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Calan Gaeaf
The Calends of Winter, celebrated on November Eve. Also known as Hollantide and Gwyl y Meirw. In Cornwall, the festival is sometimes known as Allantide, and in Brittany as Kala GoaƱv.
For most modern Brythonic pagans, celebrations are akin to that of the Irish Samhain - the emphasis on ancestors, remembering and honouring the dead. Divination, feasting and hospitality. For our ancestors too, this was a time of uncertainty, a time when protection from malign spirits was necessary. Bonfires which were lit in Wales up into the 19th century served this purpose, providing protection against horrors such as the Hwch Ddu Gwta - Bobtailed Black Sow - or Y Ladi Wen - the White Lady. Those who were to die in the coming year could be seen by peeping through the church keyhole on November Eve.
As in Ireland and Scotland, it is customary to lay out food for the dead, perhaps setting an extra place at the table. In Wales, this is known as 'bwyd cennad y meirw' - food for the embassy of the dead - and in Brittany as 'boued gouel an Anaon' - food for the feast of the dead.
However, there is a parallel custom of 'cennad y meirw' - deaths messenger. Cenhadon y Meirw, often made up of the poor folk of the community, go from door to door, chanting rhymes and begging for 'pice rhanna' - soul cakes. The Cenhadon ate the cakes as representatives of the dead of each family.
Another Calan Gaeaf custom is for young folk in Wales to dress up in clothes belonging to the opposite gender. These are called 'gwrachod' - hags/witches. The custom seems typical of the role reversals and cross dressing which is associated with this time and with Twelfth Night - both periods in which the natural order of things is turned on its head during a time-between-times.
A traditional Calan Gaeaf dinner is 'stwmp naw rhyw' - mash of nine kinds. As might be guessed, this has nine ingredients, potato, carrot, turnip, peas, parsnip, leeks, salt, pepper and milk. Often, this dinner would be used for divinatory purposes - a wedding ring would be hidden within. A similar custom was recorded in Dyfed by Owen in 1959: "nine girls used to make a pancake with nine ingredients in it..." again, this was used for marriage divination. Another lovers divination recorded is the belief that young people sewing hemp at a crossroads at night at Calan Gaeaf could receive a vision of their future sweetheart.
Sourced from:
Celtic Rituals, A. Kondratiev. New Celtic Publishing 1996, p. 109 - 113.
Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, MacKillop. OUP 1998, p. 236 - 7.
Calan Gaeaf
The Calends of Winter, celebrated on November Eve. Also known as Hollantide and Gwyl y Meirw. In Cornwall, the festival is sometimes known as Allantide, and in Brittany as Kala GoaƱv.
For most modern Brythonic pagans, celebrations are akin to that of the Irish Samhain - the emphasis on ancestors, remembering and honouring the dead. Divination, feasting and hospitality. For our ancestors too, this was a time of uncertainty, a time when protection from malign spirits was necessary. Bonfires which were lit in Wales up into the 19th century served this purpose, providing protection against horrors such as the Hwch Ddu Gwta - Bobtailed Black Sow - or Y Ladi Wen - the White Lady. Those who were to die in the coming year could be seen by peeping through the church keyhole on November Eve.
As in Ireland and Scotland, it is customary to lay out food for the dead, perhaps setting an extra place at the table. In Wales, this is known as 'bwyd cennad y meirw' - food for the embassy of the dead - and in Brittany as 'boued gouel an Anaon' - food for the feast of the dead.
However, there is a parallel custom of 'cennad y meirw' - deaths messenger. Cenhadon y Meirw, often made up of the poor folk of the community, go from door to door, chanting rhymes and begging for 'pice rhanna' - soul cakes. The Cenhadon ate the cakes as representatives of the dead of each family.
Another Calan Gaeaf custom is for young folk in Wales to dress up in clothes belonging to the opposite gender. These are called 'gwrachod' - hags/witches. The custom seems typical of the role reversals and cross dressing which is associated with this time and with Twelfth Night - both periods in which the natural order of things is turned on its head during a time-between-times.
A traditional Calan Gaeaf dinner is 'stwmp naw rhyw' - mash of nine kinds. As might be guessed, this has nine ingredients, potato, carrot, turnip, peas, parsnip, leeks, salt, pepper and milk. Often, this dinner would be used for divinatory purposes - a wedding ring would be hidden within. A similar custom was recorded in Dyfed by Owen in 1959: "nine girls used to make a pancake with nine ingredients in it..." again, this was used for marriage divination. Another lovers divination recorded is the belief that young people sewing hemp at a crossroads at night at Calan Gaeaf could receive a vision of their future sweetheart.
Sourced from:
Celtic Rituals, A. Kondratiev. New Celtic Publishing 1996, p. 109 - 113.
Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, MacKillop. OUP 1998, p. 236 - 7.