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“La Befana comes at night with broken shoes and a Roman dress, long live Befana!” This is how an Italian children’s song celebrates the arrival of the Befana, which visits every home in the country every year on the night of January 5th to 6th. An important figure very different from those traditional Three Wise Men whose arrival from the East we celebrate in Spain with parades, roscones and gifts.

La Befana is a witch with a long, pointed nose and a broom. In pagan tradition, represents the end of the year and that is why she is also shown as an old woman, alluding to the ‘old year’. The curious thing is that its origin is also related to Christianity. It’s more, Its name derives from the word ‘epiphany’a festival that Christians celebrate on January 6 with the arrival of the Three Wise Men to worship Jesus.

This version of the story tells that the Three Wise Men could not find their way to Bethlehem to bring the incense, gold and myrrh to the baby Jesus. Then they knocked on an old woman’s door to ask for help. Despite her insistence that she accompany them, the woman refused to leave her house because she was too busy with household chores, although she promised that she would join them when she had time.

The next day, The old woman regretted not having accompanied the Three Wise Men, prepared a basket full of sweets and went in search of them. He did not manage to find them, but he began to knock on the doors of the houses that he found along the way to offer sweets to all the children in the hope of seeing the baby Jesus.

Since then, the arrival of the Befana in the early hours of January 6th became a tradition in Italy, although she continues to be represented as a witch due to that other pagan origin. Also assimilating to the story of Santa Claus, the Befana comes down the chimney of the houses every year and puts the children’s gifts in their socks. Of course, those who misbehaved will receive coal.

His story also has other antecedents. One hypothesis relates this ‘witch’ to a Roman festival that was celebrated at the beginning of the year in honor of Giano and Strenia where gifts were exchanged. She is also identified with some figures from Germanic mythology, Holda and Berchta, as a personification of winter nature. That is why it stands out that this tradition has remained only in Italy compared to more internationally known figures such as Santa Claus or the Three Wise Men themselves.

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