Ceridwen

Ceridwen is a Welsh goddess, an enchantress, owner of the cauldron of knowledge, Awen. She is the goddess of poetry, wisdom, change, and transformation. She may be a dawn goddess as well, a lady of Venus. Ceridwen is mentioned several times in the 14th century Book of Taliesin. However, her most well known story comes from the Hanes Taliesin, written in the mid 16th century by Elis Gruffydd, a man who was raised Catholic, but converted to Protestantism.

When I first heard the story of Ceridwen, told by a modern day bard on YouTube, I was excited to paint it. A series of paintings, it would be so fun and colorful. Interesting characters, lots of animal chases, creepy unnatural pregnancy, what could be better?

The story begins Ceridwen's children, the twins Creirwy and Morfran. Sadly, they are not identical twins. Creirwy is sublimely beautiful, while Morfran is disturbingly hideous. If Morfran can't be beautiful, Ceridwen decides he must be brilliant. Does she hire tutors? Decide to homeschool him? Read together daily? No. She searches for a magical remedy.

Creirwy and Morfran original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

To give her ugly son the gift of knowledge, Ceridwen searches and gathers herbs under every moon, in every season. Then, the potion has to brew in her magic cauldron, the Awen. She offers food and shelter to a servant boy and a blind old man in exchange for stirring the pot and feeding the fire, keeping the potion constantly boiling for one year and one day.

Ceridwen's Cauldron original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

I included the Celtic calendar in the painting of Ceridwen's cauldron. Next, I began painting the fateful moment, the turning point in the story, where all of Ceridwen's effort is wasted, the cauldron is destroyed, and the servant boy steals her power. And, as I painted, I thought. A servant boy steals the power of the great enchantress. She controls transformation, knowledge, wisdom, and this happens. I looked into the sources of this story. The sources are not entitled the "Book of Ceridwen". The sources are entitled the Book of Taliesin and the Hanes Taliesin. Spoiler alert: The servant boy, Gwion Bach, becomes the great bard Taliesin after stealing Ceridwen's wisdom and a few more exciting plot twists. This particular story of Ceridwen and her cauldron is from the 16th century Hanes Taliesin, but I started by looking at the 14th century version Book of Taliesin.

I found this translation online. The very first stanza is about Adam, of Adam and Eve, the ultimate misogynistic creation myth. I've come to believe that Eve is meant to represent Asherah, the Great Mother Goddess of the Ancient Near East, goddess of wisdom and ex-wife of Yahweh. I've written a blog post about Asherah and their nasty divorce. The Adam and Eve story is meant to discredit Asherah, the Goddess, whose symbol is the tree of life, and whose epithet is Wisdom.

Similarly, after reading some of the Book of Taliesin and the Hanes Taliesin, I realized this story of Ceridwen is not a story to help us learn about the Great Goddess. Rather, it is Christian propaganda meant to discredit her. And it was so effective, it got me for a minute. I painted this:

Ceridwen, Morfran, and Gwion Bach with cauldron

I even made Ceridwen unattractive, when her name means fair and beautiful. She is a wise woman. She's not be scorned and defeated by a little boy who later goes on to spout misogynistic monotheism. Stories matter. This is one that doesn't deserve my paint brush, regardless of how many exciting animal chases and unnatural pregnancies I miss out on. I posted this painting on Instagram, the epiphany came to me, and I deleted it. The Great Mother deserves better.

Perhaps I need to write a new version to paint. What should happen after Ceridwen brews the potion for Morfran? Should Creirwy accidentally get half the dose? Should brother and sister unite their wisdom to repel the Christian missionaries and other invaders? Should they use their wisdom to neutralize the poison that the rest of the cauldron now contains or to stop the cauldron from cracking? Help me out in the comments, if you have ideas. Thanks!

