Calan Gaeaf is the name of the first day of winter in Wales, observed on November 1st. The day before is Nos Galan Gaeaf or Noson Galan Gaeaf, a Ysbrydnos ("night of the spirits") when the spirits are abroad. Traditionally, people avoid graveyards, stiles and crossroads, as it is believed that the spirits gather there.
Calan Gaeaf and Ysbrydnos
The villagers would dance around a bonfire and everyone would write their names on stones or otherwise mark them and place them in and around the bonfire. When the fire began to die down, they would all run home, believing that if they stayed, Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta (an ill omen who took the form of a tailless black sow with a headless wife) or Y Ladi Wen ("the white lady", a ghostly apparition often said to be headless) would drive them away or devour their souls.
One rhyme in particular shows how Nos Calan Gaeaf's last child was in danger of being eaten by the fearsome beast:
Adref, adref, am I cyntaf',
Hwch ddu gwta a gipio'r ola'.
The next morning, all the stones containing the villagers' names would be checked, and it was believed that finding one's burnt stone clean was good luck. If, however, a stone was missing, the person who wrote his or her name on the missing stone would be expected to die within a year.
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Today the Welsh celebrate the first day of winter, Calan Gaeaf. The villagers would dance around a bonfire and everyone would write their names on the stones or otherwise mark them and place them in and around said fire. #mythology #myth #legend #calendar #November 1 #galles #calangaeaf
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