Page 9 - Kallima spiritual Centre - Newsletter - September-October 2020

Double Double Toil and Trouble, Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble....
So as were approaching Samhain I wanted to talk to you all about Cauldrons and how they can be overlooked. You’ll see them everywhere as decorations and parts of costumes during Samhain (or Halloween to muggles). Many witches just use them for singular things not realising they are very powerful tools to use and can be all you need on an altar as they can represent the 4 elements when used a particular way, but I will get to that in a moment.
First let’s talk more about Cauldrons and how they were used by our ancestors and how they are used in our modern times.
The word Cauldron comes from the Latin word caldaria meaning “cooking pot” in turn from caldārium, “hot bath”. The word kettle comes from the Germanic word for the same cooking implement kessel, Middle English chetel, Old Norse ketill. The Middle Irish word for cauldron was Coiri or caere, which meant something like “place of liquid or moisture”. The Welsh word for cauldron was pair or peir. We have many cauldrons within our great mother herself - a circular depression in the Earth caused by volcanic activity is also sometimes called a cauldron or a caldera.
Cauldrons were practical tools used by our ancestors around the home - magic and mundane alike. You'd more than likely see someone cooking dinner in one in the hearth of the home or outside over a fire. However they were also used by witches of old to brew potions or incense. They have been used in some form or fashion within different ancient societies from bathing to cooking. Nowadays, witches are more likely to use their cauldrons to hold or prepare ingredients for spell work, although some may still use theirs to make the occasional potion.
Cauldrons are sometimes said to be one of the primary tools of Witchcraft, more often it appears on the ‘consider it but don’t sweat it’ list. In modern witchcraft cauldrons are usually small ceremonial objects rather than large pots you suspend in the fire to cook up dinner or your magick potion. They have their uses however, and should be seriously considered in my opinion, they can be overlooked. The modern cauldron may take many shapes. Usually a pot made of cast iron, with three legs and a handle, perhaps decorated with a witch symbol. These are
available in many sizes from small enough to fit in your hand to large enough hang over the fire pit.
Or your cauldron may be a pretty ceramic pot that doesn’t resemble the traditional cauldron at all, but if you say it is a cauldron then that is what it becomes. Cauldrons are also available in copper, pewter, stainless steel and a variety of materials that may dictate how they can be used.
Kitchen Witches may collect practical, functional cauldrons and may even have a slow cooker dedicated to magickal cooking called ‘the electric cauldron’. Your oven ready cauldron and your gas/electric cauldron will be good friends to you. They are all you need to make candles and soap, infuse oils for salves and lotions, dressing and anointing oils, or to make a big pot of hot spiced wine or cider for your next Sabbat gathering.
However only use these particular vessels as your magickal cauldrons not for normal mundane uses as well.
The only real requirement for a cauldron is that it be shaped in such a way that it can hold water and that it is made of a material that won’t burn. If it has a lid, it’s a bonus. Size only matters if it restricts the functionality of the cauldron.
Magickal Uses for your Cauldrons
Spell Pot – The cauldron is also a symbol of Transformation, it becomes a very meaningful place to house spell materials while you are working on them or during a resting period for multi-day spells.
Using a cauldron this way, a cauldron can serve almost as an altar itself, containing all your spell ingredients as you work over it, taking them out and dropping them in as needed. Once complete, the cauldron is covered, the spell contained, brewing, drawing in the energy the spell was meant to draw, until the magic has done its work and the cauldron is cleaned out again, ready for the next spell.
Potion making – The Cauldron is naturally a good tool to use for whipping up the simple feast, brewing up salves or syrups or other potions or melting down wax for candles. You want different cauldrons for making food and potions and crafts, of course. You should also be sure to check that your cauldron is safe to use if you intend to consume your finished potion.
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