Comments

Medusa

When you think of Medusa, you probably think of snake hair. But, do you know why she has snake hair? Misogyny and rape culture. Medusa was raped by Poseidon in Athena's temple. As punishment, Athena gave Medusa snake hair. This made Medusa an exciting prize for would be heroes, so, in the aftermath of her rape, she was hunted by trophy-seekers. Perseus was the one to finally take her head. As a prize, he was reward with Pegasus, a flying horse who sprang from Medusa's severed neck, her rape baby with Poseidon. Thanks, Greek mythology. Original painting on recycled cedar shingle. More on Medusa: Vice News Prospect Magazine Wikipedia

Sophia and the Apocryphon of John

In 1945, thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by an Egyptian farmer near the town of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These early Christian texts date from the 3rd century CE, and include writings attributed to John the Baptist. The writings of John became known as the Secret Book of John, or the Apocryphon of John. A translation by Frederik Wisse can be read online . In the Apocryphon, there is a female counterpart to the Father - the holy Mother, Barbelo. "She is the forethought of the All - her light shines like his light - the perfect power... The first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory in the aeons, the glory of the revelation... she became the womb of everything, for it is she who is prior to them all, the Mother-Father." I became aware of the Apocryphon of John after reading a graphic novel by Marisa Acocella, The Big She-Bang, The Herstory of the Universe According to God the Mother (highly recommended, by ...

Inanna, Head of the Sumerian Pantheon

Inanna: I will wrench your neck, grab your thick horns, throw you in the dust, stomp you with my hatred, grind my knees in your neck, fighting is her play, she never tires of it... a whirlwind warrior, bound on a twister, wild bull Queen, mistress of brawn, boldy strong From Inanna and Ebih by Enheduanna , c. 2350 BC. Enheduanna was a priestess and author in ancient Sumeria. She was the first poet to sign their work. Her temple hymns tell of Inanna, the head of the Sumerian pantheon. Yes, God was a woman. Inanna is associated with Venus, the morning star. According to Wikipedia , Taurus is a Venus-ruled signed. Coincidence? Doubtful. I'm reading Venus & Aphrodite, History of a Goddess by Bettany Hughes . This is where Venus and Aphrodite began. The headdress Inanna is wearing is borrowed from Queen Puabi, at the Penn Museum . Since Queen Puabi's inscriptions make no mention of a husband, she is assumed to have been queen in...

Asherah

An inscription from Khirbet El-Qôm (near Jerusalem) dated to the 700s BCE and translated by archaeologist Judith Hadley reads, "Uriyahu the Rich wrote it. Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh for from his enemies by his Asherah he has saved him by Oniyahu by his Asherah and by his A[she]rah.” ( Source ) Asherah was the Great Goddess of the Ancient Near East. From this inscription and other evidence, it is surmised that Yahweh, the God of the Jews, once had a wife - Asherah. Asherah was also sometimes known as Astarte and was associated with lions and the planet Venus, like her relative, Ishtar/Inanna. Asherah's symbol was the tree of life, and her worship involved sacred groves and asherah poles. Asherah original painting available through Saatchi Art . Stickers, prints, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America. All of the Asherahs in my painting are based on figurines housed in the Isra...

Egeria, Law Giver of Rome

In his book, Lord of the Four Quarters, Myths of the Royal Father , John Perry writes, "There is evidence in many parts of the world..., the council or assembly of elders of a tribe, served as the governing body for a Divine Woman or Queen who personified the Great Mother and presided over a matrilineal society. The early king of such cultures ruled, not in his own right, but in his capacity as consort to the Divine Woman." In the case of early Rome, the Divine Woman was the Goddess Egeria ( source ). She counseled and guided the legendary second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius (Latin numen designates "the expressed will of a deity"), during his reign from 715 - 673 BCE ( source ). She gave Numa the laws and rituals of Rome. She was also an oracle, and is sometimes described as a nymph, possibly due to her association with water. Egeria's spring, once surrounded by a sacred grove, is located close to Porta Capena gate to Rome. Its waters were dedic...

Inanna and Dumuzi

Sumerian Great Goddess Inanna had a special lover, the shepherd Dumuzi. Inanna and Dumuzi in the Garden. Original painting based on a clay plaque from the Erlenmeyer Collection, Isin-Larsa Old Babylonian Period, c. 2000 - 1600 BCE, available through Saatchi Art . Stickers, prints, and other merch available in shop or through Fine Art America . Epic events occurred. Dumuzi ended up having to visit the Underworld annually, thus causing the seasons. He was known as the Son, and is generally considered to be the archetype on whom Jesus was based.

Echoing Multiverse

Search This Blog