NEW PALTZ, N.Y. — The Wassail of the Church of the Eternal Circle’s Mary Lwyd will return Saturday, Nov. 8, bringing a lesser-known Celtic tradition to New Paltz and Highland, an announcement said.

The Church of the Eternal Circle, New York state’s first legally-recognized Celtic Wiccan fellowship, will be honoring the tradition of Mari Lwyd, a Welsh custom featuring an animated horse’s skull mounted on a pole and operated by a person hidden under a sheet, the announcement said. Participants will walk door to door, hoping to gain entry through music.

While the announcement said the church has practiced the tradition previously, for the second year in a row, a life-size Mari Lwyd has been constructed using an actual horse skull. It stands over seven feet tall. At 3 p.m. on Nov. 8, the gro

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