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The Roman Epiphany

DID YOU KNOW THAT … the #Befana symbolized mother nature and was the real protagonist of the exchange of gifts? His figure is documented in Italy as early as the nineteenth century in particular peasant festivals that involved the creation of a wooden puppet in the shape of an elderly lady. The old woman was […]

The Roman Epiphany

DID YOU KNOW THAT … the #Befana symbolized mother nature and was the real protagonist of the exchange of gifts? His figure is documented in Italy as early as the nineteenth century in particular peasant festivals that involved the creation of a wooden puppet in the shape of an elderly lady. The old woman was first filled with tasty gifts: chestnuts, dried fruits, grapes, apples and pears, then she was sawn, thus favoring the distribution of the content area, to be finally burned at the stake. In many countries and even some Italian cities this tradition still lives on. The Befana symbolized Mother Nature who dried up and aged was a metaphor for the year she lived, drained of her energy but still capable of leaving new seeds, gifts and sweets, before dying, leaving her latent energy in the coal, ready to shine with new heat. Here, then, that the traditional exchange of gifts became his prerogative, replacing in a Christian vision the function performed by the Magi and becoming the undisputed protagonist of the youngest who anxiously awaited him in a mixture of joy and fear before being supplanted by the more bulky figure Santa Claus.

” LA BEFANA VIEN DI NOTTE “