November Spring
World Philosophy Day is an international day proclaimed by UNESCO to be celebrated every 3rd Thursday of November. It was first celebrated on 21 November 2002. By celebrating World Philosophy Day UNESCO underlines the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual. By celebrating World Philosophy Day each year UNESCO underlines the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual. UNESCO has always been closely linked to philosophy, not speculative or normative philosophy, but critical questioning which enables it to give meaning to life and action in the international context. In establishing World Philosophy Day in 2002, UNESCO’s General Conference highlighted the importance of this discipline, especially for young people, underlining that “philosophy is a discipline that encourages critical and independent thought and is capable of working towards a better understanding of the world and promoting tolerance and peace”.
What is not to like about Welsh (gaelic) folk tales? If I only could pronounce it. Calan Gaeaf is the name of the first day of winter in Wales, observed on 1 November. The night before is Nos Galan Gaeaf or Noson Galan Gaeaf, an Ysbrydnos (‘spirit night) when spirits are abroad. Traditionally, people avoid churchyards, stiles, and crossroads, since spirits are thought to gather there. The term is first recorded in literature as “Kalan Gayaf” in the laws of Hywel Dda. On Nos Calan Gaeaf, women and children would dance around a bonfire and everyone would write their names on, or otherwise mark, rocks and place them in and around said fire. When the fire started to die out, they would all run home, believing if they stayed, Yr Hwch Ddu Gwta (a bad omen that took the form of a tailless black sow with a headless woman) or Y Ladi Wen (“the white lady”, a ghostly apparition often said to be headless) would chase them or devour their souls The following morning, all the stones containing villagers’ names would be checked, and finding one’s stone burned clean was believed to be good luck. If, however, a stone was missing, the person who wrote their name on the absent stone would be believed to die within one year.