#FolkloreSunday: #Ceridwen was a #Welsh magician or witch who possessed enviable occult knowledge, including that of shapeshifting. That she may have originally been a cosmic goddess of time and the seasons is suggested by the names of her two children: the beautiful Creirwy (“light”) and the ugliest little boy in the world, Afagddu (“dark”). Some have interpreted the story of Ceridwen and Gwion’s many transformations as a tale of initiation and rebirth.
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`

#MythologyMonday: `The cauldron was both a domestic object, used in the home for brewing and stewing, and a sacred one, the secret place where new life was brewed and stewed. As such, it was a symbol of great power to the #Celts. ...
The cauldron’s basic meaning was fullness and abundance; Ireland’s “good god,” called the #Dagda, had a cauldron forever filled with good things, while the Welsh goddess #Ceridwen used hers for cooking up a broth that endowed drinkers with unfathomable wisdom. Yet even abundance and plenty could be mismanaged. In the Welsh Mabinogion, we find a cauldron of rebirth—Irish in origin—wherein soldiers’ bodies were thrown so that they might come back, alive yet soulless, to fight again.` #Celtic
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`
https://hear-me.social/@NeuKelte/113356630220575306

#MythologyMonday: `The brew #Ceridwen prepared for her ugly son Afagddu (“dark”) had to be stirred regularly, and the fearsome goddess was not always on hand to keep the brew mixed. So she set a little boy named #Gwion to stir the cauldron, warning him that he must on no account taste it. Three tiny drops splattered from the cooking pot onto Gwion’s thumb, which he popped in his mouth to ease the burn. Immediately, all the wisdom and inspiration Ceridwen had intended for Afagddu was Gwion’s.`
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`

#MythologyMonday: `#Ceridwen lived on an island in the middle of Lake Bala (Llyn Tegid) in north #Wales with her mate, Tegid Voel (“the bald”), and their two children, the beautiful Creirwy (“light”) and the ugliest little boy in the world, Afagddu (“dark”). To compensate for his unfortunate appearance, Ceridwen planned to make her son a great seer, and to this end this fearsome goddess (sometimes called a witch or sorceress) brewed a powerful secret mixture of herbs. Into her cauldron she piled the herbs to simmer for a year and a day—a magical length of time appropriate to such a concoction.`
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`

#MythologyMonday: `#Ceridwen took the form of a black hen and pecked up the grain of wheat that #Gwion had turned into. After 9 months #Gwion was reborn. The sorceress did not have the heart to kill her unwanted child and abandoned the little boy in a #Coracle. He survived and became the famous poet #Taliesin.` #Celtic

#BookologyThursday: `#Ceridwen had two children, the beautiful Creirwy (“light”) and the ugliest little boy in the world, Afagddu (“dark”). To compensate for his unfortunate appearance, Ceridwen planned to make her son a great seer, and to this end this fearsome goddess (sometimes called a witch or sorceress) brewed a powerful secret mixture of herbs. The goddess set a little boy named #Gwion to stir the cauldron, warning him that he must on no account taste it. Three tiny drops splattered from the cooking pot onto Gwion’s thumb, which he popped in his mouth to ease the burn. Immediately, all the wisdom and inspiration Ceridwen had intended for Afagddu was Gwion’s.`
Source: P. Monaghan `Encyclopedia of #Celtic #Mythology and #Folklore`

...Incidentally if anyone has suggestions for a period-appropriate [late-17th Century] anglicization of '#Creirwy' [daughter of #Ceridwen], I'd love to hear them.