Contemplation on the Three Cauldrons

In my contemplation on the matter of the Three Cauldrons I have developed a relationship between them and the dúile of the self and the elements of being (since both sets of concepts seem to address relationships between qualities within ourselves and in the universe). As a guide in this development, I followed the lead of the ancient Vedic seers in seeing the actions and interactions of the Three Cauldrons upon one another. In the development of the three gunas (sattva, rajas and tamas, the qualities of life), the Vedic Seers discovered and expressed these relationships[i]  in the following manner:

The Three Gunas

Sattva (The Concentrating Tendency) Consciousness, Light, Interlinking and Cohesion

Rajas (The Revolving Tendency) Experience, Periodic Motion, Rhythmic Activity, Creative Thought

Tamas (The Dispersing Tendency) Existence, Disintegration, Darkness, Dissolution

The Stages of Existence[ii]

Consciousness of Consciousness	the Self or Atman
Existence of Consciousness	Divinity or Isvara
Experience of Consciousness	Human Nature or Jiva
Consciousness of Experience	the inner faculties or Antahkarana
Existence of Experience	life energies or Prána
Experience of Experience	the feelings and emotions or Rasa
Consciousness of Existence	the senses or Indriya
Existence of Existence	principals of the elements or Mahábhuta
Experience of Existence	the inanimate world

 The Three Cauldrons (from the Cauldron of Poesy materials attributed to Amergin) almost directly correspond to the Three Gunas from Ayurvedic teachings. The Stages of Existence seem to describe the same things as the Dúile in Druidic cosmology. I’m not surprised that such commonalities exist between the Vedic traditions and the Celtic practices, since both were very conservative, orally preserved traditions with a class/cast responsible for their integrity and preservation. Both groupings were derived from a common Indo-European traditional/cultural source and the vision seers, poets and holy teachers interpreted each.

The Stages of Existence of Vedic tradition and the Dúile from Celtic tradition could be considered to be related in the following ways:

Self -Soul (Head)

Divinity - Brain

Human Nature - Face

Inner Faculties - Intuition (Mind)

Life Energies - Breath

Feelings and Emotions - Blood

Senses - Skin (Nature)

Elements - Flesh

Inanimate - Bones

 The Three Gunas also seem to have correspondences to the Cauldrons of Poesy and their characteristics as:

Sattva (Consciousness) - Soís (Wisdom),

Rajas (Motion and Experience) - Érma (Motion and Vocation),

Tamas (Existence) - Goriath (Formation and Incubation)

I considered the effects that the Three Cauldrons have on one another, as well as their actions and interactions. The similarities that exist between them and the Gunas suggested the following tables of correspondences for the cauldrons and the dúile, as well as their states of being:

The Three Cauldrons

Coire Soís (Cauldron of Wisdom) Consciousness - Future Creation, Knowledge, Inspiration

Coire Érma (Cauldron of Vocation) Experience - Present Motion, Observation, Training

Coire Goríath  (Cauldron of Formation) Existence - Past Incubation, Formation, Tradition

The Nine Dúile

Consciousness of Consciousness Existence of Consciousness Experience of Consciousness	Head, Self, Sky  Brain, Spirit, Stars  Face, Image, Sun
Consciousness of Experience Existence of Experience Experience of Experience	Mind, Intuition, Moon  Breath, Creativity, Wind  Blood, Actions, Sea
Consciousness of Existence Experience of Existence Existence of Existence	Skin, Interaction, Nature  Flesh, Form, Earth  Bone, Structure, Stone

The following table details these relationships of the Cauldrons with the properties of the Three Gunas:[iii]

Properties of the Three Gunas

Quality	Soís - Sattva	Érma - Rajas	Goríath - Tamas
Cauldron	Wisdom	Vocation	Incubation
Color	White - purity, harmony	Red - action, passion	Black - darkness
Time	Day - clarity	Sunrise, Sunset - transition	Night - darkness
Energy	Neutral Balanced	Positive Sets things in motion	Negative Retards motion
World	Sky - Heaven or Space home of the gods region of peace	Sea - Atmosphere realm of the Fomorii region of storms	Land - Earth lands of the people realm of inertia
Cosmic Levels	Spiritual - Causal Or Ideal	Mental - Subtle Astral	Physical - Gross or Physical
Beings	Deities and Sages	Humans	Ancestors Minerals, Plants, Animals
States	Waking	Dreaming	Deep Sleep

