Ghosts & the Supernatural – could give you a story about Santa Claus and his elves. But since most everyone that is reading this article is leaning more on the paranormal, I will toss aside any story about Santa Claus and his elves and tell you two paranormal stories that reflect upon a Christmas Witch and a small guy that resembles an elf, called a Menehune. The Menehune tale is from the case files of HPI. To all of my paranormal readers, have a very Merry Christmas! 
La Befana – Christmas Witch!
For some reason Krampus, a Germanic folklore character is trending. Movies like Krampus and Krampus Unleashed are hitting our Redbox Kiosks. Before I go on, do not rent out Krampus Unleashed. This is a B rated movie with unknown actors. The script is poorly done. A horrible movie to watch. As for the movie Krampus. Well, this movie was so-so.
Cara Bermudez who is Italian, pointed me towards the Christmas Witch. My wife Deanna Jaxine Stinson that has some Italian blood running through her veins is intrigued with the La Befana story and has encouraged me to write an article about the subject.
According to Italian folklore, La Befana is an old woman that rides on a broom stick and is usually covered with soot. La Befana delivers presents to all of the good children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve. This is the night of January 5. La Befana is a lot like St. Nicholas or Santa Claus.
It appears that La Befana has been around a long time and may be descended from the Roman Goddess Strina. La Befana on January 5 will visit all of the good children of Italy and fill their shoes with candy and presents. If the children are bad, they will get a lump of coal or dark nasty tasting candy in their shoes. Some bad kids in poorer areas of Italy or in Sicily will receive sticks in their shoes, instead of coal.
La Befana will sweep at each home, after she delivers her candy and presents (or coal and sticks if you are bad). The sweeping of the floor represents the sweeping away of evil, or the sweeping away a troublesome year and starting anew. Her sweeping symbolizes a type of smudging. Instead of leaving La Befana some milk and cookies, children will usually reward La Befana with a glass of wine and a plate of food.
La Befana will enter the home through the chimney and that is the reason she is covered in soot. She also wears a black shawl. Most children say that she smiles while she is delivering her gifts.
Checking with my Italian connections, I learned that Antonio D’Ambrosio may have encountered the Christmas Witch known as La Befana. Antonio was 9 years old. The year was 1991 in the town of Siena, Italy.
According to Antonio he was very bad and was afraid what La Befana might bring him. Some of the things that Antonio did that was bad was staying out late with his friends, not eating his dinner, using crayons to draw on the walls, talking back to his mother, picking on his sister.
On Epiphany Eve, Antonio says that he was very scared that La Befana would visit him and punish him for his bad behavior. Antonio hid underneath his covers. Then he heard what sounded like a crackling noise, he peeked from underneath his covers and saw an old lady materializing from out of the wall. She was all black and dark. Her face was distorted, wrinkled and scarred. Her laughter was high pitched and horrifying to listen to.
La Befana picked up one of his shoes and shoved it in his mouth. Antonio was choking for the longest time. During this choking incident, Antonio’s bed shook violently. When Antonio started coughing, his mother ran into the room and that is when La Befana went through Antonio’s bedroom window and vanished into the night. After this experience, Antonio made it a point to be a good boy and never had this problem again.
SPECIAL NOTE:
Antonio also told me that his mother played around with Tarot cards and I wonder if Antonio actually experienced a demonic entity that knew his thoughts and impersonated La Befana? Or did Antonio really meet La Befana? It would seem that Antonio actually encountered a demonic entity that his mother summoned up via the Tarot cards. From all accounts according to Cara, La Befana is a good witch and only brings positive energy into our world, there is nothing evil about her.
Blackwater Worldwide & the Menehune
I get some interesting calls, this call kept my attention. See why.
This call came in tonight. Date: Jan 20, 2011. Time: 19:59 Hours.
Cell phone rings. The call is from a Honolulu area code.
Caller: Hi my name is ——, don’t worry, it’s not my real name. Right now, I live in Hawaii and I am a part-time paranormal investigator. I used to work for Blackwater Worldwide.
Paul: Blackwater as in Iraq?
Caller: That is the one, but I only did one job for Blackwater and that was at Hurricane Katrina for Department of Homeland Security.
Paul: Good, you weren’t involved in the scandals.
Caller: That’s right. I now work for another private security team here in Hawaii. I am very curious about the paranormal and my wife and I go out on a few cases here and there. Have you ever heard of the little people of Hawaii, the Menehune?
Menehune
Paul: Yes, some Hawaiians think they were the very first settlers of Hawaii. They are quite benevolent.
Caller: Benevolent? Not according to my clients, they tried to snatch her baby. The Menehune were unsuccessful when the male client fired his 45 at them.
Paul: Before the failed kidnapping, was there a buzzing sound or strange lights?
Caller: The clients mentioned lights that came through their window.
Paul: What did these Menehune look like?
Caller: Like little midgets that looked like they had Hawaiian ethnicity, that is why they think it is the Menehune.
Paul: Or they could be something else, disguised as the Menehune?
Caller: Such as?
Paul: Fairies were known to snatch children, aliens have been known to artificially impregnate women. The women are one day pregnant and the next day they are not and doctors brush it off as a false pregnancy. Of course fairies could actually be aliens. This is an interesting case and I will send you information on the Menehune. The abductors could be coming back..will you be placing up surveillance cameras?
Caller: Yes.
Special Note: The caller will keep me informed on the progress of his investigation and we talked for a considerable amount of time about what the Menehune is, alien abductions, hybrids, etc. We went into length in our conversation about the date, time of the thwarted abduction, how many Menehune came into the home (4 came in) and how their attention was towards the child. The child is a 1 year old girl.
Paul Dale Roberts, HPI Esoteric Detective
Halo Paranormal Investigations (HPI International)
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/HPIinternational/
