C for Cauldron

"Double, double toil and trouble; fore burn and cauldron bubble." Even if they have never seen or read it before, most people know these lines are from Macbeth. But what is it about these lines that makes them stand out above all others? Is it the imagery that Shakespeare used? If you have never read it, you would not know. How about this; what would happen if you asked a group of random people to describe a "Witches House?" At some point, they would probably mention a cauldron. But why is this? Why no matter who is writing does a witch story involve a cauldron? what is so special about it?

The nice thing about being in the military is that it has helped open the analytical side of my brain more. Looking at the cauldron strictly from this point of view, it is practical. After all, what self-respecting witch would be found without at least a potion or two on her shelves. In order to do this, she needs something to mix it in. And what better item the a big cast iron cauldron sitting over the stove. Such a large item is sure to allow her to make enough potion to turn any unknowing "mortal" into a toad. Now obviously in the "days of old" everyone had a large cast iron pot that would be used for cooking, so no one would be the wiser to see one in the town "wisewomans" home.

Now this could certainly prove a problem for the modern witch. With the advent of stainless steal cookware, a large cast iron pot is gonna stick out. What to do. We cannot completely drop it from our practice. After all it was Cerridwen who who stirred a cauldron containing a potion for knowledge wisdom and prophecy for a year and a day. While we may not cook potions in our cauldrons anymore, many of us still keep them as a symbol, but a symbol of what? This is up to the individual witch. Many keep them in honor or Cerridwen. Others keep them as a symbol of femininity. After all when you look at the cauldron, it is easy to see that it is shaped like a woman's pregnant belly.

Of course, who's to say that a cauldron has to be cast iron. Many modern witches do their work in the kitchen. So why not have a functional "cauldron" in the pots that you use to prepare meals. What better magic than the magic that you not only share with others, but that helps nourish them as well. After all, when you get right down to it, that's all a cauldron is, a large metal pot for cooking. So get those cauldrons out, start honoring, start cooking and start connecting. Until next time Blessed Be.