Cauldron of Desire, Cauldron of Pleasure
Among the Poets there was a practice of singing a poem to an audience while standing
around a small cauldron formed of silver to which were attached nine chains of brass,
each ending in a ring or hook of gold. The spear point of each Poet's spear was fixed in
the ring of gold attached or associated with him. As they sang or chanted their works to
the people and received a gift of gold or silver from them in compensation for their work,
into the Coire Sainte it would go, until it became a Coire Sainithi, The Coire Sainte was a
Cauldron of Desire yet the Coire Sainithi was a Cauldron of Pleasure. The Cauldron of
Pleasure then became a common cup from which the Poets drank mead while singing
their pleasure to all. - Cormac's Glossary is the source for this knowledge.
This image of nine poets surrounding a cauldron while performing their arts suggests to
me other acts of chanting and singing and poetical arts from Celtic tradition. The
strongest image to me is the image of Ogma as an old man leading a company through
chains that were attached to their ears and his tongue. This was said by a local Gaul to
demonstrate that eloquence and wisdom were the true strength of the Strong Man or
Champion (like Hercules and Ogma). This to me seems to be a metaphor or analogy for
the bonds between a Poet and their art. Eloquence bound them to their work through
chains of brass (their first years of work up to the level of a Cana), through the silver
cauldron (their source of need and their due rewards at the level of An Sruith - Nobel
Stream) and through golden hooks or rings which symbolized their marriage to poetry,
their communion with eloquence and the gifts of the gods (at the level of Ollamh or
Master).
Other images of chanting around a central cauldron are the breath of the nine maidens (or
perhaps female Druids) said to excite or inflame the Cauldron of Caer Pedryvan (the
Revolving Castle; in Irish legend, this mysterious castle or fortress belongs to Cú Roi) in
the Preiddeu Annwfn. Its rim had pearls around its border. It would not cook a coward's
food. It would not permit one to lie in its presence. The Sword of Llwch Leawc would be
lifted to it and it was to be found in the hand of Lleminawc. The gates to this cauldron
were lighted by burning lamps. The company of the sun ship quested through the
Underworld for the lost youth. One of their stops was in the Revolving Fortress of the
Strong Door. Perhaps this was their song?:
" I am a seeker of praise, my song being heard:
At Caer Pedryvan in Quick-door Island,
At dusk and in the blackness of night they mix
The sparkling wine, their drink before their retinue..."
(Trans. J.Rhys, introduction to Malory, 1985: xxviii-xxx).
http://www.assemblage.group.shef.ac.uk/issue8/graves.html
They seek praise and a drink of sparkling wine to transform Sainte (Desire) into Sainiti
(Pleasure) through song. My lack of knowledge of Welsh and British fails me when
attempting to decipher the meaning of the sword of Llwch Leawc or the hand of
Lleminawc.
In any event, here in the Coire Sainte, Coire Sainiti we find in three separate Celtic
cultures (Ireland, Gaul and Wales) images of the same things: the power of poetry to
create desire and pleasure, the bonding of the poets to their art, a common cup or
cauldron for drinking and the act of song transforming one thing into another. The idea of
the Holy Grail grew out of this type of association of common cups and obligations in
Celtic culture. Its great rewards were also accompanied by a great task. The bonds
between the quest and the finding of the Grail were total and could transform a paradise
into a wasteland or a wasteland into heaven.
In our modern rites and rituals perhaps we would do well to incorporate the idea of such a
cauldron linked by chains and the three levels of skill? Nine Druids chanting around a
central cup or cauldron would be a fitting place for rewards and contributions to be
returned to the center by those on the edge of its workings in much the same way that a
school is rewarded by its alumni or a government is funded by its citizens. The idea that
need or desire is transformed into reward or pleasure through art and song is an old one
among the people and one that should continue in our own renewal of the traditions.
John and Caitlín Matthews once produced a Hallowquest deck of cards for workings and
divinations. Ten years or so ago, in a review of one their cards for a Celtic Workshop of
the same name, I remarked on the nature of this quest among Bards and Poets:
"The Card of Taliesin"
Taliesin, the greatest of Bards, the transformed one from the cauldron of Ceridwen sits in
a fire lit hall. He has a golden band across his brow and the feathered cloak of a master
about his shoulders. At his feet sit two children, representing the future and the growth of
knowledge. Golden links of tradition connect him to the children as the link pass from his
hands to theirs. Born Gwion Bach and transformed through many shape changes into the
infant Taliesin as a result of Ceridwen's pursuit. This tale of transformation is symbolic of
the quests a Bard would have to undertake into the many levels of knowledge to be found
in the Otherworld. Through such totemic flights of the "Awen", the Bard is able to
experience all of creation and transform this gift into living images in the minds of his
audience. Taliesin has been before and after. He has been with many warriors and many
kings. In the 9th century "Preiddeu Annwn" he accompanies Arthur into the Underworld.
Taliesin who abides in the "region of the summer stars" is also linked to us through his
many works. These are mostly to be found in the "Book of Taliesin". Taliesin is our
bridge to the wisdom of the Otherworld. Here is the guardian of wisdom! Here is one that
can use the "Awen" to see the future or the past! Here is a teacher and a guide to the
images that appear before us all! The card's meaning for divination is tradition,
revelation, inspiration, heritage, counseling, the revelation of the spiritual within the
ordinary, initiation.
Perhaps there should be an outward visible sign in Druidic ritual and religious acts of the
cauldron, chains and rings that is known as the "Transformation?" I could perhaps be a
part of a Druid's initiation into the group, tribe or people. A test of transformation or
extemporaneous composition/divination might be required of a questor. At the point of
the Sword of Llwch Leawc (or the points of the nine spear/staffs of the Filidh) that might
be challenged to unravel a mystery by changing the murky water of ignorance into the
mead of poetical insight. Instead of a "Wedding at Cana" we would have the
Transformation of the Cana. Only one worthy of the mysteries of Cú Roi and Cú
Chulainn would be worthy to enter the revolving four sided fortress and return with the
Flower Maiden unharmed. After successfully unraveling the mystery and following the
stream out of the maze and leading the cliff with flowers in hand, one could award a Staff
of the Poets to the successful initiate or a brass bell branch that would signify their new
role as a journeyman among peers. The Druidic student, "cub" or "whelp" would then
become a Post of Upholding, a Champion of the Arts, a Clí of the Fildih and Draiothe.
The staff should contain their composition or answer in Ogham and be their badge of
merit for the rest of this lifetime.