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I wonder what's happened in the last 8 years? - KathleenFrom this article http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/2755217.stmResults of the latest census show a significant increase in the numbers of people speaking Welsh.Full census figures published on Thursday reveal that more than 20% of people in Wales now speak Welsh. Figures revealed that 20.5% - more than one in five - of the population are Welsh speakers. This compares with 18.5% of Welsh speakers in the 1991 census.In addition, more than 28% able to understand Welsh.Statistics on families, health, ethnic background, housing, work and travel were also published, to add to the population figures, which were revealed in September 2002.Those figures showed that 2,903,085 people lived in Wales on census night in 2001 - up 2.4% on 10 years previously - but the latest statistics will paint a far more detailed picture of Welsh life.They show that one third of people in Wales prefers to describe themselves as British rather than Welsh.But the build-up to the census was dogged by the controversy over the lack of a tick-box allowing people to identify themselves specifically as Welsh, without having to write the word 'Welsh' in the box marked 'Other'.In fact, those living in Wales are more likely to consider themselves as British (35%) than Scotland, (27%) but less likely than those in England (48%).# Census information made available includes: Population, household and family make-up.# The proportion of people able to speak, read and understand Welsh.# General health information including limiting long-term illness.# The current ethnic make-up of the country.# For the first time, the religious make-up of the country.While figures show an increase in those speaking Welsh, data shows that the language is losing ground in its rural heartland, while gaining strength in urban areas.Welsh historian, Dr John Davies, told BBC Wales: "Welsh is becoming not a rural language, but an urban language and it's gaining strength in places like Cardiff."In the 1950s only about 5% of Welsh speakers lived within 10 or 20 miles of Cardiff, now it's 10%."A total of 96 per cent of the population of Wales gave their ethnic origin as White British.In Wales, there were increases (compared with 1991) in the proportion of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese people, and 0.6 per cent classified themselves in 2001 as mixed ethnicity.In terms of health, the census found that rates of poor health were higher than the average for Engalnd and Wales.The south Wales Valleys county of Merthyr Tydfil has the highest (18.1%) followed by Blaenau Gwent, Neath Port Talbot, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire and Torfaen.The census was held during the foot-and-mouth crisis of 2001, but organisers said neither that, nor protests over the absence of a tick-box for people to register that they were Welsh, affected the numbers who supplied information.In all, 41 questions on areas ranging from housing to ethnic background were asked.The results of the census will be used to determine how public money should be spent and the needs of the population in different areas of Wales.The population figures already released showed that Wales is more populous and marginally more elderly than a decade ago.And they revealed that some areas of Wales were growing rapidly, while the population of some rural and valleys areas was shrinking.The population of Ceredigion grew by 19.5%, Cardiff's by 7% and Denbighshire's by 7%.Merthyr Tydfil lost 5.6% of its population in 10 years with Blaenau Gwent, Anglesey and Neath Port Talbot also recording fewer inhabitants than a decade previously.The census also showed that Cardiff is becoming a younger city with 24.1% of its population aged between 20 and 34, compared to 18% in Wales as a whole.

