It's January 31st! Make your bed (and pop your clothes outside).

 

On this Imbolc Eve prepare for the Fire Goddess Brigid* by making a straw doll, making your bed  and leaving out clothes for her to bless to ensure fertility. 

*She later changed her name to St. Bridget so as not to upset the new neighbours.

It's January 24th! Listen to the tits!

 

It's January 16th - Enjoy the Wassail (but not too much!)

 

This is allowed...

This is frowned upon...

It’s January 7th! POUR A BUCKET OF WATER ON A MAN’S HEAD! (Then get back to work!)

January 7th is Saint Distaff’s Day!*

Traditionally this is the last day before we go back to work.

Men will burn the flax.

Women will soak them with water.

Then it’s back to work tomorrow!

*Please note Saint Distaff never existed. He was made up by weavers as an excuse to have one final party…

As the old hymn goes:

Partly work and partly play

Ye must, on St. Distaff's day;

From the plough soon free your team,

Then come home and fodder them;

If the maids a spinning go,

Burn the flax and fire the tow.

Bring in pails of water then,

Let the maids bewash the men.

Give St. Distaff all the right,

Then bid Christmas sport good night,

And next morrow every one

To his own vocation

Have you drunk "The Cream of the Well"?

Wrap up warm - The Winter Mix Is Here...

Join the Kalendar Host this Winter for a delicious collection of wintry treats. Words from Wyrd Kalendar, Darren Charles and Howard Ingham mingle with music from the likes of The Incredible String Band, Pentangle, Moon Wiring Club, Tir na nOg, Keith Seatman, Sleeps in Oysters, Cleo Laine, Haushka, Sean Wesche, Atomic Rooster, Medieval Babes, Belle and Sebastian, Frank Zappa, Simon and Garfunkel, Aztec Camera, Family, Joy Division, Muddy Waters, Timo Hanninen, Panu Aatilo, David Cain, The Chills, The Fall, Vashti Bunyan, Wayne Slawson, John Williams, White Stripes, Gustavo Santolalla, Sigur Ros, Caravan, Kate Bush, The Tea Party, Danny Elfman, The Mamas and the Papas, Animal Collective, Pete and the Pirates, Gorillaz, Grouper, The Impressions and The Divine Comedy.



Buy the Wyrd Kalendar book.

Buy the Wyrd Kalendar Album.

Winter is Coming...

The Wyrd Kalendar Album - January Artist - Widow's Weeds

Last year we prepared for the publication of the book Wyrd Kalendar...

This year we are making ready an album of  the same name...

This new album will contain 13 tracks - 12 of which will be related to the stories from the book and the month of the year. The album will be released by the very groovy Mega  Dodo (who released Songs from the Black Meadow in 2016). All profits from the album will go to charity.

The artists have been given a month each, a copy of the linked story and Andy Paciorek's picture to give them a starting point and away they go!

We are very proud to reveal that the artist for January is the mysterious folk horror band "Widow's Weeds"with a track called "A Song for  January." Widow's Weeds are the brainchild of Grey Malkin who steered the wonderful band "The Hare and the Moon" through magick mists and ghostly glades until they shuffled off this mortal coil in 2017.

More information about the album and our other monthly artists will be released throughout 2018...

In the meantime enjoy this album from The Hare and the Moon entitled "The Grey Malkin".

Saint Agnes Eve - Dream your way to conjugal happiness!

Martyred for steadfastly holding onto her virginity and eschewing all offers of matrimony Saint Agnes is of course an obvious choice of Saint to secure you a future husband.

At midnight throw hemp seed over your shoulder and an image of your future spouse will appear in your dreams. Speak the following incantation before you go to bed (ensure you sleep on your left side and chant the words three times);

"Saint Agnes is a friend to me

In the gift I ask of thee

Let me this night my husband see" 

Some dreams of suitors are underwhelming.

If you dream of a man, well done, that's your future husband! 

If you dream of lots of men you are going to get married many times. 

If you don't dream of any men it means you will live alone.

If you dream of thistles or thorny plants it means your husband will rarely shave.

If you dream of a puddle it means your husband will sweat profusely.

If you dream of poultry it means your husband's breath will smell.

If you dream of stew cooking in a pot it means your husband will be most bilious.

If you dream of a mouse it means your husband will be obedient.

If you dream of large velvet cushions it means your husband will comfortably rotund.

If you dream of white clouds it means your husband will be old.

If you dream of eggs it means your husband will be young.

If you dream of a desert it means your husband will give you no young. 

(Adapted from "The Dark Dreams of the Fertile Woman's Mind" - Sir Dalton Falsworthy 1831) 

Details of lots of saints and their interesting ways are available to explore in November's story "All Saints' Day"  in Wyrd Kalendar.

Today is Armour Day. Have you kept your resolution or will you wear the armour?

Armour Day is Coming - Have you kept your resolution?

