The Samhain Goddess
Samhain, commonly known as Halloween, it is the eve of All Hallows Day, or the eve of All Saints Day; 31st October.
For Pagans Autumn begins at Samhain and it heralds the new year.
It is a time of death and decay, plants begin to die as the earth begins it’s sleep in order for it to be renewed, animals begin to prepare to hibernate, and the nights begin to draw in. Fallen leaves decay on the ground, and mists creep across the fields, bringing an ethereal feel to the world.
We too begin to draw within ourselves, we look back at the year that is dying, we take stock, we see what we no longer need in our lives, what no longer serves us.
Spirits will be amongst us as the veil between this world and the Underworld, (the Summerlands) where the dead are to be found is at its thinest so we are able to glimpse this otherworld and its inhabitants at this time.
Witches will lay places for those who have passed at their table on this night, for this is the time of the Great Gathering when all come home, it is a Witches celebration as this is a festival of the dead, where we honour our dead ancestors. The ghosts that manifest in our homes are kindly ones, old friends, grandparents, kindred from many ages, bringing their ancient knowledge and wisdom. This is not as grim as it sounds for Witches believe that death is the door that opens onto another life, for we believe in re-incarnation.
Strangely as this is considered the ‘New Year’we celebrate the Goddess as an old woman; so begins the dark time of the year and so we meet the Dark Mother, as the Goddess becomes the Crone.
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The Dark Mother comes at Samhain and stays through Yule until Imbolc. By Yule She has become much older, made of bone and stone. She has many names:- Sheela na Gig, The Beansidhe, Lilith, Hecate, Persephone, The Cailleach, The Hag, The Morrigan, Isis, Kali, Hella and Skadi.
On the Wheel of Andraste we call Her Cerridwen the Crone: - the bringer of death, transformation and rebirth.
She is the Queen of the Underworld: - an old cackling hag living in Her cave, brooding over Her cauldron, surrounded by bats, spiders and toads! Clothed in black, Her old sow by Her side, Her Hawk on Her shoulder.......Is She the Grandmother with the knowledge of the ancestors, or the Wicked Witch of fairy tales, the stuff of nightmares?
Old Women are portrayed in fairy stories as wicked witches, wicked step-mothers, and old cackling hags, this image, reinforcing the patriarchal disregard of age and women is perpetrated by the media with its ignorance of paganism, and its obsession with sound bites and celebrity.
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Cerridwen is associated with:-
The Cauldron
From the earliest time the Cauldron has been a magical symbol for the Crone Goddess and it has several functions; it can be a cauldron of healing and plenty, always full of whatever is needed. It is the boiling cauldron of death and rebirth as well as being the cauldron of poetry and inspiration.
The Sickle
The sickle cuts the grain, the last person to cut the grain is courting bad luck, but the grain has to be cut in order for new grain to be sown and grown. It is believed that Cerridwen’s sickle is used to cut the thread of life at the moment of death, which She then plunges into the cauldron of death. This does not mean physical death, but death of the old.
Yew Tree
Cerridwen is known as the Lady of Yew. The Yew is one of the most ancient trees of the ancestors and transformation. It is associated with death; it can be found growing in churchyards, because as I understand it cattle will not eat! But I also understand that there is a belief that a Witch cannot pass by it, a strange idea as it is known as the Witches Tree!
The Yew is the longest living of all the native trees, it can live for at least 2000 years, an evergreen with red berries, every part of the tree is poisonous.
it is one of the guardians of the underworld that assist in guiding souls from one world to the next, it is known as the Tree of Life, as it symbolises immortality, longevity, rebirth, change, strength, divinity and protection.
In the Celtic Tree Ogham, Yew is associated with Saturn and Mercury, both elements of transformation; it gives access to the ancestors and the Otherworld, representing death, rebirth and transformation.
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Cerridwen’s animals are:-
The Great White Sow.
The Sow is the sacred animal of the Pregnant Death Goddess; she is pregnant both with life and with the souls of the dead. Like the mother sow who eats her own young, we associate the Samhain Goddess as the Mother who eats up the souls of the dead that are placed in Her care; indeed wild pigs have long been associated with death for they are the scavengers who eat the corpses.
