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The Art of Living in Season
Epiphany
The art of Welcoming the Stranger
Wise men “from the east” (strangers from afar) enter the scene on January 6, marking the beginning of Epiphany season and another chapter in the greater narrative that starts in the manger: this story continues, as does our participation in it, so the crèche stays out. The festivities are not over!
There are other foreigners (the Romani) in the Provençal crèche scene, as there are in our own land, exiles and residents “from afar.” They also have a role in the great story: they too are little saints and companion pilgrims. I invite my readers to ponder these things in the chapter on Epiphany.
Le gâteau des Rois (King’s cake), with its little porcelain figure (la fève) hidden inside it, is served at Epiphany all over France.
The person who gets la fève in his or her slice is king or queen for the day – and has to treat the present company to the next cake, and so on, often until the end of the month.
My book imagines an extended interpretation of this tradition.
The fève custom goes back to medieval times when the figure in the cake was a fava bean (fève, in French), which is why the figurine is still called la fève. The early porcelain fèves, in the late 1800's, used to be representations of baby Jesus or a magi.
Nowadays, one can find a great many different subjects for fèves, from animals to literary figures, and even miniatures Provençal santons. Fèves collectors are called fabophiles.
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