Stourton revived this old tradition in 1965 and will be meeting on Monday once again to "support  the irresolute".

It might be an idea to take a leaf out of Stourton's book. On Monday the entire village review their resolutions and those who do not meet them are given spiritual and very physical support. For more information read this earlier entry on this strange tradition.

As Armour Day approaches ask yourself whether you have slipped. Has your resolution been so quickly forgotten and abandoned? If this is the case help is at hand. At least it would be if you lived in Stourton, the rest of us will just have to muddle through.

Scaring Witches the Burghead Way - "Burning the Clavie"

"Burning the Clavie" takes place in Burghead every January 11th. The act of burning a barrel of tar is said to scare away witches. At the end of the evening the townsfolk take a bit of charred wood to protect themselves through the year. 

Witches are easy to scare. 

This was a fact that King James explored in his “Daemonologie”. He reported that you could “scare a wytch by affixing a carrote to your fringe, buying up alle the local merchant’s stock of catte food or playing a boysterous round of Ha’Penny Shrimp”. He sang the praises of various towns for their methods of keeping witches away; from Corfe Mullen in Dorset with their “Wreaths of Dust Motes”, to the good folk of Glamorgan and their habit of painting “Spectacles on Fruite” or even the men of Redditch who would “Burpe long and loude into bented horns”  - all of these methods were successful at keeping Satan’s harridans away. It was Burghead in Scotland that really caught his eye. As everyone knows now, nothing scares a witch away more than a burning barrelful of tar. This activity is known as "Burning the Clavie" and it takes place every January 11th. Some say it is the smell, others say it is their innate fear of fire. Needless to say since its introduction in 1093 there have been only 2157 recorded incidents of death by “wicked magicks”. If it wasn’t for  the hard work and quick thinking of the people of Burghead this death toll would be much higher*. 

So this January 11th raise a glass to the people of Burghead and thank them for keeping us all that little bit safer.

For an exciting look at this year's Clavie burning check out this video on the Twitter.

*Some estimates would put this figure as high as 2173

On Plough Monday beware the Plough Witchers...

Tomorrow is Plough Monday and an opportunity for all young men to dress as ladies and terrorise the local populace.

It's all fun and games until the Plough Witchers wreck your front garden.

Work starts on Plough Tuesday but until then pay the Witcher's your toll or get your front garden ploughed!

"Dance with me! Or  thy frontage I will plough!" the wicked Plough Witcher sang.
"I shall but only to preserve the innocence of my petunias..." replied the maid.

Happy Holly Night!

It's Holly Night tonight!

Get your marching band, light a branch of holly (Ash is an accepted substitute) and march through the town to the public house.

There is no need to extinguish the holly, just drink your ale and try not to singe your beard.

"To every branch a torch they tie,

To every torch a light apply,

At each new light send forth huzzas

Till all the tree is in a blaze ;

And then bear it flaming through the town,

With minstrelsy, and. rockets throwr."

The following information about Holly Night in Brough is taken from The Table  Book by William Hone

"Formerly the " Holly-tree" at Brough was

really " holly," but ash being abundant,

the latter is now. substituted. There are

two head inns in the town, which provide

for the ceremony alternately, though the

good townspeople mostly lend their assistance

in preparing the tree, to every branch

of which they fasten a torch. About eight

o'clock in the evening, it is taken to a convenient

part of the town, where the torches

are lighted, the town band accompanying

and playing till all is completed, when

it is removed to the lower end of the town;

and, after divers salutes and huzzas from

the spectators, is carried up and down the

town, in stately procession, usually by a

person of renowned strength, named Joseph

Ling. The band march behind it, playing

their instruments, and stopping every

time they reach the town bridge, and the

cross, where the " holly" is again greeted

with shouts of applause. Many of the inhabitants

carry lighted branches and flambeaus

; and rockets, squibs, &c. are discharged

on the joyful occasion. After the

tree is thus carried, and the torches are

sufficiently burnt, it is placed in the middle

of the town, when it is again cheered by

the surrounding populace, and is afterwards

thrown among them. They eagerly watch

for this opportunity ; and, clinging to each

end of the tree, endeavour to carry it away

to the inn they are contending for, where

they are allowed their usual quantum of

ale and spirits, and pass a " merry night,"

it seldom breaks up before two in the

morning.

Although the origin of this usage is lost,

and no tradition exists by which it can be

traced, yet it may not be a strained surmise

to derive it from the church ceremony of

the day when branches of trees were carried

in procession to decorate the altars, in commemoration

of the offerings of the Magi,

whose names are handed down to us as

Melchior, Caspar, and Balthasar, the patrons

of travellers. In catholic countries,

flambeaus and torches always abound in

their ceremonies ; and persons residing in

the streets through which they pass, testify

their zeal and piety by providing flambeaus

at their own expense, and bringing them

 to the doors of their houses.