So, I was thinking about this the last several days. I participated in a count of homeless people here in our county (Yamhill County, Oregon) and many among them are veterans.The mythologies of the Gaelic and Brythonic cultures, are all commonly lumped into the catchphrase "Celtic." I wish they wouldn't do that, but, there it is. Semantic peculiarities and peccadilloes aside, these myths, and the archetypes they describe, are particularly apropos for homeless veterans.The particular archetype I have in mind is the Celtic "mad" man or woman. These are men and women who forsake "settled" society after battle, or after trauma, or being cursed in association with battle, or some kind of violent struggle. Such characters to be found in the literature include, but are not limited to, Merlin in his maddened state (Myrddin Wyllt), Lailoken, Mad Sweeny (Suibhne Geilt), and Mis, to name only a few who appear in these Traditions. The Woodwose appears as a cultural cognate in Anglo-Saxon traditional culture ( see Durer's "Woodwose". ) Older still is the figure of the wild-man Enkidu, finally tamed by music, in the epic tale of Gilgamesh.In the case of Mad Merlin, long before he became the advisor to young King Arthur, he too lost his mind and gained a vocation. In the 12th century Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote in Vita Merlini "I set myself to sing of the madness of the bard of prophecy."In this case Merlin was a king, who went mad after seeing the carnage and loss in battle of so many friends and family. He too flees and becomes "wood-wild" in the forests of Caledon (Scotland) - a gray wolf his only companion. He suffers the elements as they come, foraging for food in the harshest winters, and hiding from theoccasional traveler who might catch a sighting of him. He takes refuge in an apple tree which seems to have magical properties and, conveniently, a Romulan cloaking device. None of the search parties can see him when he's hiding in the tree, and the tree itself seems to convey onto him the gift of prophetic poetry.The Apple Tree Poems he composes are full of dire prophecy of the doom which the English would exact up on Wales. But he also made these poems intimate and tender by addressing them to his other adored friend, a wild pig:"Oh little piglet,oh blissful sow,don't take your morning nap,don't rummage in the undergrowth,if you sawthe sheer violencethat I saw,you wouldn't sleep in the morning"(Many of the Celtic Saints follow this same practice, and it would be a good research project to hunt down all of them who had been warriors and took the tonsure after a psychic break herein described. It should also be noted that Myrddin may also have been a title referring to a specific grade of religious functionary or even the style of tonsure by which that was signified. )To continue, Merlin's brother Rodarch tries to get him to come home by sending a musician out to sing to him,"Little by little as he played, he coaxed the madman to put by his wild mood under the sweet spell of the zither,"And for a little while Merlin recovers himself enough to be able to travel back to his brother's court. Sadly, the crowds of people and their enthusiastic greetings were too much, and he,"went mad; and once more his derangement filled him with a desire togo off to the forest, and he longed to slip away."Hijinks ensue until he finally drinks from a holy spring and recovers his mind fully, to go on to mold a future High King.To use Sweeny as an example, he was a tribal king and as he entered a battle, he was tormented by terrifying visions,"Huge, flickering, horrible aerial phantoms rose up, so that they werein cursed, commingled clouds tormenting him hovering, fiend-like hostsconstantly in motion, shrieking and howling"Sweeny flees the battle field by rising up into the air, flying away to the deepest part of the forest, there to "turn his back on mankind, and to herd with deer, run along with the showers, and flee with the birds, and to feast in wildernesses." His mind shattered and in completely stark isolation, he is also opened up to visionary poems and seership. He is now able to fly as would a bird into "the upper world" where he makes a nest in an ancient Yew tree dressed in a feathered cloak (or covered in a feathered pelt which grew onto him in some versions). And in that state of alternating clarity and madness, God speaks to him, "every morning and every evening," and in so doing, grants him the gift of prophecy.And that is pretty much the standard pattern for all of these archetypes. They flee the war, their homes and their families, and wholly abjure and abdicate their hitherto established social roles. In these archetypal scenarios, they present with a described symptomology that we know in post-industrial 21st century terms as PTSD with all its accompanying psychic detritus: depression, paranoia, schizoid behaviors and breaks, psychoses, panic attacks, violence, drug and alcohol addiction, and etc. All are considered emotional and psychological disabilities today. All have ancient roots in Celtic cultures, many of which were warrior cultures. Likely, with a bit of anthropological digging, cultural cognates could be found in most world cultures.The trajectory of these mythologies is that these folks take off for extended wanderings in The Wilds, often literal isolated wilderness landscapes without, and, as often concomitantly, within. An urban wilderness is these days as, or perhaps even more, potentially unfriendly and lonesome as any primordial scape.The length of these wanderings were such that after a time these archetypal figures became to be perceived by the "sane" as having morphed into part-animal, part-bird, or even transgendered or non-gendered "creatures," many with fur or feathers rather than clothing. It is as if The Wild is absorbing them, and they in turn, are surrendering themselves to that dissolution in an effort to escape, or exorcise, the soul-level pain of their vastly changed post-war existence. In a very real sense, they come to find a new ecological sense of self, from living in intimate proximity to Wild Nature's elements. In any event, they are forever changed, and the success with which some manage to live out their lives depends on how much they are accepted and made room for by the "sane and settled."And yet, "not all who wander are lost." These archetypes - mad poets - are also intimately connected to "visions," visionary experiences, prophetic abilities, poetry, and music, particularly thanatalogical genres. They hang in the in-between spot between this life and the Otherworlds, and their blasted minds catch all of the psychic windsthat blow, but they seem unable to close those doors at will, as opposed to the formally trained and initiated Bards or Filidh.In some cases, they manage to heal themselves sufficiently, through these new Arts and their splendid isolation, to be able to, if not completely rejoin society, then at least to be able to positively contribute to it with poetry, vision, prophecy, music, various media arts, compassionate understanding of Otherworlds & forms of non-human existence, and wise guidance. In so doing, they are then able to help others, and society as a whole, heal themselves from similar afflictions, and were often sought out and revered.In these figures, Spirit and Madness intersect and that nexus becomes a vortex of creativity, expression, and healing; a spirituo-psychological Black Hole that connects the two bar-bell ends of separate but related existences. These archetypes demonstrate how to live many lives in one mortal span by housing more than one Soul through the catalyst of trauma and war.In almost all cases of success, it was the "mad" who managed to reintroduce themselves, when welcomed and allowed to by "society."In almost all instances of failure, these tragic figures died miserable and violent deaths after being subjected to the tender ministrations of those who kept attempting to reincorporate them back into their old societal roles.Just my tuppence.Yr. Obed. Scrvnr.,Kathleen

At the moment I'm writing a short Sci-Fi story; writing a dark fantasy novel for kids, and reading Night Blooming by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

Ar hyn o bryd dw'i'n sgwennu stori wyddonias fer yn Saesneg; sgwennu nofel ffantasi tywyll ar gyfer pobl ifanc yn Saesneg, a darllen Night Blooming gan Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.

