<] La Befana vien di notte, dentro il sacco ha il carbone ma anche le caramelle, viva la Befana![<<] La Befana vien di notte, scendi dal camino e ti porta un regalino, viva la Befana![<<] La Befana vien di notte, ecco arriva la Befana[<<] La Befana vien di notte con le scarpe tutti rotte, sta guardando dal camino se gia dorme ogni bambino se la calza `e ben appesa se la[<<]luce `e ancora accessa , zitti, zitti presto sotto le lenzuola ecco arriva se Befana[<<] Le chiudete o no quegli occhi? Se non siete piu che buoni niente gioche n`e balocchi, solo cenare e carbone![<<]

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