Happy New Year from the Wyrd Kalendar - Hold to the Resolution!

Enjoy January with this splendid book from Wyrd Harvest Press.

A perfect gift for anyone born in January.

Enjoy the January mix that includes extracts from the January Tale - "The Resolution" as well as music from Bert Jansch, The Owl Service, Animal Collective, LeonardCohen and many many more...

Countdown to Publication of Wyrd Kalendar - January

As we prepare for the publication of Wyrd Kalendar later this month enjoy the January mix that contains extracts from "The Resolution"... and explore some of our January discoveries here...

Something to Do - In January

In this wonderful book put together by Septima and illustrated by Shirley Hughes you will have a year filled with joy and creativity.

In January after being introduced to the month by a lovely extract from Winter Snows by Bliss Carmen...

Now the little rivers go

Muffled safely under snow,

And the winding meadow streams

Murmur in their wintry dreams,

While a tinkling music wells

Faintly from their icy bells,

Telling how their hearts are bold

Though the very sun be cold.

... you learn about the tradition of Twelfth Night...

... the January Bird - the Blue Tit...

the January Flower - the snowdrop...

...how to keep Hamsters...  items to collect for the rest of the year so that  you can partake in all the craft making goodness...

As well as suggesting what to do with old Christmas Cards (cover a notebook - use them as sewing patterns) and teaching you how to knit, it also suggests games for January...

Including...

 Boxes

Up Jenkins (though you'll need a sixpence)

and

Shadows

Each month covers a key bit of folklore so this is a perfect companion to the Wyrd Kalendar... 

Saint Agnes Eve - Find Your Future Husband!

The Martyrdom of  Saint Agnes

Today is Saint Agnes Day. It is a tradition on the Eve of Saint Agnes for single women to perform acts of divination to find their future husband.

Hemp seed yesterday afternoon

At midnight, for example, if you throw hemp seed over your shoulder an image of your future spouse will appear before you.

You could try the following incantation before you go to bed (ensure you sleep on your left side and chant the words three times);

"Saint Agnes is a friend to me

In the gift I ask of thee

Let me this night my husband see" 
(Taken from "Long Ago" 1874)

If you dream of a man, well done, that's your future husband! 

If you dream of lots of men you are going to get married many times. 

If you don't dream of any men it means you will live alone.

If you dream of thistles or thorny plants it means your husband will rarely shave.

If you dream of a puddle it means your husband will sweat profusely.

If you dream of poultry it means your husband's breath will smell.

If you dream of stew cooking in a pot it means your husband will be most bilious.

If you dream of a mouse it means your husband will be obedient.

If you dream of large velvet cushions it means your husband will comfortably rotund.

If you dream of white clouds it means your husband will be old.

If you dream of eggs it means your husband will be young.

If you dream of a desert it means your husband will give you no young. 

(Adapted from "The Dark Dreams of the Fertile Woman's Mind" - Sir Dalton Falsworthy 1831) 

All of this is very strange, for Saint Agnes was martyred for steadfastly holding onto her virginity and eschewing all offers of matrimony.

Details of lots of saints and their interesting ways will be available to explore in November's story "All Saints' Day" coming soon in Wyrd Kalendar.

The Armour of Resolve

A replica of the left arm pole of the Armour of Resolve.

The villagers of Stourton took keeping to their resolutions very seriously. One report, written by poet, explorer and folklorist Sir Stanley Coulton in 1887, told of how, on New Years Day, the villagers would gather in the Village Hall to announce their resolutions. These would be written onto parchment and pinned to the wall. 

On the 15th January (Armour Day) the villagers would gather and tell each other of their travails in keeping their resolution. A failure to hold to the resolution would result in that sorry villager being forced to wear the Armour of Resolve. The Armour of Resolve was effectively a series of long poles that were worn by the "Irresolute" by the application of a series of leather straps and buckles. One was attached along the spine from the top of the head to the base of the spine ensuring that the "Irresolute" could not move their head from left to right and only face forwards. The others were attached to arms and legs to keep movement stiff and straight. The purpose of this punishment was to remind the "Irresolute" to keep to the straight and narrow, to not stray from the path they had set themselves. The "Irresolute" would wear the armour for four days and four nights and then report back to the villagers whether or  not the resolution had been adhered to.

In the forthcoming book "Wyrd Kalendar" there is another tale of a strange resolution from the town of Woodchester. You can catch snippets of that tale in this month's mix.

Welcome to the Wyrd Kalendar - January

Join us as we explore the Wyrd Kalendar...

Preparing the way for the forthcoming publication Wyrd Kalendar (written by Chris Lambert and illustrated by Andy Paciorek for Wyrd Harvest Press) this explores, celebrates and exorcises the wintry spirits of January whilst giving a flavour of the delights contained within this book of folk horror themed tales...

All profits from Wyrd Kalendar will go to wildlife charities nominated by the Folk Horror Revival group...