Working with the Celtic Goddess Cerridwen

“I am Cerridwen, keeper of the Cauldron, Goddess of Renewal, Lady of Transformation, Mother of Inspiration. My Cauldron is the Womb of Life Itself. It is the Cauldron of Wisdom, Inspiration, Rebirth, and Transformation. Its brew is an undeniably powerful source of primal wisdom. Drink, embrace death in its many forms, and learn the secrets of immortality.”

Pronounced ‘Ke-ri-dwen’, and also spelled Ceridwen or either way but with a ‘K’ instead of a ‘C’, she is known under many guises; She is a Triple Goddess, the Great Mother, the Old one, the Wise Crone, the White Lady of Inspiration and Death, the Goddess of dark, prophetic powers.

In Welsh Celtic mythology, Cerridwen gave birth to one of the greatest Bards, Taliesin. It is said the Cerridwen had two children with her husband, Tegid Foel; there was her daughter, Crearwy, who was light and beautiful, and then her son Afagddu who was reputedly the ugliest man in the world, (it could be seen that these two children represent the light and the dark aspects of the One Goddess).  To compensate for his looks, Cerridwen decided to produce a brew of knowledge in her cauldron so that her son may become wise and respected.

The potion would brew constantly for one year and a day, and so Cerridwen left Gwion Bach, son of Gwreang Llanfair to stir the cauldron and a blind man named Morda to keep the fire going. However, when the potion was just a short time from completion, three drops shot forth from the magick cauldron and landed upon Gwion Bach’s thumb. Without thinking, he sucked the potion from his thumb, and suddenly had to power and the knowledge of all things that had, did, and would ever exist; he knew that Cerridwen would be furious with him, and he knew that she would punish him with death, so he fled for his life. The cauldron, now deprived of three sacred drops now contained nothing but poison, the power of which caused the vessel to burst, and the poisoned brew ran into a nearby stream where it poisoned the horses of Gwyddno Garanhir, when they drank the water; hence why that particular stream was known as The Poison of the Horses of Gwyddno from that time forth, (although I can find no reference to the geographical location of said stream).

When Cerridwen returned and saw what had happened she was indeed outraged. She smote Morda with a billet of firewood before chasing after Gwion Bach. When he turned himself into a hare, she turned herself into a greyhound and gave chase. When he leapt into a river and turned himself into a fish, she turned herself into an otter and continued to give chase. When he turned himself into a bird and flew away, she turned herself into a hawk and pursued him further. Finally, Gwion Bach turned himself into a grain of wheat which fell on the floor, and so Cerridwen turned herself into a hen and ate Gwion Bach.

Nine months later Cerridwen gave birth to an infant; the reincarnation of Gwion Bach. Cerridwen would have killed the infant if it had not been for its beauty, so she wrapped him in a leather bag and cast him into the sea and the mercy of the Gods.

It some versions of the tale it was Gwyddno of the poisoned horses who found the bundle, and named the child Taliesin and reared him as his own, but in the majority of versions it was the prince Elffin who found Taliesin.

It has been said that the cycle of changing shapes in this myth corresponds to the totem animals of Cerridwen, as well as the turning of the seasons; the theme is related to that of Mabon and Merlin, in which “a divine youth is associated with the orders and creatures of creation” (‘Celtic Gods Celtic Goddesses’, R.J Stewart, pg 88-92).

The cauldron is one of the most symbolic elements of Celtic teachings, and Cerridwen’s cauldron represents inspiration, knowledge and wisdom, transformation and rebirth. It is said to contain Awen, the Divine Spirit.

Cerridwen is also known to bring dreams and visions and prophecies and the powers of divination. Cerridwen brings an acceptance of fate, being the Goddess of rebirth. Often considered a powerful sorceress, she can also be invoked during rituals concerning wisdom, death, poetry, fertility, magick, inspiration, shape-shifting, lunar energy, astrology, the Underworld and herb magick.  

As a Triple Goddess, she is often combined with Blodeuwedd and Arianrhod and forms the Crone aspect, although she is often looked upon as a Mother Goddess, and is considered to be one of the five Goddesses of Avalon.

Colours associated with Cerridwen are mostly dark: purple, black, grey, white and silver. She is most associated with the festivals of Yule and Samhain. Animals associated with Cerridwen are the hen and the white sow, as many sources also cite her as a Goddess of grain and the harvest, (which I suspect is closely connected to the symbolism of death and rebirth). Herbs attributed to Cerridwen include Vervain, Vanilla, Almond and Bergamont, and crystals associated with her include Coral, gate and Carnelian.

I’ve tried meditating with Cerridwen three times; here are my experiences:

Jeroen van Valkenburg / CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)

Meditation 1:

I found myself in the middle of a forest, with a path in the earth marked out in front of me. It was quite shady, tall, leafy trees blocking out most of the sunlight so that it was almost chilly. I began walking, following the path through the forest, and as I walked I became aware of a sweet smell; it reminded me of rose, and vanilla. The path led me to a clearing surrounded by trees and wild hedges. The clearing was even shadier, almost dark, and in the middle stood a large, bubbling cauldron over a fire. Behind the cauldron was a lady, stirring it with great concentration. She was tall and bony, I would have said of the age we would associate with a late-mother figure. She had dark hair which was roughly tied back and flecked with grey, and wore skirts of many layers and a shawl around her shoulders, all of which were various dark colours, mostly black. She also wore lots of silver jewelry and accessories which jangled as she moved. So I sat down and watched as she stirred her cauldron. 

