Ceridwen
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In Welsh medieval legend, Ceridwen was a magician, mother of Taliesin, Morfran, and a beautiful daughter Crearwy (or Creirwy). Her husband was Tegid Foel, and they lived near Bala Lake in Wales.
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[edit] Etymology
From the Welsh cerydd, "chiding love", and gwen, "white, blessed". The theonym appears to be derived from Romano-British *Caritavena, Proto-Celtic *Karjitā-wenā a feminine compound meaning "chastisement-love" or "chiding love" (cf. [1][2][3]).
[edit] Legend
According to the Mabinogion, Morfran (also called Afagddu) was hideously ugly, so she sought to make him wise. Ceridwen had a magical cauldron that could make a potion granting wisdom. The mixture had to be cooked for a year and a day. Morda, a blind man, tended the fire beneath the cauldron, while Gwion, a young boy, stirred the concoction. The first three drops of liquid from this cauldron gave wisdom; the rest was a fatal poison. Three hot drops spilled onto Gwion's hand as he stirred, burning him. He instinctively put his hand in his mouth, and instantly gained great wisdom and knowledge.
Ceridwen chased Gwion. He turned himself into a rabbit. She became a dog. He became a fish and jumped into a river. She turned into an otter. He turned into a bird; she became a hawk. Finally, he turned into a single grain of corn. She then became a hen and ate him. When Ceridwen became pregnant, she knew it was Gwion and resolved to kill the child when he was born. However, when he was born, he was so beautiful that she couldn't do it. She threw him in the ocean instead, sewing him inside a bag of seal-skin. The child did not die, but was rescued on a British shore by a Celtic prince named Elffin; the reborn infant grew to became the legendary bard Taliesin.
[edit] In Neopaganism
Ceridwen plays a role in Wicca as a goddess, her cauldron symbolizing the feminine principle.[4][5]
[edit] See also
- Finn MacCool and the legend of the Salmon of Knowledge
[edit] Notes
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