Shaman Pathways - The Celtic Chakras - Elen Sentier 2011

Ceridwen & the Cauldrons of Poesy

The Cauldrons of Poesy are another way in which the chakras are shown in the Celtic tradition. The earliest written reference to the cauldrons is in a poem in a 16th century manuscript, containing glosses that date back to the 11 th century, however the poem goes way back beyond that. It is attributed to Amergin who was a similar poet-teacher to Taliesin in the Gaelic tradition.

Taliesin was initiated by Ceridwen. His story, very briefly, is that Ceridwen needed him to stir her cauldron for a year and a day; she was making an elixir that would give her son, Dark Crow, all the wisdom of the universe. Taliesin (then called Gwion Bach) stirred dutifully until, on the very last day, the cauldron began to bubble and spat three boiling drops of liquid onto his thumb. It hurt! Taliesin stuck his thumb in his mouth and consequently got the wisdom intended for Ceridwen’s son. He realised this and ran, scared the goddess would have him for breakfast for taking the wisdom from her son. Ceridwen chased after him. Gwion ran and ran, terrified out of his wits, and suddenly found he had become a hare, running and leaping over the ground. Then he heard the barking behind him and realised Ceridwen had become a greyhound, snapping at his heels. He leapt into the air and came down in the river. He swam and swam, as fast as he could go, then he heard behind him the sound of an otter swimming even faster and catching up with him. He put on a spurt and found he had become a salmon. He made it to the weir and, leaping in his salmon-shape, he tried to get up the weir. Three times he tried and, on the third try, he flapped his fins desperately trying get over the fall … and found he had become a pigeon. The pigeon is a wonderful flyer, very fast and nimble, so Gwion did his best to fly as fast as he could. Then, overhead he heard the scream of a peregrine falcon. Gwion thought all was lost. He shut his eyes and his wings and dropped like a stone out of the sky … to find he had landed in a pile of wheat, had indeed become a grain of wheat. He kept as still as he could, not thinking of anything, and then he heard it. Prrrk, prrk, prk … the sound of a chiken hunting for food. Ceridwen had become a black hen and was still hunting him. She quickly found him and gobbled him up.

Shifted back into her own form, Ceridwen knew she was pregnant. In nine months she gave birth to a beautiful boy-child. She knew she couldn’t keep him so she sewed him into a leather bag and put him in the river. The bag floated downstream until it came to the weir where it bumped and shuffled against the stones. That evening a local prince came down to hunt salmon and found the bag. He opened it up and there was the most beautiful boy-child in the whole world. The prince called him Shining Brow which, in the old tongue, is Taliesin.

Taliesin and Ceridwen are deeply entwined for she enables him to be initiated. The chase, through the four elements — hare/earth, salmon/water, pigeon/air, seed/fire — is a standard initiation test amongst the Celtic peoples; and so is being eaten in order to be reborn. The goddess takes you within and then births you anew, with the wisdom.

As you see Ceridwen is Lady of the Cauldron. She has several of them and they do different things but they are most famous for being places of rebirth — alchemical flasks. This is another of the functions of the chakras.

The Cauldrons of Poesy

Gaelic poem, the Cauldrons of Poesy, by Amergin mac Ecchit (the second Irish Amergin) is a long and complicated piece that can be very hard to understand. I began working with it, and teasing its meanings out, in the late 1980s. It outlines three cauldrons that are “ born to every man “. They are …

Cauldron of VOCATION , called Coire Ernmae in Gaelic

Cauldron of WISDOM , called Coire Sois in Gaelic

Cauldron of WARMING , called Coire Goiriath in Gaelic

My work with the Cauldrons of Poesy showed me how they are very similar to the three Taoist cauldrons. They relate to the three pairs of chakras in a similar way to the “triple-heater ” symbolism of eastern tradition, determining overall health of the body, emotions, mind and spirit, i.e. how you are evolving spiritually — the four elements and directions again. Wisdom passes every- where, as the old saying goes. After lots of work and journeying, reading ageless wisdom about chakras, energy centres and cauldrons from all over the world, and digesting it, I realised that the following correspondences make sense.

W ARMING

V OCATION

W ISDOM

Crown/Base

Heart/Solar Plexus

Throat/Sacral

Smith

Healer

Poet

Strength/Good

Beauty

Wisdom/Truth

Power

Love

Light

Upperworld

Middleworld

Lowerworld

Maiden

Mother

Crone

Red Cup of Lordship

White Cup of Fostering

Black Cup of Forgetfulness

Light colours … Red

Blue

Green

Life

Consciousness

Wisdom

The Cauldrons of Vocation and Wisdom need to be turned, each lifetime, to come to their upright positions in order to be filled. The shaman evolves, until she or he becomes able to consciously contain the spirit. This means that each pair of chakras becomes integrated, the the shaman finds the “driving seat” in the Brow and sits there; then both knowledge and wisdom can be utilised.

