Befana: Searching for the good Epiphany witch

A witch who flies around on a broomstick and puts candy and gifts in children's stockings--what could be better? This is Befana.

Children get gifts from Father Christmas on Christmas eve but get extra treats at the end of the season, on the Epiphany.

I have managed to live my scores of years without ever knowing of Befana.  But Italian children were expecting their candies on the morning of January 6.  I wanted to tug on this string and see what I could find out about the good witch and the Italian celebration and holiday.

It was not that easy.  There are a few references in tourist-oriented brochures and books saying there is a big Christmas market in Piazza Navona which specializes in Epiphany gifts -- but this year the merchants went on strike so there was no market and not much along the line of Befana.  Befana was mentioned in the poster for the Passeggiata Zampognara which I wrote about a few days ago--we did not see any sign of her, though we loved the Passeggiata.

I am used to things of this nature being in-your-face.  I am not that much of a tv watcher but even I could not miss the presence of Santa Claus and reindeer and other seasonal icons in the U.S.  NASA tracks Santa as he flies from the North Pole, for heaven's sake.  Is the Italian air force looking for Befana?  The U.S. has a military presence here, are we on the job? How could you have a whole country of children expecting their gifts without all of us aware?  Marketing opportunities -- squandered?  

Diligent searching resulted in a few Befana images in candy stores and one (yes, really, only one) advertising poster.  A serious wander around Piazza Navona, the epicenter of Befanadom, found 2 Befanas there for children to visit.  Befana wears a pointed hat, a ragged coat and carries a broom.

Befana stockings in candy store

Befana Bus Stop Poster

Befana Face Painting

I resorted to asking people if their families followed this custom because I found so little other evidence.  Yes--it was a radical step and again, not so easy as I speak so little Italian.Turns out people really do follow the custom.  One man who has no children gives Befana gifts to his nephews.  Other people confirmed that all the children in their extended families get Befana gifts after hanging their stockings at the fireplace or near the door.

I began to think of the Befana celebration as a really Italian holiday--it does not require hoopla and no one has thought of marketing it in any kind of a big way.  Just folks being nice to children.  I love that.

Befana and the Epiphany

Befana comes to homes on the night of January 5-6.  January 6 is the Epiphany and both an important religious holiday and a national holiday.  It is the last day of the Christmas season in Italy and we in the English-speaking world know of it as Twelfth Night in some places.

Christmas, the whole season, in Italy turned out to be a pleasantly low-key experience.  Santa Claus is around a bit and I heard Jingle Bells here and there.  Surely people were shopping and there were specialty items in the grocery store.  But the overall feeling was more like Thanksgiving in the U.S. It is a holiday for staying home and cooking and eating with family. Testaccio Market was buzzing on the weekends and was open on Sunday for the few weeks preceding Christmas. It appeared to me that folks from afar were shopping and buying massive amounts of great foods.   

Many people who live in Rome go home to Milan or Naples or wherever for 2-3 weeks. Traffic is light. Many businesses are closed entirely during the period and even restaurants and food stores are closed Christmas eve, Christmas, New Year and Epiphany. (Plan ahead!) On the various holidays, the big activity in our street and nearby square was people hurrying along with boxes and plates of food, stopping at the big flower stall for the seller's special centerpieces.  A few apartments have lights strung along their balconies, but only a few.  Our apartment building has a little Christmas tree in the lobby.  

The American trappings of Santa Claus and merchandising have some presence here.  Big Christmas trees have been erected in key central squares in the Historical Center--not originally an Italian custom.  The Italian custom has revolved around Nativity scenes and there is now a contest for the best one--children's groups compete.  One can buy little figures singly or whole sets.  The big ones set up here and there do not have their Baby Jesus until Christmas and do not have their Magi until Epiphany.

The deal with Befana is that the Magi asked directions from her and invited her to travel with them.  She refused because she was busy sweeping her house.  Later she fell sorry about her refusal and thought about a little baby--she wanted to take gifts to him.  She put her best food and gifts in a bag and flew out on her broom to catch up with the Magi.  Sadly she could not find either the Magi or the Baby Jesus so she kept on flying around the world looking.  While searching, she found other children and began giving her gifts to them.

black sugar candy

Tradition has it that bad children get lumps of coal or sticks so now Italian children may get black sugar candy as a Befana specialty--on one is good for a whole year, after all.

For us now, Epiphany has come and gone. We have had a sweet time with close friends, Lyn and Charles, who have now flown back home.  We had our tasty little black candy and much better chocolate covered nougat.  We celebrated with the neighborhood by walking around with bagpipers. Romans are back to work, traffic has picked up, businesses are open.  Back to normal retirement life for a little while longer in a country with low key holidays and witches who deliver candy to children with no fuss.  We like this place.

Befana in Piazza Navona for photo ops

Text--Julianne.  Photos too, this time but with significant photo editing from Nancy, thank heaven.

Update on January 11, 2015

1827.  B. Pinelli.  Engraving of Befana at the Pantheon, giving gifts to children at the Epiphany.

Bartolomeo Rossetti.  La Roma di Bartolomeo Pinelli.  Norton Compton, 1895, 2006.

Among hundreds of engravings of Roman life in the early 1800's are 2 of Befana.  This one identifies the Pantheon as her location and the text, either by Pinelli or Rosetti, also indicates that the Pantheon area is the main place that Befana appears to give gifts.  The Pantheon and Piazza Navona, which is now associated with Befana are essentially the same neighborhood.

A search of the Norton Compton website for this book or anything else about Befana returned no results.  Unclear if the volume is out of print or for some other reason unavailable.  This print was retrieved from Google.