A JOURNEY AROUND THE FIGURE OF THE BEFANA
by Claudia and Luigi Manciocco
This book [House Without A Door] is dedicated to the legend of
the
Befana, who has had an important role in the
imagination of children. It is not, however, a book for
children even if the child's world, the magic sphere,
the mysteries and games of childhood, the fables and
fantasy are recurring themes. Those who wish to relive
with us the magic of the first wonders of infancy, and
understand the meaning and origins of this extraordinary
figure should be prepared to undertake a long voyage
that will carry us back in time, to the origins of man’s
history. We'll discover what makes this personage so
mysterious and arcane, because this little old lady so
dear to children has continued to fascinate them for
centuries, and they still await her arrival on the night
of her holiday.
It's possible to demonstrate
historically through archeological and anthropological
statistics how archaic traces of civilization were
conserved in the traditions of the Mediterranean world
and survive through the form of images and symbols
regarding mythic figures, such as that of the Befana.
Some images connected to the figure of the Befana are
revealed in an archaic agricultural context when the
homes became stable and the cult of domestic folklore
was established.
Befana sitting amidst the harvest - by
Bartolomeo Pinelli, 1825
In Neolithic culture the houses of
villages in Anatolia (Catal Huyuk) and other places had
neither windows nor doors; the only entrance was through
the wide, horizontal roof. The house was entered by a
ladder, which was then withdrawn in a defensive action.
The Befana arrived in the homes through the chimney, an
act that in the myths throughout the world is attributed
to mythic figures, as for example, the spirits of the
Montagnais Indians in North America, and above all the
Nitu Natmate, ancestral spirits of the Papua‑melanesiani,
as well as other figures who bring gifts during the
Christmas holidays.
Once the link between the figure of the
Befana and the ancestral spirits is established the
Befana presents herself during the big holiday as a
mythical ancestress who returns yearly. Her principal
function is that of reaffirming the bond between the
family and the ancestors through an exchange of gifts.
The children receive gifts symbolizing archaic
civilizations where they were considered the
representatives of the ancestors, to whom the offerings
were destined, as shown by Levy‑Bruhl in the structure
of the new years' eve festivities in Bering (see page
204, A House Without a Door). Sometimes the Befana
receives offers of food. In the popular dramatization in
Tuscany and elsewhere the Befana is a masked figure who
guides the cortege of postulants and receives offers
from families who, in kind, receive from her the gift of
prosperity.
Befana dispensing gifts suspended from a
fennel stalk - by Bartolomeo Pinelli, 1825
The Befana occupies a pedagogical
function of an outside educator who rewards or punishes,
and has an important role in the child's development.
This Big Grandmother presided over the various phases of
the life of the child and of initiation rites, which
took place during the festivities of the New Year. (See
chapter 4, the Magical Night, with enclosed
bibliography).
Regarding the stocking hung up on the
chimney, she is not only the container of gifts or of
offerings of food but is herself a gift, inasmuch as a
manual product dedicated to mythical figures that are
patrons of yarns and weaving, close to the Befana, such
as Frau Holda and Berchta who visit homes during the
Christmas period. The stocking may also have evocative
functions. (see A House Without a Door, chapter IV, page
5).
In the mythical tradition the Befana arrives flying on a
broom, or even on a donkey. This testifies to her
association with plants and animals, which in antiquity had
a sacred value as representatives or simulations of
totem‑line ancestors, as well as divinities. In mythology
the branch is home to the spirit of the ancestor, which is
why it has assumed the magical function of flight and could
have a role of evocation as well as of distancing from the
spirit. These actions were conceived as a voyage, a flight
from a far‑away kingdom.
Besides the link with the cult of the hearth the Befana
personifies a close link to fire itself, whether astral
(brought from the stars, appearing as a meteor) or earthly
(for example on the eve of the Befana holiday bonfires are
lit to burn her figure). This action is meant not so much as
to exorcise a negative entity, as to re-accompany at the end
of the big holiday the spirit of the ancestor to the kingdom
beyond the tomb through the symbolism of the ascending fire.
This essay provides the possibility of a transversal
interpretation, through the elements of fire and water. The
Epiphany holiday includes purifying rites, and benedictions
with water. The water prepared on the eve of Epiphany has a
sacred and warding‑off‑evil‑spirits value and is used in
critical moments of family life. In the Abruzzo it's called
"Water of the Bboffe" Fire in particular represents a
recurring theme throughout the essay. The third chapter is
titled "The Three Fires" and is dedicated to the figure of
the Kings of the Magi, who in the historical tradition were
priests of the sacred fire, a privileged caste who in the
Zoroastriana Persia waited until the fire expired.
Their knowledge of the stars guided them to Baby Jesus, to
whom they carried three gifts symbolic of the regality of
Christ over the three worlds: earthy gold, celestial
incense, and myrrh from beyond the grave. These three
substances can be linked to each of the three sacred fires
of Vedic India and Avestica Persia. Therefore it is
possible through fire and gifts to establish a connection
between the Magi and the figure of the Befana in the
expectation of the holiday of January 6.
"A House Without a Door" presents this narrative of fantasy,
as well as a serious scientific and
anthropological journey. Through the analysis of the cult of
ancestors and the various rituals connected with this, the
essay reveals and focuses on certain fundamental aspects of
rather well‑known figures, that are however in certain ways
still mysterious, attempting to find an explanation to the
evolution of the image and phenomena that have accompanied
her through the years. |
