Angel and I had observed 12th Night at our home in New Jersey in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with a big party for our friends, featuring all Italian food that we spent two weeks cooking from scratch. Angel even made his own pasta. I had a general idea about the holiday and its religious significance. In my mother's house, we always had a creche scene set up, but the Three Wise Men were kept across the room from the Manger until January 6th, when they finally were allowed to 'arrive' to bring their gifts to the Baby.
I knew that in Italy the Befana, the Good Witch, flew around on Twelfth Night bringing gifts to good little boys and girls and coal to misbehavers. What I did not know was that the Befana suffers an unkind fate every year. She is a witch, and therefore she must be burned.
These photos are my first Twelfth Night in Italy, and this is the burning of the witch in Piazza Bra. You can see that the bonfire starts with a very large straw effigy of the Befana's head and neck...and big hat...and ends with smoke curling towards the sky. The direction in which the smoke blows is supposed to foretell what kind of year everyone will have.
This was a really amazing event. It seemed that the entire city turned out by the thousands, yet there was no disorder (this was not the World Cup Soccer celebration) and everyone waited patiently for the Befana to burn down and the smoke to swirl. Then the announcer read the smoke, and everyone drifted away.
I was captivated by the whole spectacle.
Angel and I had observed 12th Night at our home in New Jersey in 2002, 2003 and 2004 with a big party for our friends, featuring all Italian food that we spent two weeks cooking from scratch. Angel even made his own pasta. I had a general idea about the holiday and its religious significance. In my mother's house, we always had a creche scene set up, but the Three Wise Men were kept across the room from the Manger until January 6th, when they finally were allowed to 'arrive' to bring their gifts to the Baby.
I knew that in Italy the Befana, the Good Witch, flew around on Twelfth Night bringing gifts to good little boys and girls and coal to misbehavers. What I did not know was that the Befana suffers an unkind fate every year. She is a witch, and therefore she must be burned.
These photos are my first Twelfth Night in Italy, and this is the burning of the witch in Piazza Bra. You can see that the bonfire starts with a very large straw effigy of the Befana's head and neck...and big hat...and ends with smoke curling towards the sky. The direction in which the smoke blows is supposed to foretell what kind of year everyone will have.
This was a really amazing event. It seemed that the entire city turned out by the thousands, yet there was no disorder (this was not the World Cup Soccer celebration) and everyone waited patiently for the Befana to burn down and the smoke to swirl. Then the announcer read the smoke, and everyone drifted away.
I was captivated by the whole spectacle.
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