December has arrived, and with it the Yuletide.
Whether you were in ancient Rome celebrating Saturnalia, or in the sacred stone circle of Stonehenge welcoming the newborn sun on the horizon, or around a fire drinking mead, telling stories during the longest night in Scandinavia ; the theme was always the same: the triumph of sacred light over darkness.
What we have been taught as children, if you too grew up in a predominantly Christian community, is the good-natured and sugary version of Christmas: lights, gifts, songs around the tree, laughter, moments of celebration in the family.
But as we well know, the Christian sweetened versions are reinterpretations of ancient cults - which are joyful, but also include a part of shadow that is often omitted (and which is essential, to fully understand the duality of existence).
*** Click here to read our article on the Winter Solstice.
If in the past few years we have taken you to the Alpine valleys with the Krampus and between Italy and Scandinavia with Saint Lucy, this year instead we are taking you to the greenest of Wales.
Although it has been part of the United Kingdom for hundreds of years and most of the population now speaks English, Wales can be defined as a true Celtic nation - with a well-defined cultural identity, which has survived centuries of British hegemony (in turn a wounded product of the Roman invasion in the first place, and then of the Saxon invasion and Christianisation later).
Personally one of the countries that I find most imbued with magic, we could discuss for hours about its uniqueness and the beautiful natural landscape that characterises it, but today we will talk about a particular Christmas custom: the Mari Lwyd.
Originally from South Wales, it is a tradition that was at risk of disappearing during the last century but which fortunately has taken hold again thanks to a renewed popularity, certainly thanks to its suggestive and particular figure (and perhaps also of social media?).
In fact I think it is difficult to forget, once seen in first person: the costume consists of a horse skull, supported by a pole and decorated with bows and festive motifs - veiled with a cloak, usually white, hiding the individual who personifies the Mari .
The Mari Lwyd is mentioned for the first time in 1798, in J.Evans' book "A Tour through Part of North Wales, in the year 1798, and at Other Times" but it was immediately clear that it was a reminiscence of older customs - starting with the British tradition of wassailing, of which the mare is perhaps the most extravagant version.
During the Middle Ages, especially in the southern part of today's United Kingdom, it was traditional to observe the Twelve Nights of Christmas; during which it was customary to drink spiced alcoholic beverages based on beer or cider, and wish the participants good health.In fact, the word "wassail" derives from Old Norse ves heill, which in turn was translated into archaic English wes hál (to good health).
On the Twelfth Night, people were knocking from house to house - singing and offering hot and aromatic drinks in exchange for gifts. Custom would like the feudal lords to offer blessings and food to the villagers, who presented themselves at the door of the manor singing litanies. If all this reminds you of the Victorian custom of "carolling" and today's Christmas carols, you guessed it right: they come from here.
The origins of wassailing were not always of good-natured origin, some like the "first footing" had more of a trickster nature - similar to the famous "trick or treat" typical of Halloween. The Mari Lwyd belongs to the latter category.
During the night, the mare is escorted from door to door by her human companions - who challenge the host to a pwngco or rhyming contest (often quite rude!), making excuses as to why Mari cannot enter into the house. Once the motivations, obviously fictitious, are exhausted, the inhabitant is forced to let in, by offering libations, this Christmas spirit which will run around the house, creating havoc and "scaring" the children; bringing with it a good omen for the coming year.
But who is the Mari Lwyd?
Its origins are not entirely clear and have perhaps been lost over the centuries, however there are two schools of thought about it.
The first connects her to the nativity, placing Mari Lwyd as a translation of Gray Mary (or Holy Mary): according to an old legend, a pregnant mare was sent out of the stable to make room for the Madonna pregnant with the Baby Jesus. According to the legend, she is still roaming the earth for a warm place where she can give birth to her foal.
Another version of the Christian origin of the festival associates it with the medieval Feast of the Ass - where the mare is identified as the donkey that took the Virgin Mary in flight to Bethlehem to give birth to the Baby Jesus.
If you are accustomed to pagan traditions, you will surely have noticed the running theme: that of the shamanic flight and the Wild Hunt, typical of many celebrations of the period, I refer you again to the links above to deepen this topic. Even the legend of the stable has a very sinister and symbolic theme: that of a pagan divinity, supplanted by the arrival of Christianity.
In fact, now we come to the second version of Mari Lwyd's origin, the most accredited (despite the lack of verified historical sources) and the one we like even more!
Another plausible translation of the name is "Gray Mare" (gray mare), from the assonance with the English word "mare" and "lwyd", which in Welsh means gray. This would connect it with the enormous importance that horses held in Celtic and British culture, especially white horses - true messengers from the Otherworld (Rhiannon rode a white horse, for example). This version is further strengthened by the fact that the Mari tradition shares similarities with other British Isles traditions - to name a few, are the Hoodening from Kent or the Old Tup celebrated between Derbyshire and Yorkshire, The Broad or the Old Horse of Northern England to the neighbouring Ireland with the tradition of the Láir Bhán (white mare) and Laare Vane of the Isle of Man.
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| Uffington White Horse - Dating back to the Bronze Age (Oxfordshire) |
It is not difficult to see the reminiscences of a pagan cult, finding oneself in front of the white skull of a horse on the threshold of the front door, in exchange for auspicious offers during the longest and darkest nights of the year. It is a common theme in many traditions of the Northern Hemisphere where winter is exorcised, a symbol of physical Death and spiritual introspection, inviting Her to the table and offering Her gifts in exchange for another lucky year in this plane of existence. And not even Christianisation and centuries of occupation have managed to eradicate this tradition so alive and so ancient and rooted in the Celtic heart of Wales.
"Mari Lwyd, Horse of Frost, Star-horse, and White Horse of the Sea, is
carried to us.
The Dead return.
Those Exiles carry her, they who seem holy and have put on corruption,
they who seem corrupt and have put on holiness.
They strain against the door.
They strain towards the fire which fosters and warms the Living"
VERNON WATKINS, THE BALLAD OF THE MARI LWYD
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