Cerridwen was worshipped by the people of Wales -- who call themselves the Cymri or friends, for the term "Welsh" means "foreigner" in the language of their British neighbors.
Cerridwen lived on an island in the middle of Lake Tegid with her two children -- the beautiful Creidwy and the ugliest boy in the world, Afagdu. To compensate her son for bestowing such a body on him, the goddess brewed a magical formula that would make her son the most brilliant and inspired of men. For a year and a day, she kept herbs simmering in her caldron, which she left under the care of a little boy named Gwion.
One day, while the goddess was out collecting more herbs for her brew, a few drops of the bubbling liquid splattered onto Gwion's finger. Scowling in pain, he stuck his hand instantly into his mouth. Miraculously, he was able to hear everything in the world and to understand the secrets of both the past and the future.
His enchanted foresight showed him how angry Cerridwen would be when she found a mere mortal had acquired the inspiration intended for her son. So he ran away; the all-knowing Cerridwen realized what had happened and pursued him. Gwion changed himself into a hare; Cerridwen pursued him as a greyhound. So they ran: he as a fish, she as an otter; he as a bird, she as a hawk; he as a grain of wheat, she as a hen.
It was in the final form that she caught and devoured him, bearing him nine months later as a child. She threw the baby into the water where he was caught by a prince and grew into the poet Taliesin, the greatest poet in his language. Thus the Welsh expressed their understanding that death and rebirth were necessary for true inspiration to be brought into this world, showing the Muse, the goddess of inspiration, in a somewhat more terrible form than she appears in other cultures.
Text from Patricia Monaghan's The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines
Published by Llewellyn, copyright 1997.
Themes: Goddess of Death, Initiation, Inspiration, Magic, Regeneration,
Nature, Fertility, Astrology, Science, Knowledge, Spells, Poetry
Symbols: Moon, Grain, Herbs
About Cerridwen: She is the wife of Tegrid and the mother of a
beautiful girl, Creirwy, and two ugly boys, Avagdu and Movran. She brewed a
magical potion of wisdom and forced Taliesin to stir it for a year and a
day. This potion was made from six plants for inspiration and knowledge.
She is also the goddess of dark prophetic powers and the keeper of the
cauldron of the underworld, in which inspiration and divine knowledge
are brewed. She is often equated with Hecate and Badb. And sometimes
related to the Greek Muses but only in a more violent and dark form.
To Do This Week: To enhance the qualities of Cerridwen in your life,
you can write your own poem asking for inspiration and knowledge. Or you
can take a Bay Leaf and write a wish on it and then burn it for the
wish to come true. You can also do the following spell to induce prophetic
dreams:
Before You Begin: Be Careful This is a rather simple spell, but you are
"playing with fire" before bedtime. Make sure you have extinguished all
burning things before you cross into slumber. Sprinkle some Jasmine on
your pillow, and make sure you have a dream-journal or the like at your
bedside to record your dreams in, and brew a cup of mugwort tea.
(NOTE: mugwort is unhealthy in large doses, so go easy, and consult an
Herbal Reference book if you're worried.) Light blue candles on your
altar.
If you want to gain insight into your passions or your loves, burn
Damiana as well.
Watch the smoke as it coils, and allow it to carry you off into the
trance-like state that you spend most of the day avoiding. Say whatever
comes to mind, appealing to Cerridwen to guide your dreams. I usually say
something like:
"Blessed be the Lord and Lady, For they created the world, The earth to
hold, The sun to warm, The moon to guide, The spirit to dream."
Take sips of the mugwort tea as you repeat the words, gaze into the
smoke, and when you feel yourself just about to "cross the line" blow out
the candle(s) and say:
"So mote it be."
Go to sleep. Dream away. Just remember, you don't always get to hear
what you'd like.
