Entering the Pearl-Rimmed Cauldron: A 13-month Immersion into the Lunar Keys of the Avalonian Cycle of Revealing

My poetry, from the cauldron it was uttered

From the breath of Nine Maidens it was kindled

The cauldron of the Chief of Annwfyn: what is its fashion?
A dark ridge around its border and pearls.
It does not boil the food of a coward.

• “Preiddeu Annwn” (“The Spoils of Annwn”) from Llyfr Taliesin (Book of Taliesin)

In Spiral Two, we will harness the reflective power of the moon to kindle the Pearl-Rimmed Cauldron of the Otherworld as a vessel of transformation within us. Together, we will undertake a journey into right-relationship with ourselves, with the land, and with the Divine Feminine as she reveals herself in the lore and legends of Celtic Britain and Welsh tradition. We will approach the pearls that encircle the cauldron as a mythopoetic map -- each pearl a lunar month, each month a step along the cyclic pathway of the lunar year. 

The Avalonian Cycle of Revealing is a system of practice comprised of 14 Lunar Keys -- one for each of the 13 Full Moons of the year, plus the Moon of Cycle, which occurs during a Total Lunar Eclipse. Each Lunar Key is made up of three main parts: one of the lunar pearls, an herbal ally, and a mythic portion -- teachings taken from the myths of Ceridwen, Bloduewedd, Rhiannon, Branwen, and Arianrhod. As we work through this year-and-a-month practice that reveals the nature of our Sovereign Cauldron, we will -- like Ceridwen -- add components to its reflective waters, so that we may brew an elixir that will reveal the three shining drops of wisdom within us.