The relationship between Tamas and Goríath appears to be inverted in some respects, since formation implies action. I think we should view this formation as more of a continuation of existence through family, tribe, and social structure.  Each of these forms tends to retard change and promotes that which already exists. Some of the differences between the two systems become similarities when the cauldron’s other meaning of “incubation” is considered. Incubation occurs within darkness. It is a continuity of formation produced by that which already is. Inertia or resistance to change is only another way of describing the effects of cultural traditions and standards on a society. Among the Druids, knowledge was learned through repetition, association, and incubation within the darkness of the student’s bed or room. Each day’s lessons of newly acquired knowledge were learned and saved as memories that were linked with existing knowledge in a Memory Grove of the mind. Among the Filidh, this darkened cell of learning was known as the “Bed of the Poets.”

 

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[i] Alain Daniélou ,The Myths and Gods of India, pp. 22-25.

[ii] Ibid, p.27.

[iii] Dr. David Frawley, Ayurveda and the Mind, the Healing of Consciousness.

What's in the Cauldron?

I've resisted blogging for many years now but have finally taken hand and knife to this one. Hopefully, I won't clutter the Internet with too much dross or drivel.

Here's links and an article to what it's all about:

What is an imbas experience?There seems to be some confusion about this topic among some frequent posters to this newsgroup. It's certainly not a way to self-aggrandizement. It is however a way that one connects to the gods.That means that it is a pathway of dedication. I apologize in advance to those of you who already know what an imbas experience is.Good historical and scholarly information about imbas can be found here:

http://www.fhaoil-choin.org/imbasforosnai.htm

A short description of my personal take on imbas can be found at this URL:

http://www.summerlands.com/crossroads/library/awenimba.htm

This is a part of "The Celtic Workshops" a course I taught online forseveral years:

http://www.summerlands.com/crossroads/black_cauldron/workshop.htm

The Celtic Workshop is a part of "O'Dubhain's Cauldron" a Pagan Bestof the Web website which is itself a part of the Summerlands Public Library and the Summerlands itself (the website that my wife Deborah,many talented others and myself created seven years ago):O'Dubhain's Cauldron:

http://www.summerlands.com/crossroad...n/coiredub.htm

The Summerlands:

http://www.summerlands.com/

But enough about all that for now! :-)

Imbas is an experience that has been described by Druids in the past. Amergin described it in the Cauldron of Poesy materials as translated by Erynn Laurie and found at:

http://www.seanet.com/~inisglas/cop1.html

Here is different version of part of this poem:

The Cauldron of Vocation

Ar-caun Coire
nÉrmai
intlechtaib raith
rethaib sofis
srethaib imbais,
indber
n-ecnai,
ellach súithi,
sru/aim n-ordan,
indocbáil doer,
domnad
insce,
intlecht ruirthech,
rómnae roiscni...

I acclaim the
Cauldron of Érmae
with understandings of grace
with accumulations of
knowledge
with strewings of imbas,
(which is) the estuary of wisdom
the
uniting of scholarship,
the streams of splendour,
the exalting of the
ignoble,
the mastering of language,
quick understanding,
the darkening
of speech...
Attributed to Nede mac Adne and translated by Liam Breatnach

I put together a version of these texts more in line with my own imbas that stands on the shoulders of previous translations and versions:

The Three Cauldrons

Trí coiri bit en cach dúini:
coire érma, coire goriath, coire áiged.

Three Cauldrons that exist within each person: the Cauldron of Formation, the Cauldron of Vocation, and the Cauldron of Celebration.

Amergin, White Knee and the Triads of Ireland

My own existence springs forth from the Cauldron of Formation,
Which was created by the gods from the dúile;
Enlightened is each inspiration
That streams forth in my speech and from my center of being.

