Discover the winter crone of Italian folklore: Her origins, symbolism, rituals, and why she flies only on Epiphany Eve
Italy has many winter tales of saints, spirits, miracle stories, and centuries-old feast days. But none are as beloved, mysterious, and enduring as La Befana, the Christmas witch who rides her broom across the Italian night sky on January 5th, delivering gifts, sweets, and gentle blessings.
She is part crone archetype, part guardian of late-winter hope, and part seasonal threshold-keeper.
She appears not at Christmas itself, but at the culmination of the season: Epiphany. Thta’s when the holiday cycle officially closes and the new year truly begins.
La Befana isn’t just a giver of gifts. She’s the witch of transition, the grandmother spirit of winter wisdom, and the final figure of the holiday procession.
Her presence is strangely comforting. Picture this. She’s soot-smudged from chimney ash, bundled against the cold, often smiling, and carrying gifts in a sack.
She’s a figure of endings and beginnings, appearing at the moment when the Christmas lights dim and everyday life threatens to resume.
Unlike Santa, who embodies abundance, joviality, and paternal benevolence, La Befana embodies something quieter and much older. She’s all about tidings of renewal, the closing of the old year, and the deep housekeeping of winter (both literal and metaphysical).
And yet, like all the best seasonal figures, her story shapeshifts. Across regions, time periods, scholars, and folk accounts, La Befana emerges as:
- Remnant goddess
- Domestic hearth spirit
- Seasonal crone
- Figure of sweeping and cleansing
- Bearer of unfinished tasks
- Witness to spiritual arrival
Let’s explore who she is, where she came from, and why her story may matter now more than ever.
What You’ll Learn in This Post:
- Who La Befana is and why she appears only on Epiphany Eve
- Why she’s portrayed as a wise winter crone rather than a traditional witch
- How her story connects to the Magi, sweeping symbolism, and gift-giving customs
- Where her origins may trace back—from Roman goddess Strenia to Alpine winter spirits
- How La Befana represents completion, transition, and late-winter blessings
- How Epiphany traditions, songs, and foods keep her story alive in Italy today
- Why La Befana endures as a beloved cultural icon rather than a frightening folkloric witch
La Befana’s Epiphany Night Journey
La Befana is celebrated every year on January 5th. That’s the eve of Epiphany, which commemorates the Magi arriving to honor the newborn Christ.
The traditional story is remarkably consistent:
According to Italian folktales, the Magi asked La Befana for directions, but she was too busy sweeping to join them.
Later regretting her refusal, she set out on her broom to find the Christ child, carrying gifts.
She never succeeded, so she continues to wander each year, visiting every child in the hope that one of them might be the holy child she missed (Herzfeld 1985; Falassi 1987).
At midnight, she flies roof to roof, chimney to chimney. She leaves:
- Candy
- Dried fruits
- Small toys
- Nuts
- Sweet breads
And for naughty children, not coal exactly, but sweet black sugar charcoal, a humorous modern twist.
Her sweeping is symbolic. She’s said to sweep the floor before she leaves. Not as punishment, but to sweep away last year’s difficulties.
This places her in a cultural current shared by numerous winter folklore figures where sweeping is purifying (Honko 1989).
What makes La Befana unique is the mood of her feast day. It’s affectionate, reflective, humble, domestic, and deeply tied to ritual cleansing.
Learn more about The Meaning of Epiphany and the 12th Night: What January 6 Reveals About Light, Insight, and the Magi’s Cosmic Journey
The Crone Archetype in Italian Tradition
La Befana is notable for being explicitly a crone figure, which is pretty darn rare among modern holiday icons.
She’s elderly. She travels alone. She carries wisdom, rather than glamour. She arrives after everyone else has celebrated
In symbolic terms, she may be winter personified, aligned with the waning moon, endings, and thresholds (Frazer 1913).
Jungian and archetypal scholars consider figures like La Befana prototypes of:
- The Wise Woman
- The Hearth Guardian
- The Keeper of Unfinished Stories
Her old age isn’t portrayed as frightening, monstrous, or threatening, unlike many witch figures.
Instead, she is:
- Quirky
- Kind
- Industrious
- Persevering
Moreover, she is a working figure, not divine royalty.
She sweeps. She walks. She carries a bag. She attends to children. She’s the grandmother who finishes the holiday cycle.
This cultural positioning is remarkable because it suggests that, historically, Italy honored the role of the crone at seasonal turning points.
