“Hey-how for Hallowe’en!
A’ the witches tae be seen,
Some are black, an’ some green,
Hey-how for Hallowe’en.”
Traditional Scottish rhyme.
The Wheel of the Year rolls on, bringing us to the north-west of our circle and to October 31st, the festival known in Wales as Nos Galan Gaeaf, ‘the Night of Winter Calends,’ in Ireland as Samhain, ‘Summer’s End,’ and as Hallowe’en elsewhere. This is the third of the Teir Nos Ysbrydion, ‘Three Spirit Nights’ on which the veil between worlds is at its thinnest. It represents the conjunction of the elements of Water and Earth.
As at May Day, its opposite on the Wheel of the Year, Hallowe’en fires are lit on hilltops and cattle driven between them for protection and blessing. The Hallowe’en fires flare out in defiance of the coming winter dark, representing the Sun’s fire held in the wood that will blaze on our hearth fires, warming us through the cold months ahead. In some places, hearth fires are extinguished on this day and relit from the Hallowe’en fire. As at other fire festivals, people jump over the fires and blazing torches are carried around fields to ensure prosperity and protection. A variation on fire-jumping is to run sunwise (clockwise) around the Hallowe’en fires in a closing spiral. In a Health & Safety nightmare, it is said that the closer you can bear to get to the heat, the better the fortune you’ll enjoy during the year that follows.
In parts of Wales, there used to be fierce competition to see whose fire could be built highest and last longest, the whole day being devoted to carting as much flammable material as possible onto the chosen hilltop. The fire was lit to the blowing of horns and apples and potatoes were roasted in it while folk danced, leapt and whooped noisily around it. The cooked apples and potatoes were eaten while others darted through the fire and smoke, casting stones into the fire. When the fires had died down, everyone ran home pell-mell to avoid being caught by Hwch Ddu Gwta (pron. hooch thee GOOta), ‘the Tailless Black Sow.’ In Denbighshire, they cried:
Adref, adref am y cynta’,
Hwch Ddu Gwta a gipio’r ola!
Home, home, let each try to be first,
and may the Tailless Black Sow take the hindmost!
The sacred Druid Isle of Anglesey retained a fuller version:
Hwch Ddu Gwta a Ladi Wen heb ddim pen
Hwch Ddu Gwta a gipio’r ola’
Hwch Ddu Gwta nos G’langaea
Lladron yn dwad tan weu sana!
Tailless Black Sow and White Lady without any head,
May the Tailless Black Sow snatch the hindmost!
Tailless Black Sow of Winter’s Eve,
Thieves coming along knitting stockings!
It’s tempting to see “the Tailless Black Sow” as embodying the Hag of Winter, perhaps she who, in the form of a Sow, leads the enchanter Gwydion on his search for the wounded lord of light, Lleu Llaw Gyffes, in the Fourth Branch of Y Mabinogi. Perhaps the “White Lady without any head” is the winter Hag in human form. In Scotland, the Cailleach Bheur, the Hag of Winter, awakens on this night to begin her long, cold reign that lasts until the next May Day rolls around. As for the “Thieves coming along knitting stockings,” your guess is as good as mine.
In Wales, the bonfire was often followed by a communal feast indoors, after which songs were sung, stories told, games of skill played and divinations made. The veil between the worlds being so thin, this was a prime night for divination. A common practice was to mark stones and place them in a circle in the hot ashes of the fire. Finding your stone whole and undisturbed the following morning assured you of a good year ahead. A curious practice in Tenby was to drill nine holes in the shoulder-blade of a Sheep and sleep with it beneath the pillow. This is supposed to result in prophetic dreams and may be a variation on scapulomancy, the practice of divining from marks found on the shoulder blades of sacrificial animals which is attested in classical Greece and apparently still found in rural parts of Greece and Serbia.
Of all the nights of the year, Nos Galan Gaeaf is that on which ghoulies, geesties and long leggity beasties are out and about in greatest force. Witches take to the skies on broomsticks, making their way to the greatest Sabbat of the year. Gwyn ap Nudd with his white Hounds or his Saxon counterpart, Woden, with his ravenous Wolves ride the night at the head of the Wild Hunt, leading the souls of the dead towards their long rest in the worlds beyond. Meanwhile, warm indoors, we light candles in our windows to guide and welcome home the wandering spirits of deceased family members, inviting them to join our feasts, putting out food and setting places at table for them. As Druids, we often broaden this remembrance to all our ancestors, those of blood and spirit, and make offerings of food and drink, prayer and ceremony to all who have passed to the Otherworlds of the dead.
The above is extracted from BDO bardic course booklet 17, The Wheel of the Year.
In south-east England, where I was born and brought up, a lot of the excitement associated with Hallowe'en in the countries of the 'Celtic fringe' has been transferred to November 5th, Bonfire Night, following Guy Fawkes and his companions' unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605. This is still enthusiastically celebrated by several Bonfire Societies in Sussex, one of the largest being in Battle, where giant effigies of present-day political figures are set fire to and exploded amidst much merriment.
'Trick or treating' remains popular amongst children at Hallowe'en. Often dismissed as an American import, its roots actually go back to Early Modern Scotland. The 'guising,' i.e. dressing up that goes with it has ancient roots and was originally designed to prevent revellers being identified either by their neighbours or by the nocturnal spirits who roamed the night. So frock up in your best fright wig. You'll be continuing an ancient tradition, and as my old friend, Robin Williamson, says, "If it's traditional that means it must be good!"
Blessings of Winter Calends,
Greywolf /|\
