"All Hallows Eve is by the Welsh called Nos Calan Gaeaf, meaning the first night of winter. It is one of the 'Teir Nos Ysprydnos' - three nights for spirits - upon which ghosts walk and fairies are abroad."
I'll be updating this thread daily with snippets of Welsh folklore from various sources (references to follow) as we count down to October 31.
Oh, and for lots more Halloween history, be sure to check out the GHOSTS & FOLKLORE podcast... if you dare! 🎃 markreesonline.com/ghosts-folklor…
"Nos Calan Gaeaf or All Hallows' Eve was a time of much festivity. In the days of old it was attended by many superstitious rites & ceremonies. A huge log was thrown on the fire for heat & light. As a rule, the only illumination was that of the ruddy fire-glow." #Halloween#Wales
Nos Calan Gaeaf (Halloween in Wales) was the "weirdest of all the Teir Nos Ysbrydion, or three spirit nights, when the 'wind blowing over the feet of the corpses' bore sighs to the houses of those who were to die during the ensuing year." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
"If you sit in the church porch at midnight on Hallowe'en, or all through the night, you will see a procession of all the people who are to die in the parish during the year, and they will appear dressed in their best garments." #Halloween#Wales 🎃🏴
"It was firmly believed in former times that on All Hallows' Eve (in Wales) the spirit of a departed person was to be seen at midnight on every cross-road and on every stile." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
"If at midnight (on Halloween) any persons had the courage to run three times around the parish church and then peep through the keyhole of the door, they would see the apparitions of those who were soon to die." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
"In some parts of Wales the girls (on Halloween) used to go at midnight and strip the leaves from a branch of the sage-bush. The apparitions of their future husbands were supposed to pass at the time." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
"If people on this night (Halloween) go to crossroads and listen to what the wind has to say, they can thereby learn all the most important things that concern them during the next year." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
"If crows caw round the house in the afternoon of Hallowe'en, there will be a corpse of an inmate or the dead body of an animal belonging to the inhabitant soon." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
"All sorts of tricks were performed and charms were tried. All kinds of games were the order of the evening. The younger folk amused themselves by catching apples with their teeth from a tub of water, or suspended from a cord tied to the rafters." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
How to play apple bobbing:
"The cord was strung with apples and had a farthing dip (candle) at the end. The greatest fun arose when somebody took a bite of candle and missed the apple. With the tub, those who entered had their hands tied behind their backs." #Halloween#Wales 🎃
"When the people were tired they congregated around the old hearth and became attentive and scared listeners while the aged grandfather or grandmother related fairy-tales and ghost-stories in the fire-glow. Meanwhile in secret & silence tricks were attempted." #Halloween#Wales🎃
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Why are there so many murderous rabbits in medieval art? 🐇⚔️
Flip through 13th-14th century manuscripts and you'll find rabbits skewering knights, beheading hunters, and riding into battle! But why? 👇
#art #easter
Rabbits were seen as timid creatures in medieval times, so depicting them violently striking back was a comic reversal of the natural order—like fools mocking kings! 🐰⚔️
#easter #art
Some think these violent rabbits might hint at a symbolic rebellion—the meek striking back in a world of strict hierarchies. Whichever meaning you choose, these rabbits don't mess around! 🐰⚔️
#easter #art
✨ Easter Folklore in Wales: The Dark & the Strange ✨
They say the sun dances at dawn on Easter morning, celebrating the resurrection. But in Welsh lore, Easter also carried strange superstitions and eerie warnings that spoke of spirits rising and magical water.
Here are some of the more mysterious… 👇
#Easter #FolkloreSunday 🏴
In Wales, folk tradition held that spirits of the drowned would rise from the sea on Easter night, galloping over the waves on ghostly white horses. Along the dangerous sands of Glamorgan, these spectral riders were known as the "merry dancers." #easter
Water held great power on Easter Sunday.
Some believed that if you collected water before sunrise from three separate springs, it would be infused with magic.
Others swore that well water drawn between eleven and midnight would turn into wine. Cheers! 🍷
#easter
CHRISTMAS IN WALES: A THREAD 🎄🏴
"One of the most curious customs which was once in vogue about Christmastime was the procession known as Mari Lwyd, a man wearing the skeleton of a horse’s head decked with ribbons and rosettes." 1/ #FolkloreThursday#Wales#Christmas
I'll be updating this thread with lots of Welsh folklore as we count down to Christmas, sources to follow. The Mari Lwyd photo above gets used a lot this time of year, it was originally taken for one of my stories in South Wales Evening Post many moons ago. Nadolig llawen!
Christmas in Wales:
The Mari Lwyd (the man wearing the skeleton of a horse’s head) "was enveloped in a large white sheet and proceeded round the houses, followed by a merry procession, singing songs, playing merry pranks & collecting Christmas boxes." 2/ #FolkloreThursday#Wales
My new book PARANORMAL WALES was published in March - the same week the UK went into lockdown, great timing! - so I postponed my book launch until Halloween.
Sadly that won't be possible either, so I'll be having a virtual launch party on my GHOSTS & FOLKLORE podcast instead.
👇
The great thing about doing it online is that all my friends from around the world can join in, so it should be my most well-attended book launch to date - even if I am sitting here on my own talking to myself into a mic! Signed copies will also be available, more on that soon
2/
The PARANORMAL WALES book launch will be live on: Thurs, Oct 29 - just in time to get everyone in the Halloween mood.
Just like my "Ghosts of Wales - Live!" events there'll be spooky surprises & guests and I'm not entirely sure what I'm doing so any suggestions would be great!
3/
Who wants to win a spooky FREE book?
To celebrate #BookLoversDay I'm giving away a copy of PARANORMAL WALES or GHOSTS OF WALES to one lucky tweeter.
Just like and retweet this tweet to enter - easy!
👻🏴
Standard Mark Rees T&Cs apply. Winner will be drawn at random & DM'd on Aug 16. Bribery probably won't work but it's always worth a try. Judges decision (mine!) is final. There's a heatwave going on right now, why are you reading this small print? Get outside & soak up the rays!
Today is the feast day of Mary Magdalene. This is said to be her skull, which is kept in a glass dome in a crypt outside Provence:
"The skull of Mary Magdalene rests in the crypt of the Basilique Sainte Marie Madeleine, a massive Gothic basilica whose construction began in 1295."