Everything about Ceridwen totally explained
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.
Etymology
From the Welsh
cerydd, "chiding love", and
gwen, "white, blessed". The appears to be derived from
Romano-British *
Caritavena,
Proto-Celtic *
Karjitā-wenā a feminine compound meaning "chastisement-love" or "chiding love" (cf. ).
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 didn't die, but was rescued on a British shore by a Celtic prince named Elffin; the reborn infant grew to became the legendary bard
Taliesin.
In Neopaganism
Ceridwen plays a role in
Wicca as a goddess, her cauldron symbolizing the
feminine principle.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Ceridwen'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://ceridwen.totallyexplained.com">Ceridwen Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
