Alright, let’s see what I can write about the Cauldron of Poesy!
This is a concept in Irish mythology that explains the way energy can flow through a person. I have seen it compared with chakras, but the two are wildly different. To make that comparison is to dumb down both systems - and we’re not gonna do that!
The Cauldron of Poesy is an ancient Irish manuscript that details three cauldrons that each person is born with. These are the Cauldron of Wisdom, the Cauldron of Motion, and the Cauldron of Incubation. The three cauldrons are in different positions in each person’s life, naturally moving from upright, slanted, and upside down depending on one’s life circumstances.
Rather than being points of energy, these cauldrons are containers of different substances. They are containers for transformation where one can brew and tend to their health, wisdom, and inspiration.
I won’t pretend to have a full understanding of these cauldrons (yet!) but I wanted to leave you with a few stanzas of the prose, translated by Erynn Rowan Laurie. At the website listed, you can read more about their study of the text and their own experiences.
The Gods do not apportion the same to everyone –
tipped, inverted, right-side-up;
no knowledge, half-knowledge, full-knowledge –
for Eber and Donn,
the making of fearful poetry,
vast, mighty draughts of death-spells
in active voice, in passive silence, in the neutral balance between,
in the proper construction of rhyme,
in this way it narrates the path and function of my cauldron.I sing of the Cauldron of Wisdom
which bestows the merit of every art,
through which treasure increases,
which magnifies every common artisan,
which builds up a person through their gift.Where is the root of poetry in a person; in the body or in the soul? They say it is in the soul, for the body does nothing without the soul. Others say it is in the body where the arts are learned, passed through the bodies of our ancestors. It is said this is the seat of what remains over the root of poetry; and the good knowledge in every person’s ancestry comes not into everyone, but comes into every other person.