Book of Shadows

Your Cauldron

(This is not mine. This is from hecatescauldron.org, but the original site no longer exists so I am posting it here.)

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"The spark of the spirit here within
Will make the magick now begin
Fire burn, Cauldron churn
Make this wheel of magick turn!"

"The Witch's cauldron and besom are two additional tools that are closely related to a Witch than anything else, although the wand, cup, athame and pentacle to some are considered the four primary tools.

When one sees a picture of a Witch, she is usually depicted with either a cauldron or besom and both, as considered a Witch's tool and even in the Great Rite, it is said "so the cup is to the female" but it is the cauldron that is the true womb of the Goddess. Because of the association between the Witch and her cauldron, this gives great power to the cauldron.

The cauldron has the reputation as the utensil used for brewing magickal concoctions. An indispensable tool for the Witch is the cauldron, which combines the influences of the four elements. When it is filled with water for divinatory rites, it symbolizes the element of water. That stands on a tripod emphasizes the triple aspect of the Goddess of Maiden, Mother and Crone. Objects from the Earth (wood, herbs, flowers, resins, etc.), when lighted produce fire, are placed in the cauldron. The subsequent smoke that swirls up into the air is symbolic of the element of air. Thus, all four elements and the triple aspect of the Goddess combine into one tool making it a very magickal tool for the Witch...

Cauldrons never were those large huge pots that illustrators fancy when they draw old hags brewing up potions. Rather, the cauldron had to be small so it would heat quickly and evenly over a wood fire. Besides, I know we witches can perform magick but trying to lift a huge iron cauldron is quite a piece of magick in and of itself! In the ancient days of medieval midwives, the cauldron was most likely used to heat water for the birthing of a baby or preparing the wash water with herbs for cleansing the dead. From birth to death, the cauldron was used for a variety of purposes, including remedies and medicines for healing the sick or bringing love.

The cauldrons can be the main point of interest in a ritual, used for developing your own oils or brews and for divination purposes by scrying with still water, stream or dripping wax into the water and watching patterns as the wax expands.

The Celts associated the cauldron with fertility, abundance and rebirth...

In Greek mythology, Hecate, Queen of Witches, could restore Her subjects to to youth in Her magickal cauldron...

The magick of the cauldron is the magick of the female. The symbol of the cauldron allows us to approach the Mystery of the Goddess and our connection to it and to Her in a variety of ways. From the Cauldron we are born. Unto it we return. Throughout our lives we dance on its rim.

The great symbol of the Goddess is the cauldron. Its use and symbology runs throughout many rituals in many Witches' homes which offers the Witch a variety of opportunities to explore the value of this symbol in a variety of meaningful ways. The more a Witch works with her cauldron, the better she will understand it.

The cauldron, the primary symbol of women's Witchcraft, sits in the center of many Circles. The center of the Circle, like the center of the atlar, is the place of spirit. It is where the Goddess comes through to Her women, our point of contact with Her. It is the focal point of our magick and our invocations. Power unites in a single body which is in the center of the Circle and is contained and amplified by the Circle itself. Through the sacred center, the cone of magickal power is released into the world or into the care of the Goddess.

The cauldron has three different functions. The cauldron is seen as rebirth and transformation in that we go from life to death to life again. As such, the Cauldron is associated with the Crone Goddess such as Hecate and with the womb of every woman. Another function of the Cauldron is the Cauldron of Inspiration – of initiation into the source of the beginnings of wisdom. This cauldron corresponds with the Maiden aspect of the Goddess – the protectress of those entering the Mysteries. It is also a divinatory tool – a vessel of water in which to scry (a method of receiving inspiration). Here is the water of the womb and the fastness of the ocean/lake. The third cauldron is the source of plenty, the cauldron seen as a vessel for food. Its spiritual nourishment is endless and bottomless. This is the Mother, the provider of eternal plenty, both physically and spiritually. Here also is the womb of the Goddess and the womb of every woman.

At Samhain and /or Dark Moon rituals, many Witches put water in their cauldrons to facilitate meditation/visualization and also scrying as well. Looking in a cauldron full of water helps put one in a meditative state of mind. Some witches stir the cauldron of water and then scry at the ripples in the water. So, stir briefly and peer within to see dimply what lies ahead.

Another magickal working with the cauldron is to once again have water in the cauldron symbolizing a birth of something new which you wish in your life. Also inscribe on a magickal candle what you want and place the lit candle next to the cauldron. Then stir the waters in the cauldron which represents bringing life to your spell, because the movement within the waters is the release of your spell and the quickening of your desires.

You can say the following chant with any of your cauldron workings:

Fire burn and Cauldron churn
To make this Wheel of magick turn
By North and South, by East and West
Please grant me what I request.

Like your other tools, your cauldron must be blessed and then consecrated, and the best appropriate time to do this is when the moon is either Dark or Full."