Wood & Forest Goddess

BEFANA is the gift-giver Witch figure in #Italy. The figure of Befana has evolved over centuries from a Pagan woodland goddess to a benevolent witch who brings gifts to children on the night of January 6, by filling the stockings hung above the hearth. Befana is also connected to ancestral spirits as a mythical ancestress who returns yearly. Through her timeless visits to the family hearth, her function is that of reaffirming the bond between the family and the ancestors through an exchange of gifts. The symbolism connected to the Belfana figure dates back even to Neolithic times. The stockings hung for Belfana are derived from ancient offerings to the goddess of fate and time. Goddesses of fate have always been associated with weaving, the loom, the spindle, and distaff (of which the stockings are totems). In Italian folklore, Belfana arrives flying on a broom or a goat. This is symbolic of her connection to the plant and animal worlds, denoting her as a woodland goddess as well as a goddess of annual renewal (the cycles of death and rebirth within Nature).

From the Spring Equinox, Befana is born again. life is renewed, and she returns as FANA (FAUNA), the woodland goddess of spring. See HEARTH. (Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft, by Raven Grimassi, pages 47-48).

The Antlered Path - El Camino Astado