Today is Epiphany, when Christians celebrate Christ's manifestation to the Gentiles.
Some Italian children get their presents on Jan 6th, and some are even getting a second lot. In a curious mixture of paganism and Christianity the festival is known in Italy as Befana, represented as a wicked witch, who instead of presents gives lumps of coal to naughty children. Befana is thought to be a pre-Christian deity and black faced witch dolls can be bought everywhere, but not, I suppose, in the souvenor shops in Vatican City.
This is a country where people teach their children about Sabine/Roman witches, go to early morning mass, then home to read their horoscopes.
No comments:
Post a Comment