Moon 2
The Moon of Distillation
Moon Two of the Avalonian Cycle of Revealing is called the Moon of Distillation, and is associated with the herb yarrow (Achillea millefolium). It is the second of four moons during the Time of Ceridwen, and the lunar month begins on the first full moon when the sun is in Sagittarius; the full moon is in Gemini.
The unconscious self is a vast and mysterious vessel, filled with all manner of things. It serves as an archive of our memories, a catalog of our experiences, and a storehouse of treasures awaiting discovery. It is also the abode of the shadow: the place where we file away all the things we don’t like about ourselves, all the things we were told are unacceptable about who we are and what we desire, and all the things that happened to us which are simply too painful to keep in our consciousness. As we explore the nature of our soul’s cauldron, part of our task is to identify as best we can the component ingredients that have become part of our innate brew. This deep inventory permits us to see the building blocks that form our perspectives about ourselves, our worth, and our relationship with others and the world. The process of inner distillation uses the alembic of our intention to seek out the outdated energetic patterns actively at work in our lives, so we may know them for what they are, liberate the lessons they hold for us, and move forward with clarity—leaving the poison of our pain behind.
The Mythic Portion
Much work and preparation are required to brew the Draught of Wisdom. Ceridwen gathers many different herbs at their magically auspicious times and sets them to boil in her cauldron where they must be constantly stirred, and the water within constantly replenished, for a year and a day. At the end of this time, three drops of liquid will separate from the poisonous brew and emerge from the cauldron. Whomever these drops fall upon will receive the gift of all wisdom. Ceridwen enlists the help of an old blind man named Morda to stir the bubbling liquid, and charges a young boy named Gwion Bach to keep the fire aflame.
On the last day of the process and weary from her labors, Ceridwen sets Morfran before the cauldron to await the drops should they emerge before she returned from her much-needed rest. Not long after this, the elixir is at last complete, and as the three drops leap from the cauldron, Gwion Bach pushes Morfran out of the way and receives the Draught of Wisdom intended for Ceridwen’s son. The cauldron shatters with a terrible shriek, its foul-smelling liquid befouling the hearth before oozing out the door to poison the surrounding landscape. Ceridwen is awakened from her sleep.
The Work of the Moon of Distillation
The great labor involved in creating the Elixir of Wisdom teaches that our path to wholeness is one that takes time, patience, and endurance. The Wise Old Man Morda (“Great Good”) and the child Gwion Bach (“Little Innocent”) can be seen to represent the wise old man (the senex) and the Eternal Child (the puer eternus), Jungian archetypes that are in opposition to each other, creating fundamental psychological tension. The senax represents measured caution, discipline, and strict adherence to rules and tradition, whereas the puer is impulsive, chaotic, and acts from a place of pure instinct. Experience is what stirs the pot, even when we are blind to what is contained within and must coax it to the surface through this inner agitation. The energy of potential is what keeps it boiling. Everything must be added in its time and in its place, and the journey within must be one of dedication and discipline. The year and a day is a Celtic measurement of time where the day is a liminal period that brings the entire endeavor out of time and places it firmly in the Otherworld—the inner realm.
After all the work involved in the seeking of wisdom, at last the goal has been reached in the form of the three drops. These drops separate themselves from the rest of the brew, although they came from the same liquid in much the same way that wisdom is a gift that originates in our darkness. The energy that liberates this wisdom is the same that breaks the container that has held all the darkness for so long; the poison is released and washes away in the face of the newfound knowledge. The innocent, the wonder child, the potential or unrealized Self pushes aside the darkness to receive the drops of wisdom.
This process of inner distillation is difficult work. It requires a commitment to uncovering the nature of our shadow, as well as the courage to accept responsibility for the ways in which our shadow tendencies have made themselves manifest in our lives. It’s not enough to say that we have been hurt by others; we must also accept that in this place of hurt and arising from our desire to keep ourselves from experiencing further hurt, we have also hurt others. Perhaps perpetuating the cycle of hurt has not been our intention; perhaps inflicting pain was an unconscious reaction to situations that feel like the ones our original woundings arose from initially. However, intention and impact are two very different things. It is said that hurt people hurt people; while we are not responsible for having been hurt, we must still aim to own the ways in which we have acted out from that place of hurt.
It is this hard-won understanding of the self which are the drops of wisdom that arise from the shadow work process of self-distillation. Likewise, the shadow compensations that we gradually learn to leave behind are what make up the poison that breaks open the vessel of our old limitations. What was, no longer defines us.
Only we can know what ingredients must be brought to the inner cauldron which will yield our personal wisdom. Examining one aspect of the self at a time and placing it into our soul’s crucible for distillation will bring us closer to the root of our inner woundings. The closer we get to the foundation or origination of our shadow-self manifestations, the more potent will be the three drops of wisdom produced by the cauldron’s overflow. We must be diligent in our seeking and disciplined in our work if we wish to obtain our desire. Sometimes we must work blindly and with a child’s trust, remembering always that the goddess is overseeing our process. In the end, however, she must set us before the cauldron alone, for only we ourselves can make the changes that will bring us to greater wholeness.
