Alban Arthan Hapus i chi gyd!

Winter Solstice, Bae Ceredigion. I was on the beach before 4pm and the sun had already set, leaving only this wash of pink and orange in its wake.

I spent last month researching traditions and customs from the Wales of long ago for a festive newspaper article. Though many of us moderners feel that we're in the middle of winter, for people observing the seasons on a profound level, this passing from the shortest day to the beginning of the return of the light was a joyful marker. The Roman festival of Saturnalia celebrated this and later, Christ became the 'Light of the World' , his birth celebrated around the time when the light begins to triumph again. No more feeling blue; from now on the 21st of December is New Year!