It’s a theme that’s echoed in Celtic Brigid traditions (Ó Catháin 2004), Slavic Baba Yaga narratives (Hubbs 2013), and Germanic Perchta customs (Hutton 1996).
Go deeper on crone magic: Who is Baba Yaga?
Possible Pagan Roots and Goddess Echoes
While historians definitely don’t agree on a definitive pagan origin, three strong scholarly theories seem to appear consistently.
Theory 1: Befana Descends from Strenia
Roman New Year rituals centered around Strenia or Strenua, a goddess associated with blessings and purification (Dumézil 1973).
Romans exchanged strenae (branches, sweets, and symbolic gifts) as tokens of good fortune.
La Befana gives similar offerings.
This connection is supported by early Christian writers such as Tertullian, who references Strena rituals in relation to January feasting (Tertullian, Against Idolatry, ca. 3rd c.).
Theory 2: The Twelve Days of Yule and the Wandering Goddess
Some scholars see La Befana as parallel to Germanic and Alpine women-of-winter figures:
- Frau Holle
- Berchta / Perchta
- Holda
These goddesses visited homes at midwinter and bestowed gifts or punishments (Motz 1984; Simek 2007).
Perchta especially was associated with:
- Spinning and weaving
- Domestic cleanliness
- Oversight of the household
The “sweeping” symbolism matches La Befana perfectly.
Explore my 12 Days of Yule Guide: Simple Traditions, Rituals, and Magic to Welcome the Light
Theory 3: The Old Year Personified
Folklorist Charles Leland proposed that La Befana was originally the “Old Woman of the Year,” destined to burn or die symbolically as the calendar turned over (Leland 1899).
Italy still retains echoes of this symbolism:
- Straw effigies burned in January
- Seasonal bonfires
- New Year “house clearing” rituals
Whether goddess or spirit, La Befana clearly occupies a threshold role. She’s not exactly the new, not quite the old, but the hinge between them.
La Befana and the Magi: Shared Themes of Seeking
What makes La Befana distinct from other winter figures is her link to the Magi. She’s not an adversary, she’s a parallel seeker.
They arrived bearing symbolic gifts: Gold (kingship), frankincense (divinity), and myrrh (mortality).
La Befana carries:
- Sweets
- Fruit
- Warmth
- Nourishment
Their journey is triumphant. Hers is unfulfilled. This contrast tends to humanize her.
Some anthropologists read her as a “failed pilgrim” who became patron of unfinished paths (Falassi 1987), suggesting she may be spiritually aligned with:
- Travelers
- Undecided hearts
- Those who arrive late
- Seekers at crossroads
In other words, she may also be the patron saint of imperfect timing.
And that’s so, so deeply relatable.
Origins of La Befana’s Witch Imagery
How did a kindly Italian grandmother become a witch?
Historians offer several insights:
- In medieval and Renaissance Italy, domestic charms, herbal knowledge, and midwife traditions coexisted with clerical suspicion (Levack 2016).
- Older women practicing household magic were frequently conflated with “strega” figures (Ginzburg 1991).
- Italian carnival customs often featured hags or broom-carrying elders symbolizing winter (Falassi 1987).
But La Befana escaped demonization.
Why?
Because she belonged to children.
Her feast day was joyful, playful, and domestic—not subversive.
Like Saint Nicholas, she became culturally protected.
Instead of frightening, she became beloved.
La Befana and the Strega
Although La Befana doesn’t appear in formal witch-trial records and was never explicitly condemned in ecclesiastical sources, scholars note that her imagery overlaps with the Italian strega.
The Italian strega was the rural wise woman often associated with herbal healing, domestic charms, and midwife practices (Ginzburg 1991; Levack 2016).
Her broom, nocturnal movement, and soot-darkened clothing reflect the same folkloric vocabulary used to describe women practitioners of household magic in late medieval and early modern Italy.
Carlo Ginzburg specifically identifies broom-riding as part of vernacular magical narratives tied to nocturnal spirit flights, a motif that resonates strongly with La Befana’s Epiphany Eve journey (Ginzburg 1991, pp. 103–122).
Yet unlike stigmatized women accused of malefic magic, La Befana remained culturally protected because she belonged to children’s ritual space.
That meant gift-giving, blessing the hearth, and symbolically sweeping away the debris of the ending year (Falassi 1987).
When you look at it like this, she inherits the symbolic tools of the Italian witch, while transforming them into acts of generosity, cyclical renewal, and household fortune.
