Calan Gaeaf

It's winter now.

Well, now that Halloween is done, it’s officially winter. A lot of Holiday Cheermeisters align with this concept spiritually. But in Wales, it’s taken as fact.

Calan Gaeaf is observed on November 1st, and it marks the end of the harvest season and the start of winter. It’s a harvest festival first and foremost, but, like many holidays that celebrate the shift from long days to long nights, it also took on a bit of spookiness.

Nos Galan Gaeaf

The fun really begins on the night before Calan Gaeaf, known as Nos Galan Gaeaf. It was traditionally considered a Ysbrydnos, or spirit night. The veil was at its thinnest, so spirits were thought to roam the countryside; folks avoided churchyards, crossroads, and stiles, as spirits were thought to congregate there. Small plates of food might be set out as offerings for the wandering spirits of ancestors.

People sometimes went guising, dressing as evil spirits or witches to get food, drink, or treats.

Divination

There were many divination rituals, often overlapping with those common to Samhain and Halloween traditions. In one, women and children would mark their names on rocks and pile them around a bonfire. Then, they’d dance around it until the fire started to die out, at which point, they would all run home, lest they be chased home and have their souls devoured by the Hwch Ddu Gwta, a black, tailless sow who may or may not have the head of a woman. In some traditions, she was ridden or followed by the ghostly apparition of a woman.

On Calan Gaeaf morning, everyone would check the stones from the bonfire to see what fates the stones foretold for each of them. If your name was burned away, it was a sign of good luck. However, a missing stone was thought to portend death within the year.

Harvest Mare

The last cornstalks harvested would be left standing for an odd little game on Calan Caeaf or Nos Galan Caeaf, depending on when folks were having their community harvest feast. Players would reap the stalks to see who could reap the most or the fastest. The last stalks cut would be twisted into a harvest mare (not an actual horse). The winner would then try to sneak the harvest mare into the house under their shirt while everyone was preparing the feast. If successful, they earned a reward; if unsuccessful, they were often teased by the whole crowd.

Feast

Almost all harvest festivals include a feast, and this was no exception. The bounty of the season was put to use in community celebrations. In some localities, farmers blessed with abundance would gather after the meal to drink and devise ways to share their good fortune with their neighbors.

Tradition holds that you must make stwmp naw rhyw, a hearty stew with nine key ingredients, mainly produce from that year’s harvest (according to this source, “potatoes, carrots, turnips, peas, parsnips, leeks, pepper, salt, and a sufficient quantity of new milk to make it of the proper consistency”). This was used as another divination game; a ring was cooked into the pot, and whoever got it in their bowl was sure to marry in the coming year.