Cerridwen is Keeper of the Cauldron of the
Underworld, in which inspiration & divine knowledge are brewed along with the
souls that will be reborn...Cerridwen married the giant Tegid & had 2
children... the girl child named Creirwy was beautiful, but the boy named Avagdu
(some call him Morfan, because he was black as a raven) was born ugly &
dark...Cerridwen worried that Avagdu's life would be very hard, so She decided
to give him a birth gift of the magical powers that She possessed...In Her
magickal cauldron (named Awen, the Cauldron of the Deep), Cerridwen made a
potion called greal (from which the word 'Grail' probably came). The potion was
made from 6 plants for inspiration & knowledge...She arranged for a blind old
man to keep the fire burning, & for a young lad named Gwion to stir the contents
of Her Cauldron...when Gwion looked into it's depths, "3 drops of Inspiration"
leap out of the cauldron & onto Gwion's finger, & he absorbed the potency of the
brew...Cerridwen then pursued Gwion through a cycle of changing shapes, which
correspond both to totem animals & to the turning of the seasons... The ending
came when Cerridwen, in the guise of a hen, swallowed Gwion, in the guise of an
grain of corn...Nine months later Cerridwen gave birth to a radiant child, known
as Taliesin, a title attached to the God force in the guise of the greatest poet
bard of all time... a force which dwells in each of us as Divine Inspiration &
adaptation....
Cerridwen's
cauldron is but one of many magical cauldrons &vessels in Celtic lore...It is a
powerful symbol of transforming magic, & of the lessons learned through change &
experience, as well as divine creative inspiration.
Cerridwen's cauldron is an ancient feminine symbol of
renewal, rebirth, transformation & inexhaustible plenty...It is the primary
female symbol of the pre-Christian world, & represents the womb of the Great
Goddess from which all things are born & reborn again...