Ceri and I and a couple of our other members are on goodreads.com and we started an Anglo-Welsh literature group.Good reads is a networking site about books and reading - you log books you've read or are reading and can rate them and write reviews and get recommendations from other people. You can also make book groups or genre or subjects and discuss them.There doesn't appear to be any groups on there on Wales, Welsh literature or Welsh authors. Ceri started the Anglo-Welsh literature group, anyone who reads Welsh and feels like it could start a Welsh language literature group and we could even do particular author's groups. I took the liberty of creating Niall Griffiths, Rhys Hughes and Lloyd Jones groups :DIt looks like fun and I've found some books I'd like to read.

Thre is an article about The Left Coast Eisteddfod over on Manuel Marino's Arts Blog . The article can be found here:- Social Networking and the Left Coast Eisteddfod 2009

Brains Breweries are at last expanding into England!! How long before we will be able to order a pint of "Skull Attack" in downtown New York, Chicago or Portland? Brains in trading deal with beer giant Scottish & Newcastle

Cr Meibion Morlais has visited North America twice. Most recently we gave eight performances as part of the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo in Canada in 2006, but back in 1996 we gave concerts in both Canada and the USA on a two week tour at the end of July/beginning of August.We flew from Cardiff to New York and then headed straight for Philadelphia and Washington where we managed to sing Gwahoddiad in front of the White House. Touring the Capitol, we politely informed our guides about the importance of Richard Price of Tyn-ton, Glamorgan, in helping to frame both the US Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and duly claimed 13 Presidents as Welshmen.Serious concert work began in Uniontown, Pennsylvania and continued across the Canadian border in Ontario with performances in Hamilton and Toronto, where the Minister of the Welsh Presbyterian Church was the Rev Alwyn Evans, native of Blaenllechau, Ferndale, and brother of our choirs baritone soloist, the late Mr Elfed Evans.Returning to the USA we were very well received in East Aurora just outside Buffalo and then made our way via Binghamton to New York City and a concert in the Cathedral of St John the Divine, with Cherubinis Requiem taking its place alongside Llef, Llanfair and other Welsh favourites.As always, we did as much sightseeing as possible and made as many friends as possible, and it has been a great pleasure to welcome some of these new friends on return visits to Wales. And indeed there will always be a welcome for visitors to attend rehearsals at the Morlais Hall in Ferndale, 7.30 to 9pm every Tuesday and Friday throughout the year except Christmas and New Year - if you cant get over to see us in person please feel free to sign our guestbook on our website www.cor-meibion-morlais.org.uk

( This is not an official press release but rather the personal observations of a Cymuned supporter )

It may be a little bit late to say it, but as this is the first email of 2009, a happy new year toyou!

** Cymuned's two main projects are motoring on - the first issue of 'Ein Gwlad' has been prepared and is just waiting for a final proof-read before production. I can promise an interesting and thought provoking magazine for our members

On CyngorNi, letters are being posted to the councillors in Ynys Mon, and the necessary aterials for the launch later this month have been received - watch this space closely!

**Talking of CyngorNi, I was in a Welsh Language Board conference, "Supporting Welsh Language Communities in Rural Wales - Economy, Housing and Planning" at the start of the week. It was very encouraging to hear support for the idea for Welsh-speaking workplaces in Welsh-speaking areas - the foundation stone of CyngorNi - coming out of the discussion groups, as well as changes to the planning system to protect the population of rural areas from the worst excesses of the housing market. Actually, during presentations on the subjects of planning, regeneration and population movement, it was easy at times to imagine that this was a Cymuned conference! But seriously, I will emphasise that this was open discussion rather than the formation of Language Board Policy, but there was enough evidence that the political landscape is changing, and that the Assembly is becoming even more friendly towards Cymuned's ideals. It will be interesting to see what policies do come from this conference.

**According to the Western Mail, Ceredigion council are considering setting up a fund which will provide loans for local small businesses, and maybe for first time home buyers. This is a very interesting idea for improving the ability of the local population to run their businesses and buy homes in their own communities, and Plaid Cymru's Adam Price has called for Wales's other councils to consider similar schemes. The full story is HERE .:

**Lastly, some of you have obviously listened to our December appeal for more members, and have been talking to your friends about the email, because the numbers have increased much more than usual over the last month. Thank you very much, and welcome to our new readers! But remember, it was doubling the numbers that I talked about in December's email, so if you haven't told friends and acquaintances yet, do that without delay.

Until next time, then!

Iestyn

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Dewi Sant told us to "Do the little things."

To see what he had in mind, have a quick look at:

www.cymuned.net/ymlaen/dewisant

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Are you a dreamer or a doer?

Cymuned can't survive without YOUR help.

Have a look at:

www.cymuned.net/ymlaen/ourfuture

to hear how to make things change.