Valley Wands

Happy New Year - Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

Here we are at the end of 2009 and the start of 2010, well, the turn of the calendar year anyway. For us Wiccans the ‘real’ new year started way back at Samhain at the end of October. Interestingly though, this new year coincides with both the full moon and a lunar eclipse. Unfortunately the weather was far to bad here for it to be observed which is a pity because it’s a while since I have seen a full moon lunar eclipse.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/LEplot/LEplot2001/LE2009Dec31P.pdf

I have no idea what the astrologers will make of that astrology isn’t something I know much about but I dare say it has some sort of significance. It can’t be all that often that such events coincide so closely with the change of the year. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can expand on the matter?

Nos Galan (New Year's eve) Celebrations in Wales

The activities of the Christmas season came to a climax at the New Year. It has been suggested that the detaching of one's self from the events of the immediate past and at the beginning of a new future gave the celebration special significance.

Mari Lwyd

I can remember being terrified of the Mari Lwyd when I was a small child, but now it is an almost forgotten custom in most of Wales perpetuated only by a few who specialize in the keeping up of old folk customs. It was not exclusively associated with New Year, it seemed to start in the week running up to Christmas and tended to end at New Year or very soon after, my memory of it is a bit hazy.

The Mari Lwyd consists of a horse's skull with false ears and eyes attached, along with reins and bells, covered with a white sheet and decorated with colored strips of cloth or bright ribbons and carried around on a pole. The horse's jaw is operated to open and close usually by a young, man, disguised under the sheet, who carries the Mari Lwyd from door to door accompanied by his companions, Sergeant, Merryman, Punch and Judy, and various others, all dressed in colourful rags and blackened faces. At the house doors, verses are recited by the team as they demand admittance. Those inside the house reply, also in verse, refusing entry until the visitors inevitably win the impromptu contest (Us Welsh being rather fond of poetry and the like, especially if there is an element of competition involved).

Once inside the house, the Mari chases the young ladies, one person plays the fiddle, Judy pretends to sweep the hearth, Punch engages in all kinds of mischief and so on until it is time for bribes of food and drink to be offered to end the nonsense. After feasting, the party goes on to the next house and the verse contest begins anew, continuing in this manner throughout the day, or at least until the Mari troupe were no longer capable of continuing due to exhaustion and alcohol intake. I can remember chapel deacons being up in arms about the disgraceful conduct of some Mari troupes, Methodism having an all pervading presence in the South Wales mining communities.

It was considered to be bad form to carry over a debt from one year to the next and it was considered to be very bad luck to borrow even the smallest item on New years eve if its return could not be guaranteed before midnight. Consequently any such requests would be refused unless a token sum of money changed hands in exchange, the borrowed item effectively having been ‘bought’ thus removing the problem of borrowed goods. (It was understood that this was only a token gesture and that the exchange of coin didn’t actually constitute a contract)

letting in

The custom of letting in meant that good or bad luck was brought to the household by the first visitor of the New Year. In some areas, it was unlucky for a man to see a woman first; in others, it was unlucky for a woman to see a man first. Some people believed that it was unlucky to see a red-haired man first. If a woman was bold enough to be the first person to enter a neighbor's house, then there had to follow a parade of little boys through all the rooms in order to break the ‘witches spell.’ I can remember an aunt of mine getting most worked up at that one as we boys were ushered through the house to break the spell of her visit.

In some areas the embers of the fire would be carried out of the front door, carried round the house and in through the back door, before being placed in the hearth to kindle the first fire of the new year.

Calenig

The most popular New Year's custom was one that was carried out in all parts of Wales: the Calennig (small gift). Very early on the morning of January 1st, groups of young boys would visit all the houses in the village carrying an evergreen twig and a cup of cold water drawn from the local well. The boys would then use the twigs to sprinkle the faces of everyone they met. In return, they would receive the Calennig, usually in the form of copper coins. Even the doorways of some houses (when the occupants were still asleep or away) were sprinkled, and all the while a short verse was sung or chanted that celebrated the letting in of the New Year. The custom continued from dawn until noon, (after which it was considered very unlucky indeed), and in certain areas the boy carried apples or oranges into which sprigs of holly or corn were inserted. These offerings later became very fancy, with raisins, hazel nuts, or colored ribbons all helping to decorate the fruit. The custom, in various forms, survived in some areas well into the 1960s, at least the form of the chanting of a small verse or two in exchange for small coins.

Wassail

Unlike its English counterpart which seems to be a 12th night ritual, both Christmas and New Year were marked by wassailing in rural Wales, which included much drinking and singing. The custom seems to have begun as a way of wishing the farmers successful harvests from their fields and the increase of his livestock during the coming year. The wassail bowl itself, which had twelve handles, was filled with cakes, baked apples and sugar into which was poured warm beer and spices. The bowl was then passed around hand to hand in the circle of friends and neighbors gathered round the blazing fire until the beer was consumed. The remaining food was then shared out and eaten. On Twelfth Night, the wassail bowl was taken to the house of newlyweds or to a family which had recently come to live in the district, songs were sung outside the house door. Those inside the house would recited or sing special verses, to be answered by the revelers outside.

Twelfth Night

Twelfth Night was celebrated as the end of Christmastide. The decorations, including holly and mistletoe, were taken down, the burned out Yule Log was removed from the fireplace, and its ashes stored temporarily. These were then buried along with the seeds planted in the ensuing spring to ensure a good harvest. Each of the twelve days after Christmas was considered, in the countryside at least, to represent the corresponding months of the year, and the weather on these days was carefully observed and noted as a guide as to what could be expected for the rest of the year.

Feast of the Epiphany

On January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany was an important celebration in Wales. In Glamorganshire, a huge loaf or cake was prepared, which was then divided up into three parts to represent Christ, the Virgin Mary and the three Wise Men. A large company of neighbors was invited to be present at the dividing of the cake in which rings were concealed. Whoever discovered a ring in his piece of cake (or bread) was elected as King or Queen or Misrule and presided over the day's festivities. January 6th, of course, was the date of the old-calendar Christmas Day, and many of the festivities connected with it lasted well over a century after the new calendar was introduced in 1752. I can’t help but feel that this is something of a pre Christian event that has just found its way into the Christian celebrations. I don’t know that for a fact but it’s something I’m going to have to look into in more depth.

Twelfth Night

Another Welsh custom associated with Twelfth Night. A group of boys and young men would go out into the countryside to capture a wren. The bird would then be placed in a small, decorated cage or bier and carried around from house to house and shown in exchange for money or gifts of food and drink (if a wren could not be found then a poor unfortunate sparrow would have to undergo the ritual).

Of course many of these rituals and customs can be compared with other similar customs observed elsewhere in Britain, but each area brings its own special flavour to these folk customs.

BB For now, Hywel