Page 4 - Italian American Herald - January 2020

4 ITALIANAMERICANHERALD.COM | JANUARY 2020 ITALIAN-AMERICANHERALD FROM THE COVER
In Montescaglioso, in the area of Matera, Jan. 5 is the time of the "Notte dei Cucibocca” when figures dressed in black with big hats and bushy white beards move through the streets with lanterns, dragging a broken chain attached to their feet and knocking on doors to ask for food.
its roots in pre-Christian and pagan rituals. For this reason it is a particularly complex holiday that blends with the character of the places in which is celebrated.
For generations of Italians, Epiphany, not Christmas, was the holiday season’s main
day for receiving gifts. They are dispensed overnight, according to Italian folklore, by La Befana, a broom-riding woman resembling a witch with a strict naughty-or-nice ethic. To fall on her wrong side was to wake up on Jan. 6 to a stocking full of coal.
La Befana, as lore depicts her, is an old woman, a little shabby, but very hardworking and much loved by children. Stories told through the centuries characterize her as a very busy woman who was invited by the Magi to meet the newly born King. She declined to go with them but changed her mind after they left and hurried after them with simple gifts for the baby. She was too late to catch up so began to leave her gifts for all good children.
Her appearance is not so reassuring but her arrival is much anticipated by children. She travels on a broom and, in the night between Jan. 5 and Jan. 6, she brings gifts, sweets in particular, to good children. For those children not so well behaved, she
only brings coal. She is loved as much as Father Christmas, but unlike the elderly bearded gentleman, she is much less famous, particularly outside Italy. “La Befana vien di notte con le scarpe tutte rotte,” says an old adage, meaning “the Befana comes by night with her broken shoes.”
In some traditions, the Befana is the female allegory of the old year ready to sacrifice itself to give life to a new and prosperous period. In some regions this leads to a bonfire of the old lady: a rag doll is burned in the square after, as happens in some locations of Tuscany and Emilia Romagna, a tour of the city streets on
a wagon. In other cases, the puppet is displayed at a window, as happens in Florence or Rome.
In the northeastern part of Italy, this tradition is very much alive. In Veneto, the symbolic bonfire is called “panevin.” This
is a bonfire that tends to erase the negative aspects of the year which has just ended and to seek good auspices for the one which has just started by looking at the direction of the sparks. This same tradition occurs in Friuli Venezia Giulia, accompanied by a glass of mulled wine and a piece of typical focaccia.
In Rome the Befana market is a kiosk- filled market in Piazza Navona. Beginning New Year’s Day, vendors hawk trinkets, toys and sticky sweets. The event is a beloved annual pilgrimage, a kid-magnet of excitement, fun and sugar highs.
In Faenza, in the province of Ravenna, the Nott de Bisò is celebrated on Jan. 5 with the “Niballo,” a huge puppet which symbolizes all the misfortunes of the past year which is then burned. The bisò is mulled wine made from Sangiovese and spices.
Florence celebrates the Epiphany every year by the traditional Cavalcade of the Magi, the re-enactment of the arrival of the Magi at
La Befana, as lore depicts her, is an old woman, a little shabby, but hardworking and much loved. She was invited by the Magi to meet the newly born King, but declined to go. She later changed her mind and hurried after the men with gifts for the baby.
the Holy Family’s presence along the streets of the old town, on horseback, wearing Renaissance costumes of great pomp. The flag wavers’ exhibition in Piazza della Signoria is a cherished tradition.
In Montescaglioso, in the area of Matera, Jan. 5 is the time of the “Notte dei Cucibocca” when figures dressed in black with big hats and bushy white beards move through the streets with lanterns, dragging a broken chain attached to their feet and knocking on doors to ask for food. This tradition is linked to the widespread belief in some parts of the south of Italy that the dead return to their loved ones the night before Epiphany. It is they, and not the famous old lady, that in some cases fill the stockings hung by children with sweets.
In Sicily, in Gratteri, in the province of Palermo, a Vecchia, “the old one,” emerges
from the Cave of Grattara, wrapped in a white sheet and on the back of a donkey, and travels the road to the city center where she distributes gifts to children. In this case, however, it is takes place on Dec. 31 and includes an allegorical trial held in the square concerning the events of the year that is about to end, in order to atone for a better year to come.
Epiphany is thus a magical celebration, full of deep symbolic values during which, in some locations, it is believed that even animals can talk and finally say what they think to humans.
A well-known Italian expression is L’Epifania tutte le feste porta via, or “Epiphany carries away all the holidays,” and with that we wish all our readers a Buon Capo d’Anno or Buon Principio! IAH