The Cauldron of Warming is different; it’s the life-carrier and MUST be upright or you would be dead. There’s no need to turn this one but it can tip sideways if you’re ill.

The cauldrons’ positions show the shaman’s state of knowing as opposed to knowledge, their wisdom, meaning their ability to use what they know in an appropriate way and for the good of others beyond themselves.

no knowing = upside down

half knowing = half-way upright

full knowing = right way up

The Cauldron of Vocation

This cauldron holds the H EART /S OLAR -P LEXUS pair of chakras and is located in the chest, at the heart. It is inverted in people who do not yet aspire to journey on the Path.

It can also be turned sideways or upside-down, from an upright position, by both joy and sorrow as these feelings can cause us to lose our equilibrium. This is not always a bad thing. To experience this cauldron out of alignment can be very enlight- ening and often helps us realize things. It’s good to learn to sit on your hands when things go wrong; never be too eager to turn your own, or someone else’s, cauldron right way up, you could slow down or stop the process … and so the progress!

As a person grows so their cauldron of Vocation turns on its side. This happens as they begin to see something beyond the everyday and, more especially, beyond themselves, and begin to want it. It’s important to want it this. You have to want; you have to have desire, or you will stay in the same old rut forever.

Desire is e-motion … that which enables motion, just think where you would be without it.

So the cauldron of VOCATION turns through the DESIRE to know . When we set our foot on the Path the cauldron begins to turn. Once it gets half way round knowing can begin to stick in it, not fall out, and this tips the balance further. The cauldron swings more upright; this is a process which can happen really slowly so you hardly notice, or it can be very quick (an aha moment), or anything in between.

Once the Cauldron of Vocation begins to turn the Cauldron of Wisdom also starts to turn and fill. We need the Path of the Heart (vocation) in order to achieve the Path of Wisdom. The path of the heart is about commitment, committing ourselves to working with otherworld, not just putting our own interests first. Once we begin to think beyond ourselves we can get a deeper and broader view of our place in the general scheme, see how our actions affect everything else and so learn to be care-full. This is the healer ’s task, learning how and when to care.

The Cauldron of Wisdom

The Cauldron of Wisdom is our own personal Well of Segais with our own echo of the salmon of wisdom and ring of hazel trees on which to feed to gain that wisdom.

This cauldron holds the T HROAT /S ACRAL pair of chakras and is located in the Throat chakra (NOT the crown as is often thought). This cauldron is upside down until we begin to learn wisdom — as opposed to learning and knowledge. Wisdom is not knowledge, although it uses knowledge in its functioning; think about that, it’s important not to confuse wisdom/knowing (kenning in the old tongue) with knowledge. Wisdom is about knowing how and when to use knowledge and about when to refrain from using it and sit on your hands … a vital skill for the shaman.

You need to fill your library-of-being with all the books-of- experience you can manage; then you need to brew all that in the cauldron for a year-and-a-day in order that the cauldron will boil and spit the three drops of wisdom onto your thumb so you can suck them up. Having alphabet soup after your name tells people you’re an incredible swot … it does not tell them you have the foggiest clue what to do with all that knowledge. Knowledge can be a burden, fogging your vision with preconceptions and perceived wisdom so you have no room to know (to ken) anything; it can be a millstone round your neck … or stepping stones on your path to wisdom. Wisdom is about discerning what is baby and what is bathwater … and only throwing out the one you don’t need. This is the poet’s task, the wisdom keeper and the cyfarwydd who tells the wisdom on to enable the people.

As you gain some wisdom so the cauldron gradually tips and moves, turns. When you have the knack of wisdom then the cauldron turns right side up and you can fill it easily.

Ponder on all this and begin to make it your own, taking it into your knowing of the chakras. The traditions of our Earth have differing stories, differing terminology, but her wisdom is all the same. Part of our job is to assimilate this wisdom and make it a part of ourselves. Another part is to real-ise — make real and show — the wisdom and give it back to our people.

The Cauldron of Warming

This cauldron is the well-spring and source of life in each of us. It holds the life-thread without which we cannot exist in incar- nation. The life-thread connects us here and is withdrawn from here when we die.

It holds the C ROWN /B ASE pair of chakras and is located in the Crown. It is also called the “cave in the head” and is sometimes seen as a halo, as shown in mediaeval pictures; it is the source of the “light in the head” which people see as they progress along the path.

The cauldron is upright at birth and, barring sickness when it may tip sideways, remains so throughout our lives.

The Cauldron of Warming is the source of energy that maintains our lives; it is warmed by the breath of the soul and empowered by the vitality of the blood thus connecting us to both Spirit and Earth.

It holds the fires of vitality and the enabling power which sustains our activity in the three worlds; these are echoed in the Base chakra and felt there quite strongly. This cauldron turns upside down at death. As you develop etheric vision you are able to see this, to actually see the cauldron turn upside down as someone dies.

