| Cerridwen | |
Cerridwen - Goddess of nature Ceridwen was married to Tegid Voel a gentleman and they lived in Penllyn amidst Tegid lake [Bala Lake] . Ceridwen had a son called Avagddu who was ugly, Ceridwen thought that it would be unlikely that Avagddu would be favoured or admitted amongst the men of noble birth. So she resolved to boil a cauldron of Inspiration and Science for her son, so that he would be respected by the nobles as one who was learned and knowledgeable about the future states of the world. Ceridwen asked Gwion and a blind man named Morda to kindle a fire beneath a cauldron and tend to it for a year and a day. Ceridwen gathered all kinds of mystical herbs and added them to the cauldron until one year and a day had passed. Just before the end of the year three drops fell from the cauldron onto Gwion's finger, Gwion licked the drops from his finger and in that instant foresaw the future and everything that was to pass. |
 |
| In great fear Gwion fled the land towards his homeland, the cauldron burst in two and the remaining liquid poisoned the river it flowed into. Ceridwen on seeing what happened struck Morda on the head causing one of his eyes to come out, Morda shouted " It was not my fault, it was Gwion that stole the drops of knowledge!" Ceridwen realising this, gave chase after Gwion. | |
|
Gwion saw Ceridwen chasing him and turned himself into a hare, and fled. Ceridwen saw this and changed herself into a greyhound and turned towards the river after him, Gwion turned himself into a fish and swam away. Ceridwen turned into an otter and chased him under the water, so Gwion became a bird and tried to fly away. Ceridwen became a hawk and gave chase again, Gwion, terrified, saw a barn full of wheat and became grain, she transformed herself into a high-crested black hen and ate the grain that was Gwion. Ceridwen bore Gwion for nine months and gave birth to him, on looking on his face she was unable to kill him as he was beautiful. So she wrapped him in a leather bag and cast him into the sea on the twenty-ninth day of April. Ceridwen (KEHR-id-wen; Female): Her name means "white grain" which is appropriate since Ceridwen was the goddess of corn. Besides being the Celtic corn goddess, Ceridwen was also the Moon goddess as well as the all encompassing goddess of Nature. It is said that Ceridwen is the goddess of dark powers, the keeper of the cauldron of the underworld. Welsh bards once called themselves Cerddorion "sons of Ceridwen," meaning they received their initiation from Ceridwen herself. |
Cerridwen is the keeper of the cauldron of the Underworld [Otherworld], in which inspiration and divine knowledge are brewed. She is the goddess of Moon, Great Mother, Grain Goddess, Goddess of Nature. |
|
