Goddess Ceridwen Greetings Card by Karen Cater

£2.40

Ceridwen is regarded by many modern Pagans as the Celtic goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration. The lovely artwork, by Karen Cater, shows the goddess adding herbs to her cauldron under a full moon.

The text printed on the back of this card reads:

According to the late medieval Tale of Taliesin, Ceridwen's son, Morfran, was hideously ugly, so Ceridwen wanted to make him wise in compensation. She made a potion in her magical cauldron to grant the gift of wisdom and poetic inspiration.

The mixture had to be boiled for a year and a day. She set Morda, a blind man, to tend the fire beneath the cauldron, while Gwion Bach, a young boy, stirred the potion. The first three drops gave wisdom; the rest was a fatal poison. Three hot drops spilled onto Gwion's thumb as he stirred, burning him. He instinctively put his thumb in his mouth, and gained the wisdom and knowledge Ceridwen had meant for her son.

Realizing that Ceridwen would be angry Gwion fled. Ceridwen chased him. Using the powers of the potion he turned himself into a hare. She became a greyhound. He became a fish. She turned into an otter. He turned into a bird; she became a hawk. Finally, he turned into a single grain of corn. She then became a hen and, being a Goddess (or enchantress, depending on the version of the tale), she found and ate him. But because of the potion he was not destroyed.

When Ceridwen became pregnant, she knew it was Gwion and resolved to kill the child when he was born. However, he was so beautiful that she couldn't do it. She threw him in the ocean instead, sewing him inside a leather-skin bag. The child was rescued on a Welsh shore; the reborn infant grew to became the legendary bard Taliesin.

Karen Cater is fascinated by the esoteric or mystical qualities of her subject matter, incorporating layers and levels of meaning into her compositions by her use of correspondences of imagery or colour, breathing life and identity into old song titles or figures from mythology or history.

This card comes cellophane wrapped and is 105mm x 210mm (4 and 1/4" x 8 and 1/4"), and comes with a kraft paper envelope.

It's blank inside for you to write your own message

Categories: All Cards by Karen Cater, Goddess Cards, All Cards.

Ceridwen's name is derived from the Celtic word "cerru," meaning cauldron. Like the Goddess herself, the cauldron symbolizes the transformative power of magic, wisdom, rebirth and creative inspiration.

For these reasons she is seen as a patron Goddess of witches and wizards. She is also associated with the moon, fertility, science, prophecy and poetry.