I felt that there was a strong ‘water and lunar presence. I saw a hare at the edge of the clearing, darting in and out of the bushes. Whenever I looked at her I kept seeing full moon symbols, and half-moon symbols in both gold and silver, shining bright against the shade of the clearing.

After watching her for a bit, I stood up and thanked her quietly, although she seemed too focused on her cauldron to notice. Then I began to walk back down the path I had come, and out of the meditative state.

Meditation 2:

Before I started my meditation, I made an offering of some vanilla essence in a small, brass cauldron I have, to ask Cerridwen to bless me with her presence, and then started meditation in the usual way. I found myself where I had before, in the forest. It was dark, and slightly chilly. I was wearing a purple cloak. I walked the path again until I came to the clearing. The perimeter of the clearing and the path leading to it were lit by white candles, and in the centre was Cerridwen stirring her cauldron. This time she was wearing a white tunic underneath a midnight blue robe. She asked me why I had come, and I told her that I wanted to burn that which held be back in her cauldron. So she invited me forwards. I had the three things I wanted to burn written down on pieces of paper, and I threw each one in, and as I did the cauldron bubbled and purple sparks shot out from the flames beneath it. Once I had done, she asked me if I had bought her anything, and I gave her an offering of herbs which she accepted. I then walked back down the path and out of the meditative state.

I was a bit disappointed with this meditation. She was definitely there, I definitely felt her presence. And we went through the motions of the ritual, but it was really difficult to visualize and I got the distinct impression that whilst Cerridwen was acknowledging my petition, she was telling me that I had a lot more work before she was ready to do that for me; more meditating, more offerings. And maybe if I do start to work towards actively letting go of those attributes, she may help me if I repeat it at a later date, once I’ve proven myself; one source, http://sacredmistsblog.com/goddess-of-the-week-cerridwen says that:

“She is an approachable Goddess though, if you come to her asking to be shown knowledge, truth and wisdom in any aspect, whether mundane, magickal or spiritual, she will put you through tests and trials and will make you earn that which you seek.  She isn’t a Goddess that hands things out to the ungrateful and she isn’t one that spoonfeeds love and wisdom, but for those that are willing to truly seek out the Holy Grail, as her cauldron is sometimes seen to represent, then she will help you uncover it.  Working with Cerridwen will transform you and you will find that your views, your path and your spirituality will be vastly different once you have passed her tests.”

Meditation 3:

I found myself in the forest, this time right within the clearing where Cerridwen was. It was dark, and the perimeter of the area was lit by candles, as with the path before me which led to her and her cauldron. She was wearing her dark attire again with silver accessories which I saw her in before, and she was busy stirring the cauldron, occasionally stopping to grab something from the table and throw it in. It smelt really earthy, maybe a bit sandalwood-y, but with a subtle hint of something sweet which I couldn’t put my finger on. She didn’t acknowledge me, so mentally I asked for permission to sit a while, and I although she didn’t answer I got the feeling that it was OK. So I sat and meditated for a moment, just trying to sense any impressions I got from her.  Then I had a real intense desire to get up and look inside the cauldron; I tried to ignore it but it wouldn’t go away, so I got up and walked towards the cauldron. Again, Cerridwen didn’t acknowledge my presence as she stirred, so I looked inside.

It was dark inside the cauldron, the dark waters bubbling and steaming. Then from the centre of the water a purple light began to swirl outwards, and I found myself being sucked in by it and suddenly I was falling into a trance-like state the depths of which I have not experienced in a long time. I focused on the swirl as I went deeper, and I suddenly became aware of a very raw, almost primordial energy, strong and wild within me, and that’s when I heard Cerridwen’s message; not heard, as in she used words, but I knew she was telling me that if I wanted to truly understand myself and be in complete control of myself and realize my full potential then I need to go right back to the beginning; right back to the core, the essence of me, and understand my ‘primordial urges’ and how I deal with them. Discover the roots of my being and existence. I’m imagining it means raw emotions such as anger and jealousy and passion, of being in touch with the earth and truly understanding how I am a part of it and the elements and everything else. Once I had had this realization, I found myself back outside the cauldron, staring at the water. I looked up at Cerridwen, and she finally acknowledged me with a little glance, before going back to stirring the cauldron.

I backed away and sat back down, and tried to meditate on exactly what was meant by my ‘primordial urges’, but I just couldn’t focus; it had been such a tense experience, so deep, that my head was just buzzing. I tried grounding, which didn’t work. So after trying for a bit, I gave up, and said thank you to Cerridwen who as before didn’t acknowledge me, and I turned and walked back down the path and came out of the meditative state.

Cerridwen is definitely a Goddess that has ‘called’ to me, and I am looking forward to working with her in the future and using her help and guidance to get to know myself better, so that I may learn and progress.