January 6th features a popular tradition, typically Italian but not exclusively, involving both adults and especially children, who after Christmas eagerly await this day to receive stockings filled with treats, such as the symbolic and sweet "Befana's coal"!
But when did this indispensable holiday, which marks the end of the Christmas season and the start of the new school and work year, begin?
From the Greek epifáneia, meaning "appearance", the Epiphany celebration is said to stem from pre-Christian traditions. This term was used to refer to the spectacular appearance of a newly crowned emperor. The word then gained prominence, especially in the Christian era, when a religious nuance was added, symbolizing the manifestation of Jesus to the Magi.
And it is precisely in the Magi, with their gifts, that we find the link between the pagan and religious traditions of Epiphany: the act of bringing gifts.
But who is Befana? In common imagination, when hearing this name, one cannot help but think of an old lady dressed in black with pointed shoes who, flying from house to house on her old broom, fills children's stockings with sweets or coal, the latter as a sort of punishment for those who have not behaved well during the year.
In reality, the coal - today a gift but also a punishment for mischief-makers - originally represented the ancient ritual symbol of the bonfire in memory of seasonal renewal. Indeed, in various Italian regions such as Veneto, on the night between January 5th and 6th, a propitiatory ritual for the fields is performed by burning a straw effigy in the shape of Befana.
Among other peculiar customs on the peninsula is the Ligurian tradition, where the traditional name for Epiphany is "Pasquetta," as it was on January 6th that the date of the Easter holidays was announced in the region. In Liguria, moreover, on the night between the 5th and 6th, old boots were placed outside the windowsills of houses, which in the morning, children would find filled with sweets and fruit. The luckiest ones might also receive some coins, leading to the tradition of chocolate coins!
Not just sweets and rituals for a good harvest: propitiatory rituals also concern the theme of love. In Friuli, an ancient Celtic ritual, the launch of the "cidulis", is celebrated, during which young lovers throw a flaming wooden disc into the sky, resembling a shooting star once in the air. It is said that if the disc touches the ground still aflame, the relationship will be happy, while if it goes out while still in flight, the relationship will be less serene.
Whether it’s about feelings, ancient rites of good omen, revelation, or even sweet stockings filled with chocolate, Befana is an evergreen celebration that is part of the cultural heritage, especially Italian, and marks, the beginning of the new year and a fresh start.