Some underworld goddesses of other cultures are associated with the sow; Ereshkigal in the Sumerian myths, Freya who is called Syr or Sow, Demeter was known as Phorcis the Sow, and one of the most revered Dakinis in Tantric Buddhism is Vajravarahi, the Diamond Sow.
The Toad
The Toad or Frog, have long been associated with the Goddess of Death and Regeneration. As a messenger of death a toad may crawl onto the chest of a sleeping person and suck their breath from their body, causing certain death.
Toads are familiars of Witches and of Hecate the Underworld Goddess who in Greek legend was known as Baubo meaning toad.
The Crow
The Crow a large black bird, that are naturally associated with Witches, and certainly Witches are associated with the Dark Goddess.
We saw in Her myth that Cerridwen consumes Gwion; as the Goddess of Fate who eats up souls She is associated with the Keres or the Fates of Death of Greek myth, who are death dealing black bird women or black hens.
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Cerridwen’s animals are:-
The Hawk
A bird of prey, a noble bird, strong and powerful; Cerridwen is strong and powerful, and noble in Her wisdom of Her age, She sees all, as the sharp eyed hawk does.
Black is the colour associated with Cerridwen
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The Legend of Cerridwen
In the Welsh myths and legends of The Mobinogion, we see the legendary story of Cerridwen.
She has a young boy named Gwion in charge of stirring and watching over a cauldron, known as Amen (which later became Awen, a Welsh word meaning “poetic inspiration”), the cauldron was full of a magickal brew that She was making for her son Morfran that would make him very wise and knowledgeable in order to make up for his physical failings as he was very ugly.
Cerridwen’s elixir of six herbs would need to brew within her cauldron for a year and a day and needed to be watched constantly. She instructed Gwion not to spill anything out of the cauldron; for only three drops of the brew would be needed as the rest would then become poison.
On the last day Gwion accidently splashes drops of the hot liquid onto his thumb, and without thinking he sucks on the burn only to suddenly become
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enlightened with this great power and wisdom intended for Morfran. The brew becomes poison and knowing that the contents of the cauldron will be of no use to Cerridwen, Gwion flees in fear.
From here we see a wonderful and magickal dance of shape shifting and transformation as Gwion who now has wonderful powers transforms himself into many different creatures as Cerridwen gives chase.
Gwion changed himself into a hare and fled,
Cerridwen changed herself into a greyhound and chased after him, he ran towards a river and changed into a fish, She became an Otter and swam after him, he turned himself into a bird, and She became a hawk swooping after him, just as She was about to gain on him he spied a heap of wheat on the floor of a barn and he transformed himself into a grain of corn, whereupon Cerridwen became a red hen and swallows him, taking him within to transform him further.
Nine months later Cerridwen gives birth to a boy, She doesn’t want to keep the child, but She cannot bring Herself to kill him so She places him in a wicker basket and floats him out to sea, he eventually comes to rest in the bullrushes where Prince Elfin discovers him, and is so enchanted with the child he adopts him and names him Taliesin, one of the greatest poets to ever live, and this was Merlin.
The concept of brewing knowledge for a year and a day, tending to the
fires, letting it simmer and marinate; we can see that through taking in this
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knowledge deeply and letting it do its work, flowing with it and letting it transform and change us, we have the ability to experience many different things. Perhaps we need to chase after what we truly desire as a result of desiring knowledge, like chasing down your dreams. Once we make this transformation we need to nurture and care for our projects or knowledge and when the time is right the fruits of our labour will be born.
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Is Cerridwen our Grandmother of time, or the wicked witch who screams our fears into the night? Certainly She is a Goddess not to be messed with, but do we fear Her because She represents change, and reminds us of our own mortality, are we afraid because we are conditioned to fear the old woman, the crone?
I find comfort in Her age and wisdom; I respect what She is telling me, as I respect Her for Her knowledge of the ancestors. I love that Her sense of humour has allowed Halloween to be so popular, and I love Her season, as I love Her.
Blessed Be!