A Celtic Goddess of the cauldron, Cerridwen was the embodiment of the great transformative power of the cauldron itself—the alchemical vessel through which the ordinary becomes the magical.
While known by many as a shapeshifting Goddess, Cerridwen most popularly represented the darker aspects of Goddess energy—symbolizing the crone, the wise one, the dark one who sees all and knows all.
This is why Cerridwen is most well-known for her ties to the Underworld as keeper of the cauldron (the ultimate inspiratrix and creatrix)—embedding herself at the center of that fateful cycle between death and rebirth. For Cerridwen knows, just like any wise crone would, that to create and to inspire as one does with such power means to invoke the intimate death and rebirth that all of creation requires.
Cerridwen is a pinnacle figure in several differing tales and myths in Celtic culture, known well for being the mother of two wildly different children—Creirwy, a girl so beautiful and bright, and Mofran, a boy so hideous and dark.
But despite her children’s wholly differed natures, Cerridwen loved them both equally and deeply—with one of her most famous stories illustrating just that.
It is said that Cerridwen, seeing her son’s physical disadvantages, wanted to set him up for the greatest life possible—inspiring her to concoct a potion with her cauldron that would grant her son the gift of Awen—of wisdom and poetic inspiration.
But this potion needed to be tended to for a full year and a day (not a moment more nor a moment less). And so, Cerridwen enlisted the help of a blind man (so he could not see what the cauldron held) to keep the fires stoked, and a young boy (too young and naive to know of the magic that sit brewing) to stir the potion itself.
And Cerridwen’s plan worked—up until a point, that is.
For you see, there was one more crucial point about this potion that can not be overlooked. And that is, that only the first three drops of this potion proved magical—while the rest, was rendered a deadly poison.
And one day, as that young boy stirred, three hot drops of the potion flew out from the cauldron and landed on his thumb. On instinct, the young boy put his thumb inside his mouth to soothe the burns away. But this instead had the effect of him consuming the potion—and gaining the powers that came with it.
This then led to a wild chase between the Goddess and the young boy—a roaring, shapeshifting adventure across both lands and sea. It would end with the Goddess consuming the boy (now in the form of a corn kernel), and later giving birth to the boy in a new form. And the boy, once grown, would become known as the famous Celtic bard, Taliesin.
What does Cerridwen rule?
Ruler of: cauldrons, transformation, rebirth, inspiration
Associated with: the moon, fertility, prophecy, poetry, white sow
Why would one call upon Cerridwen?
- To usher in great transformation and change inside your life
- To help you drawn down inspiration
- To help you create powerful medicine, art, and wisdom-sharing
- To invoke the powers of the shapeshifter to help you navigate uncertain situations
Celtic Myth & Magick // Edain McCoy
$ 29.99
Tap into the mythic power of the Celtic goddesses, gods, heroes, and heroines to aid your spiritual quests and magickal goals. Human and divine energies complement each other; when joined, they become a potent catalyst for true magick and change. Celtic… read more
