The Myth of Cerridwen

Cerridwen was a Welsh white witch or goddess of poetry, inspiration, and the cauldron of transformation.

She appears in the Book of Taliesin where she gives birth to two children: the very beautiful daughter Crearwy and the stupid and ugly son, Morfran. Cerridwen decides to cure Morfran using her magical abilities and one day, draughts a potion to grant him both good looks and wisdom. In order to make this potion, she employs the help of a servant boy, Gwion, to stir this brew which requires a year and a day to maturate.

According to myth, it was only the first three drops of the potion which were effective; the rest was completely poisonous.

Gwion became bored and lazy while stirring which led to the first three drops falling onto his hand. Instinctively, he put his hand into his mouth to stop the burning and instantly became clever, handsome, and able to change his shape at will.

Terrified of Cerridwen’s potential wrath, Gwion flees for his life, turning himself into a rabbit. Cerridwen pursues closely behind and transforms herself into a dog.

The boy changes himself into a fish and jumps in the river, followed by Cerridwen who becomes an otter. Gwion transforms into a bird and Cerridwen tails him as a hawk. Finally, Gwion decides to become a grain of corn and Cerridwen, outwits him by becoming a hen and swallowing him right up.

Once Cerridwen transforms herself back to her witch/goddess form, she discovers that she is now pregnant and realizes the baby is none other than Gwion (reborn as Taliesin, meaning “how radiant his brow is”).

She plans to kill the child once he is born, but since the baby is too beautiful, she puts him into a leather bag and tosses him swiftly into the sea. The bag is found in fisherman’s nets and presented to Prince Elffin. No sooner does the prince place the baby on his saddle than baby Taliesin begins speaking, reciting poetry, and making future predictions about how Elffin would defeat all of his enemies. Taliesin changed the unlucky prince’s fortune through his poems and prophecy and thus became the most famous bard in Britain, inspiring Celtic warriors in their fight against Saxon invasion.

Cerridwen’s Significances: 

• Utilizes her magical abilities and potion making affinities to help others in magic, power, beauty and prophecy.
• Welsh and Irish culture regard Cerridwen as a symbol of motherly love, crone/mother icon, poetic wisdom, rebirth, and inspiration.
• Considered one of the most powerful witches in Celtic mythology, Cerridwen is a goddess of wisdom, creation, inspiration, transformation, and sovereignty.

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