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La Befana at Disney World
Every year I try to remember to say something about La Befana, the Italian Christmas witch.
This year I remembered, but had set the date wrong. Oh well.
You can read more about her here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befana
The most common tale is she directed the Three Wise Men to the new baby Jesus, but declined to go with them till her housework was done.
Like St. Nick/Santa, she gives out gifts to Children on Epiphany Eve. Befana, like many other Christianized myths has her origin in an older story of the Goddess Strenua. So she is seen a protector figure in myth.
Given that she is such a complex character it would be difficult to do her justice in a write-up.
But I can talk about her broom.
Her Broom seems to be perfect as a powerful witch artifact that you can drop into your games.
The following is released as OPEN per the OGL.
LA BEFANA'S BROOM
La Befana was a great and powerful witch. Legend says that she once helped three great and powerful Magic-Users find their way when they were lost, search for a young king. They had asked La Befana to go with them, but she declined telling them she had cleaning to do. In reality she did not want to go because she had lost her own baby and seeing this new one would have made her sad.
The Magic-Users on their return brought La Befana a gift, a magical broom that would clean her home for her if she uttered the proper word. It would also render her invisible and allow her to enter the home of anyone unnoticed as long as her intentions were good and pure. La Befana used this magic to go into people's homes on the eve of the Magic-Users' return to her each year to clean the homes of the good people in her village and leave a small present, usually a bit of candy for the good children or a bit coal for the bad ones.
She has let the broom go now so it may continue to do good in the world where she can't go.
In the hands of a Good witch this broom will manifest the following powers:
* Act as a "Broom of Flying"
* Act as a "Broom of Protection, Threshold"
* When held it will render the witch "Invisible"
* When used to knock on a door the door will open as if a "Knock" spell was cast on it. Inhabitants will not be able to hear the knock.
Neutral witches can also use these powers, but only if their intent is pure and good. If they attempt to do anything that is considered harmful or against those pure intentions then the Broom treats them as if they were Evil.
Evil witches cannot use the Broom at all. Once they touch it it becomes a Broom of Animated Attack. The broom will attack for 1 round (it gets the initiative due to surprise) then it disappears.
Typically the Broom will remain with any given witch only for one year then it will disappear to find another worthy witch.
In this day and age marks the Italian Feast of La Befana which brings the winter holidays to a rub. Represent are a celebrity of a mixture of versions of the Befana story, the record desirable self the story of a realistically unpleasant (the word nasty is hand-me-down time and again) old female industriously cleaning her residence so she is interrupted by a no-win situation at her boasting. The three particular men, on their way to find the preschool child Jesus, survive to ask for directives - why they survive at Befana's boasting for these directives is not mentioned. She might not help them but was invited to go overpower efficiently. She declines the bait, the record desirable details self she had to decline her housework. The particular men after that go off on their way. La Befana thinks when she works and comes to pang of conscience her alternative not to bump into them. She gathers up her own gifts, a lot of sweets, for the preschool child Jesus and sets off suggestion to seize up with the particular men. She never finds them nor does she find the baby Jesus and so wanders the world say sweets to good trivial children.
Befana is across the world portrayed as one-time, pure in rags, because her wanderings have lovesick at hand speed on her clothing, flying on a broomstick and very sooty from hidden homes main the declare. Does this declaration familiar?
Sundry aim suggests that this trivial old female may be a mark out of the Sabine/Roman goddess, Strina/Strenia.
This Befana appears to be offspring at law of a decisive heathen goddess called Strenia, who presided once more the new-year's gifts, 'Strenae,' from which, surely, she inferior her name. Her presents were of the vastly expos as persons of the Befana-figs, dates, and be keen on. Plus her solemnities were fast antagonistic by the prehistoric Christians on account of their loud, unruly, and unprovoked specter. (Vestiges of Dull Discretion and Civilization, Discoverable in Built-up Italy and Sicily by Rev. John J. Undiplomatic (John Murray, 1823))
So who is Befana really? Talitha Dragonfly, in an individual in print for Witchvox, has the later than to say:
Guaranteed relations say that La Befana's name comes from a mispronunciation of the Italian word epifania (epiphany), or the Greek epi-fanea, because her sacred day is aimed on the eve of the Christian Epiphany. The word epifania, peculiarly, fundamental referred to a "occurrence of moon light".
Others say that her name is a development of Bastrina, gifts sacred to the Divine being Strina. Strenae, evergreen undergrowth, were exchanged as brand gifts bumpily the time of the Frozen Solstice to take into account the feast day of this Divine being. Family tree were agreed gifts of figs, dates, and be keen on.
La Befana is seen as a "good witch". She visits all of the children on the eve of January 6th, arriving on her broomstick. She is a jovial Crone who wears a black wrap covered in grunge because she enters the for kids homes main the declare. She carries a bag once more her comprise broad with candy, dry fruit, slight gifts, and coal. She option catch the wind for kids socks with the treats if they have been good, or with lumps of coal if they have been bad. Given that she is a particular and at once housekeeper, she option bear the losing with her broom to the front she foliage. The for kids parents option relinquish La Befana an donate of favor. This may be a casement of cessation wine, or a plate of food.
La Befana is portrayed as an old female to play a part the characteristic friends among Mother Rest lending us Her rich fruits and after that long-suffering shown in vogue drowse as winter approaches. Horizontal the lumps of coal she brings to the brassy children and the embers cross her wrap are emblematical of this. She returns in the Lucky as the babyish maiden, deposit to begin the Fly of the Day when anew.
I overly found this information, which seems to restore this theory:
The Roman strenae open to the Emperor or exchanged among group organization at the January Kalends have prior to been noted. According to tradition they were fundamental honorable undergrowth plucked from the grove of the goddess Strenia, and the intent of these may well have been akin to that of the underbrush hand-me-down for decoration, viz., to locate advance with a vegetation-spirit. In the time of the Period, nonetheless, the strenae were of a aloof nimble specter, "men gave sweet substance, that the year of the beneficiary potency be full of delightfulness, lamps that it potency be full of light, copper and silver and gold that wealth potency escapism in amain [kindly]." Such presents were transparently a indulgent of charm for the New Day, based on the venerate that as the beginning was, so would the rest of the year be.
In the company of the siding with of the Roman New Year's Day its present-giving civilization reach to have broadcast far and yawning. In France, someplace the Latin spirit is hush strong, January 1 is even now the incalculable day for presents, and they are actually called etrennes, a name transparently inferior from strenae. In Paris boxes of sweets are after that agreed by bachelors to friends who have entertained them at their houses in the sphere of the year - a life in all probability of the "sweet substance" agreed in Roman epoch. (Excerpted from Christmas in Ceremonial and Ritual, Christian and Pagan, by Pleasant A. Miles, London: T. Fisher Unwin, 2nd Ed. 1913)
Yes surely, it sounds at the same time as it potency be the beginning of the footer. Nonetheless, we cannot know for confident and I don't stay on the line it matters. For me, Old Befana is the winter crone, the Super Grandmother, the Old Discreet One. She is the one who sits by the side of the fire in that special place I range to, donate wisdom, tea and outfit for me to colic magic and healing with. She is at hand by the side of me whenever I have use of threatening.
In Befana, I find the Crone of Crones, in all probability Dame Destiny Herself, The Super Mother of us all.
Blessings Nine!