Meet the Three Cauldrons

Preparation

Choose a suitable time to do the journey.

Do this ritual for three days before your journey, at both morning and evening twilight or as near to this as you can.

E ARTH — Take a handful of soil from your own garden/ window box/plant pot. Thank the soil for being there and smooth it gently onto your face; leave it there until the ritual is completed.

W ATER — Hold a glass or small bowl of water in your hands. Thank the water for being there and drink from it. Keep the rest of the water for the ending of the ritual.

A IR — Light a small piece of incense, smell and watch the smoke rising into the air. Thank it for being there.

F IRE — Light a candle. Feel the warmth and see the light; look into the heart of the flame and thank it for being there.

E NDING — Wash the earth from your face with the water from the glass or bowl. Rub your hands dry in the smoke of the incense and then douse the incense. Blow out the flame of the candle and as you do so watch the smoke disappear and let it carry these words, aloud, into Otherworld “ I journey to meet the three cauldrons.”

After doing your ritual each time make sure you clean up the space. Remember, SILENCE is the watch-word — do NOT tell your experience abroad, hold it sacred and secret within yourself, allow it space and time to gestate else you will abort it or give it premature birth.

Journey: Meet the Cauldrons

This is a journey through your own chakras, to meet the Cauldrons.

✵ P REPARE YOUR SPACE — physical cleaning and setting up your altar.

✵ C OVER YOUR EYES

✵ N OW — LIE STILL . Feel your breathing. Don’t try to change anything.

✵ Find yourself in your sacred space, be at home there.

✵ When you are ready, go out …

✵ See a pathway, a thread of light, shimmering and spinning out before you, leading you to the C AULDRON OF VOCATION .

✵ Follow the path …

N OW … move your focus and your consciousness to sit beside the C AULDRON OF V OCATION . Settle your consciousness quietly there.

Ask the Cauldron of Vocation to show you itself; its two sides — the Heart and the Solar Plexus — and to show you the thread, the pathway, between the two. This pathway goes in both direc- tions, both widdershins and deosil, from heart to the solar plexus and from the solar plexus to the heart. Everything always goes in both directions … that ability (there and back again as Bilbo puts it) is a function of the enabling, empowering current of duality.

When you are ready, thank the Cauldron of Vocation for all it has given you and say you will return to learn more.

Now — see a pathway, a thread of light, shimmering and spinning out before you from the Cauldron of Vocation, leading you to the C AULDRON OF W ISDOM .

Again … Follow the path …

Move your focus and your consciousness to beside CAULDRON OF WISDOM . Settle your consciousness there.

Now — ask the Cauldron of Wisdom to show you itself; its two sides — the Throat and the Sacral — and to show you the pathway between the two. Again, this pathway goes in both directions, as do all paths.

When you are ready, thank the Cauldron of Wisdom for all it has given you and say you will return to learn more.

N OW — See a pathway, a thread of light, shimmering and spinning out before you from the Cauldron of Wisdom, leading you to the C AULDRON OF W ARMTH .

Again … Follow the path …

Move your focus and your consciousness up to the C AULDRON OF W ARMTH . Settle your consciousness there.

Ask the Cauldron of Warmth to show you itself; its two sides — the Crown and the Base — and to show you the pathway between the two. This pathway too goes in both directions, as all paths do.

When you are ready, thank the Cauldron of Warmth for all it has given you and say you will return to learn more.

Now — See a pathway, a thread of light, shimmering and spinning out before you from the Cauldron of Warmth into the B ROW .

Follow the path — move your focus and your consciousness to the B ROW centre.

Settle your consciousness there. Spend a moment in the bright darkness.

Sense the threads of light going out from the Brow centre to the …

Cauldron of Vocation that contains the Heart and Solar Plexus.

Cauldron of Wisdom that contains Throat and Sacral. Cauldron of Warmth that contains the Crown and Base chakras.

And see the threads returning from each tower back to the B ROW .

When you are ready, thank the Cauldrons and say you will visit again, to learn.

When you are ready, find yourself in your own space back in the everyday world. Greet your body. Thank it for being there for you. Spend time reflecting on what you have been shown. Gently sit up. Make drawings and notes.

When you have finished, clear your space.

Don’t forget to eat and drink to replace physical energy and anchor yourself in your body.

Follow-up

Do this ritual for three days after your journey, at both morning and evening twilight or as near to this as you can.

E ARTH — Take a handful of Earth from your own garden/ window box/plant pot. Thank it for being there, smooth it gently on your face, leave it there until the ritual is completed.

W ATER — Hold a glass or small bowl of water in your hands. Thank it for being there and drink from it. Keep the rest of the water for the ending of the ritual.

A IR — Light a small piece of incense, an inch of joss stick perhaps, smell and watch the smoke rising into the air. Thank it for being there.

F IRE — Light a candle. Look into the heart of the flame and thank it for being there.