of the Goddess. In
Wicca, when a cauldron is used it is often central to the ritual, usually linked with fertility or transformation. Some of the lore of the cauldron is based on the legend of Kerridwen’s cauldron.
Kerridwen is a goddess from the Celtic pantheon. The story begins where Kerridwen bore a son who was the ugliest and most rotten tempered man in the world. She wanted to fix this by brewing a potion to transform him into the Maiden Moon wisest man in the world. To do so she brewed a potion for a year and a day (a period still recognized as significant in Wiccan practice).
At the end of that time, there were three highly concentrated drops left. Kerridwen hired a boy to stir the potion and a man to stoke the flames. On the very day that the potion was ready, the 3 drops splashed out onto the boy’s fingers. The boy fled knowing that Kerridwen would be very angry.
Kerridwen took after him in pursuit. During the chase, both the boy and Kerridwen changed into several animals. When Kerridwen finally caught up with the boy, she ate him and became pregnant. She had planned to kill the child but when he was born, he was the most beautify boy she had ever seen, so she kept him and he grew to be Taliesin the Bard, one of the most inspired poets. As you can see, throughout the story, the concept of magickal transformation (the symbology of the cauldron) is
prevalent from beginning to end.
Cauldrons are usually made of iron and stand on three legs with the opening of
the vessel being smaller than the inside. You can find cauldrons in a wide range
of sizes from the very small altar top varieties to gigantic pots big enough for headhunters to cook a few explorers in.