La Befana

In honor of Epiphany... (today, January 6)

One of the last weeks I was in Italy, I went with some friends to Bolzano and Trento, in the northeastern part of the country, to experience a European Christmas market. Not quite as ideal as a German Christmas market, perhaps, but close enough to Germany/Austria to have the same feeling. Walking in and out of the stalls, I saw some really beautiful things, but the one that really confused me was an ornament that looks (somewhat) like this:

La Befana, one of my new favorite Christmas symbols.

"As legend has it, the three Wise Men were in search of the Christ child when they decided to stop at a small house to ask for directions. Upon knocking, an old woman holding a broom opened the door slightly to see who was there. Standing at her doorstep were three colorfully dressed men who were in need of directions to find the Christ child. The old woman was unaware of who these three men were looking for and could not point them in the right direction. Prior to the three men leaving they kindly asked the old woman to join them on their journey. She declined because she had much housework to do. After they left she felt as though she had made a mistake and decided to go and catch up with the kind men. After many hours of searching she could not find them. Thinking of the opportunity she had missed the old woman stopped every child to give them a small treat in hopes that one was the Christ child. Each year on the eve of the Epiphany she sets out looking for the baby Jesus. She stops at each child's house to leave those who were good treats in their stockings and those who were bad a lump of coal. "

from: http://www.italiansrus.com/articles/befana.htm