The festival of Samhain, Calan Gaeaf, of honouring the dead and the closing of the year
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Poetry
Kalangaeaf kalet grawn, from the Red Book of Hergest
Rituals
Samhain Rite : Tangwen's Grove
Samhain Public Ritual : Awen Grove
Samhain Ritual : Llwyn y Sêr, The Grove of the Stars
Samhain Rite : Llyn Hydd's Grove
A Personal Account by Louise
Autumn Song's ceremony
The commonly used names for the cross quarter days are those in the Irish Gaelic. There are some alternative spellings, but in the main the first is pronounced sow-inn, meaning 'summer's end'. It is also seen as Samhuinn in Scots Gaelic. Calan Gaeaf is the Welsh/British name for the festival, meaning 'the calends of winter', the eve being Nos Galan Gaeaf. Other names used are Ancestor Night and the Feast of the Dead. In Christian tradition it is known as Hallowe'en, and stretches through the mass days of All Saints and All Souls. By the written calendar, the festival lies between 31 October and 2 November. Those who welcome the coming of winter by the changing weather, not the date, celebrate when the first frosts veil the ground. (Excerpt from Ritual by Emma Restall Orr)
