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Cauldrons
untitled.jpg picture by LaddyMiddy
Kitchen Witch's guide to Magickal Tools.
By: Patricia Telesco

Double, double, toil and trouble,
fire burn, and cauldron, bubble.
William Shakespeare

The word cauldron comes from the latin caddarium, meaning hot bath. Previous to this inference, the Middle Irish word was coire, or caere, meaning place of liquid- inclluding those items that have nothing in common with what we picture mnetally as a cauldron. In any case, by modern definition, a cauldron is a large metal pot  used for cooking over an open fire. To achieve this  the cauldron has three legs, and gets attatched to a large tripod hanger. Mind you, I have seen cauldrons of other matirials modernly, and many Witches perfer their stove top to the open pit fires.
Mythologically speaking, historians and folklorists believe the Holy Grail legends may have ties to the earlier stories of wondrous cauldrons endowed with magickal abilities. Take, for example, the five feasting halls of Irish tradition, each one of which had a cauldron that cooked just the right ammount for all in attendance. Or what was bran the blessed in Welch stores? he owned a cauldron of regeneration given to him by a giant. THer's also the Celtic Goddess Cerridwen who had a cauldron of inspiration ,death, and rebirth. It was from her Elixir that the great bard Talisen was fabled to have gotten his talents.
With that in mind, it's not surprising to discover that the celts used the cauldron to represent abundance health, mythology seems to concur on the last point. It says the Goddess of Witches Medea, could restore people's Youth through using a magick cauldron. Sadly, modern cookery has made this item relatively obsolete.
 
Cooking' Up History
You'd be hard pressed to go into nearly any ancient setting and not find something akin to a cauldron. By far, however cauldrons held special importance to the Celts, who used them in daily life as well as religion. The early Celts, who used them in daily life as well as religion. The early Celtic cauldrons were made of brass and bronze, and were often decorated extensively. The metal alone made the cauldrons expensive, meaning only the wealthy could afford them. The additional artistic element helped ensure that sale!
The early cauldrons were either made from one flat sheet or selveral sheets riveted together. Where there were several sheets solder became a connector. In either case, the process was laborious- heating, hammering, soldering, and repeating to ensure a watertight surface.
It wasn't until around 1500 C that iron cauldrons replaced bonze. The best pots of this period had to be a finger thick, and large enough to hold 20 pounds of material ( persumably for use at keeps and castles) Where Iron pots wern't feasible, earthenware and glass were used, but of course they were far more prone to breakage. Nonetheless, iron wasnt' liked by all. Many people thought the iron looked dirty, took too long to heat, and that some of the  metal was brittle.
As an interesting side note in the cauldron's history, the Catholic Church uses this too. They have a large cauldron of water into which a lit candle gets plunged repeatedly at Christmas This is a way of making holy water!
Metaphysical Symbolism and Uses
Cauldrons bear a womb-like shape, which explains, their connection wtih ancient goddesses, such as Ceriddwen, from whose cauldron all inspiration flowed. In magick, we see the three legged construction of the cauldron as a symbol of the three fold Feminine Divine ( maiden, mother, and crone). In t his pot, all manner of things might be made from potions and ointments to post ritual feasts! ( although one would hope that the oinment pot wasn't the same as that for dinner)
When the cauldron is used in ritual, it's usually placed in the West when bearing liquid or in the South when bearing fire. However, this may change significantly depending on its function. For example, if being utilized  for a communal potion, it makes more sens to place the cauldron in the center of the location if people will be making wishes into it.

At  Samhain/Hallows another use for the cauldron is scrying. Traditionally, we believe the veil between worlds grown thin at this time of year, making otherwordly information and communications easier. In particular, a trained medium can use this as a gateway for welcoming and honoring ancestral spirits, which is suited to  a festival of the dead. I personally find it difficult to scry plain liquid. If you find you have similar troubles, try  sprinkling the surface of yoru cauldron with some blessed fairy dust ( fine glitter) or swirl in a small cup of ivory- colored dish liquid.  Both mediums seem to improve results.
Seasonally , consider decorating your cauldron with fruits and flowers to honor the Wheel of Time. Or use your cauldron as a substitute for the sacred fire and jump over it during rituals for a change ( this comes in very handy if you  live in an area that expreiences regular fire bans). The transition from one side of the cauldron to the other represents some type of transformation-past to the futre, bad habit being released, changing bad luck, inspiring fertility, and so on. For saftey reasons, I highly recommend keeping the cauldron for this purpose on the samll side(knee height and not to wide.)
For this Kitchen Witch , perhaps my favorite function for the cauldron is in making proverbial "stone soup" at festival. This is where people from several camps come together with wath they canshare and litterly mix and mingle the blend to perfection. YOu never know hwo the soup will taste, but you can always be assured some of the good fellowships.

Making or Buying a Cauldron
Making a functional cauldron that will withstand cooking heats is very difficult in most modern Witches homes ( unless you  ahve a forge handy). So just for the fun of it I went to Froogle and checked. You can get all manner of cauldrons ones that have ligths, ones that give off smoke and fog, and ones made from a wide variety of mediums for less than 30 dollars ( depending on how elaborate you want to get). The best bus, including altar-sized iron cauldron, seem to come from Halloween supply shops ( hey , let's hear it for Commercialization!) Ebay proved to be another great resource, even stocking small silver Cauldron charms (grea gifts) for less then five dollars. If you're not online, check out second hand s hops and any place that specializes in costumes, rentals, and supplies.
Now if you don't m ind making a temporary cauldron that won't withstand external fire, but is fun for Halloween and Fall festivals, you can start with a handy pumpkin. Open this up and scoop it out like you would for a jack o lantern. About 1 inch from the rim, cut a decorative pattern into the meat ( making sure to save three equalized triangles, which will become your cauldron's feet). Now, slice into the bottom of your pumpkinin three places equally spaced on the bottom. Slowly widen them until they'll acept the triangles of meat so you have your "feet". Fill the pumpkin with aluminum foil on the indisde edge so you can use it to dispense candy at the ritual .

 

blessedbethewitches.jpg Witches image by littlewhiskeygirl1974

                                                                                          

nebroomstickkdss.gif picture by LaddyMiddy