befana

To most of the english-speaking world, La Befana means absolutely nothing. According to Google Translate it means The Epiphany. According to Wikipedia it refers to an old lady, perhaps a witch. When Alex took the girls to the indoor pool this morning, she found nothing open. Except the streets. You see, this is the Epiphany: the 6th of January when Jesus is recognized as God the Son, a human child; the day when, traditionally, the children of Italy awake to a mountain of presents under the...  Befana tree?  Maybe not, but nevertheless, they do awake to a mountain of presents left by a wayward old lady who has passed up the chance to accompany the three wise men and spends the rest of her haunted soul's existence dropping gifts at the feet of any child she bumps into.  Just in case they may be the actual Jesus of whom it has been spoken. Can you imagine the effect, when every child considers itself a god-like creature? How disappointing it must be to grow up. 


But La Befana presents a remarkable resemblance to our regular hero. Or rather a blend, or perhaps a prototype of, Santa Clause and the Halloween witch. "She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children's houses through the chimney. She is often smiling and carries a bag or hamper filled with candy, gifts, or both." (Wikipedia).


What is remarkable to me is that Italians have incorporated Santa Claus (Babo Natale or Father Christmas) into their holiday tradition. An Italian child today can expect a mountain of gifts on Christmas day from Babo Natale as well as a second lot on the Epiphany from La Befana. How have I missed out all these years?


Anyway, you can rest assured our kids got nothing today. Yet mama, La Alex, received a fancy mop bucket, complete with a mop squeezer, to help encourage her Befana-like habits of compulsive house cleanliness. Ho Ho Ho!