La Befana


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Area(s) Reported: Italy
Date(s) Reported: ca. 1 AD to Present

Waaaay back about 2000 years or so, Befana went looking for the baby Jesus in Bethlehem... and she's been looking ever since! Every year on January 5 she searches throughout Italy, and leaves treats and treasures for all good children as she goes.

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Sources

  • The Leisure Hour Monthly Library, Vol. 21, 1872.  Pgs. 408-410. Online: Click here!
  • "La Befana," article in La Frusta, in Latin, Anno. III, Num. 4, January 6 1872. [As a source, this merely confirms the existence of the Befana practices in 1872 in Italy.] Online: Click here!
  • "Short Review of Books: Voyage en Italie," article in The Foreign Review, Vol. I, 1828 London, England. Pgs. 642-644. Online: Click here!
  • The Rhine, Italy, and Greece, Volume 1, by George Newenham Wright, 1848 London, England. Pg. 22. Online: Click here!
  • "Curiosities of Superstition in Italy," article in Notes and Queries, No. 231, 6th Series, Vol. IX, Saturday, May 31, 1884 London, England. Pgs. 421-422. Online: Click here!
  • "The Gift-Bearers of Cristmastide," by D.G.S., article in Foreign-Born, December 1921, New York, USA. Pg. 366. Online: Click here!
  • "Christmas in Some Foreign Lands," article in the Michigan Library Bulletin, V. 17, No. 5, November-December 1926, Lansing, Michigan, USA. Pg. 213. Online: Click here!
  • "Dual Language: La befana is coming! - E' arrivata la Befana!," by Andrea Antonioni, page in the Italy Magazine website, posted 12-30-2009, viewed 11-24-2018. Online: Click here!
  • "Epiphany," page in the Wikipedia website, viewed 11-15-2018. Online: Click here!
  • "Epiphany (holiday)," page in the Wikipedia website, viewed 11-15-2018. Online: Click here! 

Baboushka Sources

  • The Dictionary of Anecdote, Incident, Illustrative Fact, by Walter Baxendale, 1888 New York, USA. Pg. 461. Online: Click here!
  • "The Gift-Bearers of Cristmastide," by D.G.S., article in Foreign-Born, December 1921, New York, USA. Pg. 366. Online: Click here!
  • "Baboushka and the Three Kings," page in the Wikipedia website, viewed 11-23-2018. Online: Click here!
  • "Russian Holidays 101: the story of Babushka," by James Cooper, page in the Expatica website, posted ca. 9-30-2015, viewed 11-24-2018. Online: Click here!
  • "Christmas in Russia," page in the Wikipedia website, viewed 11-24-2018. Online: Click here!

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