Nos Galan Gaeaf – Halloween.
This is a time when Christian and pagan traditions have become intertwined. The festival of Halloween derives from All Hallows or All Saints Day, which was a major Catholic festival. In rural Welsh communities, this time of year was celebrated as the end of the gathering of the harvest and the beginning of winter. The 1st November became known as Calan Gaeaf and the night before, Nos Galan Gaeaf or Ysbrydnos (Spirit Night) and over the years, many traditions became associated with this time;
* The Harvest Mare - Cornstalks were fashioned into the shape of a horse and hung above the hearth. However the women would try and prevent this happening, by soaking it with water and it was the men's job to try and get it inside, still dry.
* Coelcerth - A fire was built, with everyone placing a stone with their name on it, around the fire. If anyone's stone was missing the following morning, they would die the following year.
* Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta - This was reportedly, a black sow without a tail, accompanied by a headless woman that would roam the countryside.
* Touching ground ivy was thought to make you have nightmares about hags and witches.
* In order to see into the future, boys would place leaves of ivy under their pillows and girls would grow a rose around a large hoop, which they would jump through three times before cutting the rose and placing it under their pillow.
* In Pembrokeshire, if people looked into a mirror on Halloween, they would see witches and demons in their sleep.
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