Feast Of Befana Jamuary 5th

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"BEFANA" IS AN ITALIAN CRONE GODDESS, THE "LADY OF THE TWELFTH NIGHT". SHE IS COURSE, TOOTHLESS, AND UNKEMPT AND IS DEPICTED AS AN OLD WOMAN WHO IS AS UGLY AS SHE IS KIND. ON EPIPHANY EVE, SHE FILLS CHILDREN'S STOCKINGS JUST AS SANTA CLAUS DOES ELSEWHERE. IT IS MOST LIKELY THAT "BEFANA" PRE-DATES CHRISTIANITY AND AT ONE TIME MAY HAVE BEEN A GODDESS OF ANCESTRAL SPIRITS, FORESTS AND THE PASSAGE OF TIME. THE BROOM IS SYMBOLIC OF HER CONNECTION TO PLANTS, AS SHE IS CONNECTED TO THE WOODLAND GODDESSES, AND SOME IDENTIFY HER WITH "HECATE", THE GODDESS OF THE CROSSROADS. IT IS BELIEVED THAT "BEFANA" DERIVES FROM A GODDESS OF FATE AND RENEWAL, A FERTILITY FIGURE OF THE GERMANIC-SPEAKING TRIBES WHO PROTECTED THE HOME, HEARTH, MOTHERHOOD.

IN POPULAR FOLKLORE, BEFANA VISITS ALL THE CHILDREN OF ITALY ON THE EVE OF JANUARY 6 AND LEAVES PRESENTS OF NUTS, FRUIT, AND CANDY AND IT THEY HAVE BEEN BAD, COAL IS LEFT IN THE CHILDREN'S STOCKINGS...WHICH WERE HANG BY THE HEARTH, SYMBOLIC OF THE ANCIENT PRACTICE OF LEAVING OFFERINGS FOR THE "GODDESS OF FATE." IT HAS ALSO BEEN SAID THAT "BEFANA" IS RELATED TO THE MYSTERIOUS RITES OF THE CELTIC PEOPLES WHO ONCE INHABITED A PART OF THE ALPS AND SET WICKER PUPPETS ON FIRE IN HONOR OF ANCIENT GODS. BEFANA WAS THE WOMAN MAGICIAN, PRIESTESS OF THE ANCIENT CELTIC CULTURE WHO KNEW THE SECRETS OF NATURE.

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Edwin Sidney Hartland - The Science Of Fairy Tales
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