Italian Epiphany custom allows a Puebla town don’t forget its heritage

The witch stood silent as gasoline was poured all around her, her unflinching gaze aimed over the heads of the persons who experienced collected to look at her burn off. A spark flared at the base of her costume, and flames bit by bit spread. As the flames moved upward, a cheer went up from the 2,000 people today encompassing her, and quickly she was absolutely engulfed in flames.

Fortunately, she wasn’t a serious witch but La Befana, and the burning of the 4.5-meter-tall figure that signifies her, referred to as la quema, is a tradition noticed in Chipilo, an Italian pueblo in Puebla.

La Befana made her way to Chipilo from the Véneto area of northern Italy, which is where by the men and women that settled the pueblo at first came from in 1882. The tradition is noticed on the night of January 5, but it wasn’t celebrated in Chipilo right up until Eduardo Piloni Stefanonni, the director of the town’s Casa d’Italia, frequented Véneto in the mid-1990s and witnessed the ritual.

“I assumed, ‘Why really do not we have this in Chipilo?’” he states. “It is aspect of our tradition.”

So in 1998, the city extra another Italian custom.

Grupo La Befana builds the figure in Francisco Berra’s carpentry shop.
Grupo La Befana builds the figure in Francisco Berra’s carpentry store.

The title La Befana arrives from the Greek phrase for “epiphany.” The holiday break of Epiphany, celebrated on January 6, commemorates the arrival of the 3 Wise Gentlemen coming to see the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem.

There are lots of stories about how La Befana came to be. In 1 variation, the 3 Smart Males shed their way as they traveled to Bethlehem and stopped to inquire an aged woman for directions. She did not know but gave them foods and shelter. When they had been leaving the up coming working day, they invited her to join them, but she refused. She later adjusted her thoughts but could not uncover them and now wanders the world giving candy to very good boys and girls.

Although she’s a determine identified all over Italy, her reputation differs tremendously dependent on the location. In some locations, she’s a terrible witch. But in components of northern Italy and in Chipilo, “She is a great witch,” mentioned Zuri Merlo, director of the Chipilo Nostro, a pageant celebrating the town’s founding. “She has the electrical power to get rid of undesirable matters and provide superior points.”

Her treatment method differs as properly.

“It is the custom in the north of Italy to burn off her,” mentioned Piloni. “From the central to the south, she is not burned. But in our location, Véneto, they burn off her.”

And so they melt away her in Chipilo as nicely.

The ritualized burning of La Befana, which chipileños call "la quema".
The ritualized burning of La Befana, which chipileños get in touch with “la quema”.

Very last year, commencing on October, 24 males belonging to the Grupo La Befana collected in Francisco Berra’s carpentry shop to construct the witch. All through the month and into November, the substantial home resounded with Spanish and the Venetian dialect as the gentlemen switched simply among the two.

“We’re a team of pals,” stated Héctor Mazzocco Sevenello, the group’s leader. “We each pay out 200 pesos for standard expenses. We satisfy on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, about an hour every single working day.”

La Befana begins as a basic metallic frame which is then coated with strips of wooden, cardboard and newspaper. She requires on a diverse seem every calendar year.

“Before, she was painted,” explained Berra, “but now she’s dressed and we gave her hair. It’s much more real.”

In addition to preserving a tradition from their homeland, La Befana has one more function.

“It is the enjoyment of currently being jointly,” said Mazzocco. “Many members are married, and they broke their regime to get the job done on this. It is our society, our tradition, our language and behavior. They are all currently being misplaced, and we as customers are motivated by these pursuits to continue on preserving what came before.”

Early on January 5, La Befana was taken from Berra’s shop and put in entrance of the church in which she stayed right up until that night, when her last journey started. She was loaded onto a trailer and driven little by little down the pueblo’s key avenue to the baseball subject, accompanied by the ringing of a handbell and trailed by numerous dozen individuals.

At the ballfield, she was positioned in the center of a huge circle, surrounded by a significant crowd. After she was doused with gasoline, Mazzocco commenced the countdown with the crowd becoming a member of in. At “uno,” she was established on fireplace and shortly grew to become a tower of flames.

Each fall, chipileños build La Befana, a nod to the town's European roots.
Each individual slide, chipileños establish La Befana, a nod to the town’s European roots. Images by Joseph Sorrentino

“Some say the fireplace guides the Intelligent Adult males to Jesus,” said Mazzocco.

“Others say that it’s to bring mild to the earth,” Merlo included. “La Befana is a way to say fantastic-bye to wintertime, to say fantastic-bye to lousy factors in the past calendar year. She takes all the negative things I want to get rid of.

And it is a time to meet, to be with other people.”

When La Befana was nothing at all extra than a large pile of smoldering ashes, customers of  Grupo La Befana handed out baggage of candy to little ones. As the crowd drifted away, Merlo mirrored on La Befana’s importance for the pueblo.

“These are traditions that provide chipileños closer to their roots. But it is also to share it with folks from outside the pueblo.”

She then paused and extra,  “And it is a fantastic chipileña celebration.”

Joseph Sorrentino is a frequent contributor to Mexico News Each day.