Welsh Valentine’s Day Pic: Visit Wales

Did you know that the Welsh have their own Saint doing the same job as Saint Valentine? Celebrated on the 25th of January, Saint Dwynwen. The fascinating blog, Visit Wales, have created their own card to celebrate the Welsh Saint and made it available as a PDF, for all of us to download and send rather than the commercialised cards produced for the ‘other’ Saint.

This is what ‘Visit Wales‘ have to say about the card:

Here at Visit Wales, we’re coming over all romantic this January. Ahh.

While the shops are filling their shelves with fluffy pink hearts and cherubs in anticipation of Valentine’s Day, the ladies of the Visit Wales blogging team are actually more excited about St Dwynwen’s day.

The patron saint of lovers, Dwynwen whose name means “she who leads a blessed life”, is feted on January 25th. Although she is no longer officially recognised by the Vatican, she still enjoys great popularity in her home county of Anglesey, and St Dwynwen’s day continues to grow in popularity across Wales.

You can find our more about her history at the national museum of wales. Visit Wales then go on to say,

the psychic fish?

In a tradition which perhaps blends Christian and pagan traditions, it was once said that a visit to the Llandwynn Island church well could predict the future of a love affair. Tradition said that if the movements of the fish in the church’s well caused the water to move so much that it appears to boil, a happy ever after was guaranteed. Women who suspected their husbands of infidelity would sprinkle breadcrumbs on the surface of the water and cover them with a handkerchief – if the fish caused the handkerchief to move, the husband had been proved faithful.

dydd santes dwynwen hapus

Visit Wales’ very own Cupid (aka Bill), has been hard at work in the name of love, creating a gorgeous St Dwynwen’s day card that you can download print and send to your true love / crush/ that nice girl you see on the Number 27 bus every morning. Actually not the girl on the bus, please. That would just be creepy.

Download our printable PDF St Dwynwen’s day card

So, how best to celebrate Dydd Santes Dywnwen? Forget about the overpriced and faintly sinister-looking Valentine themed teddy bears and cliched red roses, and treat your loved one to a weekend up in St Dwynwen’s home of Anglesey? Take a bracing walk along the Blue Flag beach and cwtch up on the sand dunes, or wander through the National Nature Reserve of Newborough Warren. We can’t guarantee angels though.

What a superb idea! If you are thinking of visiting Wales soon (and who isn’t?), Anglesey is lovely to see. In fact, most of Wales is stunning and has its own character. As we go through the stories of Welsh Mythology, you’ll find (as with the Irish tales) that they are intimately linked with the landscape. We walk upon sacred land, the land of our ancestors and the land that the Gods of our ancestors walked upon.

We can’t recommend the ‘Visit Wales‘ blog enough – the amount of information they have about all aspects of Wales – its landscape, entertainments, activities and places to stay alone make it one of the best resources! Well done, guys!

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