Learn about The Real St. Nicholas: Origins, Meaning, and the Winter Saint Who Came Before Santa
Where La Befana Is Celebrated Today
La Befana remains especially prominent in:
- Lazio (Rome)
- Umbria
- Tuscany
- Marche
- Abruzzo
Major celebrations include:
Piazza Navona, Rome
Home of the famous Epiphany market, operating since at least the 16th century (Walsh 2000).
Urban processions
Women dressed as Befana hand out sweets.
House-hold rituals
Families still leave:
- A broom
- A stocking
- Biscotti
- Wine
Children’s poems and songs
Most famous poem excerpt:
“La Befana vien di notte
Con le scarpe tutte rotte
Col cappello alla romana
Viva viva la Befana!”
Translated:
“La Befana comes at night
Wearing shoes that are all tattered
With her Roman hat
Long live La Befana!”
The rhyme celebrates poverty-as-virtue, humility-as-wisdom.
What La Befana Symbolizes Spiritually
Though modern Italians often treat La Befana as secular folklore, symbolically she may represent:
Winter Completion
She arrives when festivities are over.
Cleansing of the Past
Sweeping is intentional liminality.
Threshold Between Feasts
She closes the ritual cycle begun at Advent.
Blessing the Household
Home is a temple in her worldview.
Gifts of Modesty
Small gifts, not extravagant ones.
The Wisdom of Enough
She never arrives with excess.
What a powerful spiritual teaching: La Befana reminds us that abundance is “enoughness,” not excess.
Food Traditions for La Befana: A Culinary Thread
Regional food customs include:
- Panettone remnants rebaked or toasted
- Candy-coal (carbone dolce)
- Fava beans, symbolic of good fortune
- Rosticciana (pork ribs), lentils, spiced wine
Anthropologists note that her feast coincides with Italy’s historical accounting period, when provisions were evaluated for winter survival (Herzfeld 1985).
In this way, she also represents food discipline, resource stewardship, the turning of the pantry year.
Her foods signify endurance, not indulgence.
Is La Befana a Santa Equivalent? A Crone-Santa Comparison
Not really. They more complement each other.
Here, take a look:
Santa begins the feast. Befana closes it. Santa grants wishes. Befana blesses endings. Santa symbolizes excitement. Befana symbolizes restoration.
| Santa Claus | La Befana |
|---|---|
| Arrives Dec 24 | Arrives Jan 5 |
| Male, paternal | Female, grandmother |
| Based on saint, bishop | Based in folk legend |
| Magical reindeer | Broomstick, sometimes donkey |
| Focus on abundance | Focus on sufficiency |
| North Pole | Rural cottage |
| Red robes | Dark shawl, apron |
What La Befana Means in Modern Context
La Befana is still remarkably relevant now.
Her story may speak to:
- People who feel late
- People who regret missing chances
- People still sweeping up the aftermath of last year
- People who find fulfillment through practicality
She may teach:
- You can show up late and still offer kindness
- You can nurture without perfection
- You can bless without fanfare
- You can be magical while still sweeping floors
Spiritually, she is:
- The magic of quotidian things
- The holiness of homesteading
- The winter quiet that invites reflection
She’s the grandmother at the door saying, “Clean up, rest, begin again.”
References
Dumézil, Georges. Archaic Roman Religion. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.
Falassi, Alessandro. Time Out of Time: Essays on the Festival. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987.
Frazer, James. The Golden Bough. London: Macmillan, 1913.
Ginzburg, Carlo. Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Herzfeld, Michael. The Poetics of Manhood: Contest and Identity in a Cretan Mountain Village. Princeton University Press, 1985.
Honko, Lauri. “Theories Concerning the Ritual Process.” Temenos, 1989.
Hutton, Ronald. The Stations of the Sun. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Levack, Brian. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. London: Routledge, 2016.
Leland, Charles. Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. London: David Nutt, 1899.
Motz, Lotte. The Winter Goddess. London: Folklore Society, 1984.
Ó Catháin, Séamas. The Festival of Brigit. Dublin: DBA Publications, 2004.
Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Cambridge: Brewer, 2007.
Walsh, Michael. Roman Festivals in the Middle Ages. University of Notre Dame Press, 2000.
Disclaimer
This article explores folklore, historical traditions, symbolic interpretation, and cultural ritual practices. It is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, cure, or treat any physical, spiritual, emotional, or psychological condition, nor does it guarantee any particular outcome. Always use personal discernment when engaging with spiritual practices or cultural traditions, and consult relevant professionals where appropriate.