I am Amergin White Knee,
Ancient in years and gray of hair.
My inspirations are found within
The many forms of poetry
That are born within my Cauldron of Wisdom.

The Gods do not orient each person’s Cauldrons equally
Or fill them with the same talents and abilities:
Some are formed upside down, some tilted or upright.

Some are empty, while others are half full,
Some are filled with knowledge like Eber and Donn,
Capable of creating chants of life and death,
Through a skillful combination of words
In the power of three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter,
And possessing the strength of three measures:
Double letters, long vowels and short vowels.

My Cauldron of Vocation is trained
Through a study of the arts of poetry
And sustains me through proper composition.

I sing also of the Cauldron of Knowledge
That allocates the gifts of wisdom
According to the laws of each art
And the work of each artist in general.[i]

Question: Is the root of poetical art found in a person’s body or within their soul?

Some say that it is found in the soul, since the body is brought to life by the soul. Others say that it is through the body that the skills of our ancestors are passed down to us, hence it is true to say that the source of poetical arts is within a person’s body; though in every second person it is not to be found at all.[ii]

Question: What is the root of poetical art and all knowledge?

Not hard to say. Every person is born with three cauldrons existing within them: The Cauldron of Formation, the Cauldron of Vocation and the Cauldron of Wisdom.

All people are born with their Cauldron of Formation upright, which promotes growth in the body and the learning of childhood.

Secondly, the Cauldron of Vocation is properly filled and oriented after each
person has done the work of turning it from its original position on its side.

Finally, the Cauldron of Wisdom is originally upside down in all people, and it
distributes the first gifts and aptitudes of art.

In unenlightened people, the Cauldron of Vocation is completely upside down; while it is on its side in people who practice the arts of Poetry and Barddism; for the skilled it is completely upright as is the case with the Ollúnaidh (Filidh or Doctors) and the
Draoithe (Druids). The position of the Cauldron of Vocation determines a person’s level of skill, and does not yield proficiency until it is turned by either an awareness of sorrow or the thrill of ecstasy.[iii]

Question: How many forms of sorrow will turn the Cauldron of Vocation?

Not hard to say. There are four forms of sorrow that occur within a person: longing, grief, jealousy, and a questing for the Gods; though the causes of each of these are sorrows found in the world. There are two forms of ecstasy that can turn the Cauldrons upright in a wise person: divine joy and human joy. Human joy has four forms: the union of marriage, the excellence of good health, the joy of graduation after long study in the poetical arts; joy in the experience of imbas granted by the nine hazels of wisdom of the Well of Segais, which flows in its excellence against mundane streams along the Boyne with the relentless determination like a wild boar in valor, or like a racehorse in the Sun’s splendor, at the Solstice during the
most perfect year of its endeavors. [iv]

When the Cauldron of Wisdom is turned by divine ecstasy, rather than by human joy alone, its special grace is a gift that transforms a person, who becomes both sacred and knowledgeable, so that their works include miracles, prophecies, judgments and precedents. It is these people who establish the wisdom that guides our knowledge and regulates the forms of our speech. though this knowledge comes from within a person, its truth and its power is from the Gods and originates from outside of a person.

[i] The text of the Cauldron of Poesy is all traditionally
attributed to Amergin. Several translations of the text have been done (to my
knowledge): one by P.L. Henry, one by Liam Breatnach, another by Caitlin
Matthews and still another by Erynn Laurie. Anne Power transcribed the original
text. I have studied materials from each of these translations and am offering a
combined version of them and their meanings in my own words.
[ii] Ibid.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid

I personally had this kind of experience after years of questing and months of sustained and dedicated meditation. It's what started me on the Druid way. It is what let me experience a connection to spirit and deity that gave me a direct personal experience of life beyond life and the reality that surrounds/touches the present reality.

Don't take my word for it or place me on a pedestal for having the experience. You can discover your own imbas that comes from the gods yet is found through an inner search. See for yourself as Cathbad told Cú Chulainn. Seeking truth and finding it for yourself is what the Druid way is allabout. That is the "Truth Against the World." That is an imbas experience. That is how you can know for yourself.

Searles O'Dubhain