Cerridwen, Dark Goddess of Transformation, Inspiration and Knowledge by Judith Shaw

Cerridwen, Dark Goddess of Transformation, Inspiration and Knowledge is best known as the mother of Taliesen, the greatest of all the Welsh poets.   But Her story is much older and Her powers run deep.

Cerridwen (“White Sow”, or “White Crafty One”) has many other names:  Dark Moon Goddess, Great Mother, White Lady of Inspiration and Death, Goddess of Nature, and Grain Goddess. She rules the realms of death, fertility, regeneration, inspiration, magic, enchantment and knowledge. Her ritual pursuit of Gwion Bach symbolizes the changing of the seasons, nature’s yearly cycle of death and rebirth.

Cerridwen, as a powerful Underworld Goddess, is the keeper of the cauldron of knowledge, inspiration and rebirth.  She and Her cauldron most likely appear in the Welsh legend of Bran the Blessed. She came from Ireland to the Land of the Mighty disguised as a giantess named Kymideu Kymeinvoll with her husband Llassar.

In Ireland they had emerged from a lake, which always signifies the Otherworld in Celtic mythology. Ultimately the Irish, who were terrified of the power of life and death they represented, violently expelled them from Ireland.  Bran, offered them safe harbor in exchange for Cerridwen’s magical cauldron. That cauldron had the power to resurrect the corpses of dead warriors which were placed in it.  Bran the Blessed gave this same cauldron to the Irish King, Matholuch, when he married Branwen, Bran’s sister.  Later in the story this cauldron figured in the total destruction of the two tribes.

The cauldron is a central image in the Celtic Mystery Tradition.  There are three different types of cauldrons: the Cauldron of Transformation, the Cauldron of Rebirth, and the Cauldron of Inspiration.  Cerridwen’s cauldron combines all three into one quintessential cauldron.  Cerridwen, as the keeper of this quintessential cauldron, represents the womb of the Goddess from which all life manifests into this world.  She labors continually at Her cauldron, stirring up the forces of inspiration, divine knowledge and the eternal cycle of birth, death and rebirth.  She is the Wheel of Life. She is also associated with the sow and grain. The sow symbolizes good luck and spiritual growth. Grain symbolizes abundance and nurturance. Her color is green, the color of life.

Cerridwen lived on an island in the middle of Lake Tegid (named for Her husband) with Her two children – a daughter named Creidwy who was beautiful and bright and a son named Afagddu who was ugly and dark. Even in Her role as mother, Cerridwen ruled both the light and the dark.  But like all mothers She wished only the best for her children.  She was determined to use the powers of Her magical cauldron to improve the life of Her afflicted son.

She set to brew a magical potion that with three drops would transform Her son into the most brilliant and inspired of all men.  This potion had to be brewed for one year and one day to reach its full power.  During this time she added six different herbs at the correct astrological times. For that whole time the fire had to be kept at just the correct temperature and the potion had to be stirred at just the correct speed.  As this was more the Cerridwen could do alone, she hired a young boy named Gwion Bach to help.

On the final day of its making while Cerridwen was out gathering herbs an unthinkable accident occurred.  Perhaps the fire got too hot, perhaps Gwion Bach stirred to hard, but three drops of the portion flew out of the cauldron and landed on his thumb.  Scalded by the hot liquid, he instinctively put his thumb in his mouth to ease the pain.  In this way all the power that Cerridwen had intended for her son, Afagddu, was instead transferred to Gwion Bach.

Now with the power of knowledge and prophecy, Gwion Bach knew everything that would come to pass, including that Cerridwen in Her anger would seek his death.  So instantly Gwion Bach fled.  Cerridwen gave chase.

Both underwent many transformations during this chase: he became a perch and She a pike; he became a hare and She a greyhound; he became a salmon and She an otter; he became a small bird and She a hawk and finally he became a grain of wheat and She a hen.  Determined to end his life Cerridwen, as a hen, ate the wheat where Gwion Bach had taken his final refuge.

The story did not end there. The grain took seed in Her womb.  She knew Her child would be Gwion Bach reborn.  She was resolved to kill him upon his birth.  But once he was born Her mother heart gained dominance over Her anger. She could not bring Herself to kill the radiant baby boy She held in Her arms.  She placed him in a leather pouch and set him adrift on a river where he was rescued by the prince Elffin.  Elffin and his wife, who were childless, decided to adopt the beautiful baby.  They named him Taliesin which means beautiful forehead.   Taliesin grew up to be the greatest Welsh poet ever whose words could  heal all wounds and foretell the future.  In the Welsh worldview, death and rebirth were necessary for true inspiration to exist.

When Cerridwen calls your name, know that the need for change is upon you; transformation is at hand. It is time to examine what circumstances in your life no longer serve you.  Something must die so that something new and better can be born.  Forging these fires of transformation will bring true inspiration into your life.  As the Dark Goddess Cerridwen pursues her version of justice with ceaseless energy so can you breathe in the power of the Divine Feminine She offers, planting your seeds of change and pursuing their growth with a ceaseless energy of your own.

Sources:  http://www.angelfire.com/journal/ofapoet/cerridwen.html, http://mydailygoddess.blogspot.com/2008/03/cerridwen-death-rebirth.html, http://www.dragonskeepfarm.com/Bardic/Cerridwen.htm, http://spheresoflight.com.au/index.php?page=keepers_cerridwen, http://www.thaliatook.com/AMGG/cerridwen.php, The Mabinogion Tetralogy, by Evangeline Walton

Judith’s deck of Celtic Goddess Oracle Cards is available now.  You can order your deck on Judith’s website. Experience the wisdom of the Celtic Goddesses!

Judith Shaw, a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, has been interested in myth, culture and mystical studies all her life.  Not long after graduating from SFAI, while living in Greece, Judith began exploring the Goddess in her artwork.  She continues to be inspired by the Divine Feminine in all of Her manifestations. Originally from New Orleans, Judith now makes her home in New Mexico where she paints and teaches part-time. Her work, which expresses her belief in the interconnectedness of all life, can be seen on her website at http://judithshawart.com

Author: Judith Shaw

Judith Shaw, a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, has been interested in myth, culture and mystical studies all her life. Not long after graduating from SFAI, while living in Greece, Judith began exploring the Goddess in her art. She continues to be inspired by the Goddess in all of her manifestations, which of course includes the flora and fauna of our beautiful Earth. Judith has exhibited her paintings in New York, San Francisco, Mytilene Greece, Athens Greece, New Orleans, Santa Fe NM, Taos NM, Albuquerque NM, Houston TX and Providence RI. She has published two oracle decks - Celtic Goddess Oracle and Animal Wisdom Oracle and is hard at work on an illustrated fairytale - Elena and the Reindeer Goddess. View all posts by Judith Shaw