Searching Deeper
Ceridwen is the keeper of the Cauldron of Inspiration, and it is from this cauldron that she bestows the gift of Awen—Divine Inspiration. Awen has been represented symbolically by the Three Rays of Illumination, written like so: /|\ . A symbol created by Iolo Morganwg during the Druidic Revival movement of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, one interpretation of the Three Rays is that it describes the radiating creative energy of the Divine flowing down from Source to become manifest in the physical world. The Three Drops of prophetic wisdom derived from Ceridwen’s cauldron can be seen as represented by the rays of the Awen as well.
When Gwion obtained the Three Drops, he started down a path of transformation that changed his destiny forever. He would go on to become Taliesin, the greatest bard ever known to the Island of the Mighty and the paragon to which all other bards aspired. His name, which means “shining brow,” was a mark of Taliesin’s wisdom; the gift of Awen was said to cause a ‘Fire in the Head,” certainly a testimony to the illuminating wisdom Gwion had received from the Cauldron of Ceridwen. Taliesin goes on to have incredible adventures and to serve as a bard in the courts of kings and chieftains. He is considered to be a semi-historical personage, in part because there is the mythological Taliesin who appears in stories such as Ystoria Taliesin and Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Vita Merlini, as well as a sixth-century bardic figure of the same name who counted as his patrons Brochfael Powys, Urien Rheged, and Maelgwn Gwynedd. It is the historic Taliesin who ostensibly wrote the poems collected in the Llyfr Taliesin, the earliest extant version of which comes to us from the early fourteenth century.11
Much is known about Taliesin … but what became of Morfran?
While nothing more is said of him in this tale—it is the Story of Taliesin, after all—there are references to Morfran elsewhere in Welsh lore. He is immortalized in the Trioedd Ynys Prydein as one of the Three Slaughter-Blocks of the Island of Britain and is also there accounted as one of the Three Irresistible Knights of Arthur’s Court; irresistible because it was repugnant for anyone to refuse him anything because of his ugliness. In Culhwch ac Olwen, the earliest surviving Arthurian prose tale, Morfran is named as one of the three survivors of the Battle of Camlan; he was covered in hair like that of a stag and was so ugly that no one dared attack him during the battle, believing him to be some manner of demon. In the end, Morfran was able to take what Ceridwen thought was his greatest weakness and turn it into his greatest asset, becoming a warrior of renown and one of Arthur’s best knights.
Seeking Sovereignty Within:
Journaling Prompts and Self-Reflective Questions
Moon Two
The Moon of Distillation
The Time of Ceridwen
Mythic Focus: Ceridwen sets Gwion Bach to stirring the cauldron for a year and a day. When the brew is ready, he takes the three drops meant for Morfran for himself.
Personal Insights Around This Moon’s Mythic Portion: Meditate upon the portion of Ceridwen’s story associated with this moon, and reflect it within yourself. Her story is your story.
The Focus of the Moon of Distillation by Phase
Seek the lessons of the Moon of Distillation at each moon phase by using the Stations of the monthly Cycle of Healing; be sure to journal all of the insights, symbols, and guidance you receive from each goddess at each moon phase. As you work with the information you receive between each phase, perhaps following the daily process outlined in Chapter 3 of this book, and using tools such as trance postures and doorways as detailed in Avalon Within, be sure to record those insights in your journal as well.
Full Moon: Connect with Ceridwen at the full moon. Review the work of the previous month and the insights it brought to you, set up your work for the coming month, and ask for insights on the issue of focus which may have shifted or deepened due to the work you have done.
Third Quarter: Station of Descent in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of focus to Rhiannon to explore through the filters of the Station of Descent and the Moon of Distillation.
Dark Moon: Station of Confrontation in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of focus to Ceridwen to explore through the filters of the Station of Confrontation and the Moon of Distillation.
First Quarter: Station of Emergence in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of the focus to Blodeuwedd to explore through the filters of the Station of Emergence and the Moon of Distillation.
Night before the Full Moon: Station of Resolution in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of focus to Arianrhod to explore through the filters of the Station of Resolution and the Moon of Distillation
At any point in the month, bring the issue of focus to Branwen to explore through the Station of Integration and the Moon of Distillation. Some women will do this on the night after the dark moon in counterpoint to working with Arianrhod on the night before the full moon.
Herbal Ally for the Moon of Distillation
Yarrow (Achillea millefolium)
Creating the Mother Elixir: On the night of the full moon, create your Yarrow Lunar Elixir using the directions found on page 105 of Chapter 4. Be sure to label and date the bottle you are using to store the Mother Elixir. Journal any of your experiences around the creation of the Yarrow Elixir.
Prepare the Daughter Elixir: After you have made the Mother Elixir, use the directions found on page 107 of Chapter 4 to prepare a dosage bottle for use in the daily experience of this elixir throughout the month. Remember to use a blue or amber dropper bottle for this purpose and to clearly label your Daughter Elixir.
Daily Work with the Yarrow Elixir: As discussed in Chapter 4, begin your daily exploration of the Yarrow Elixir. Be sure to journal everything you can about how the elixir makes you feel, what you think its energetic actions are, where it sits in your energy body, and any and all impressions, insights, symbols, visions, and memories it presents to you:
Week One of Moon Two: Immerse yourself in the lunar elixir by taking it every day, reflecting upon how it makes you feel, and journaling all of the insights that come to you when you meditate upon the energies of the elixir.
Week Two of Moon Two: Continue to take the lunar elixir daily, but this week spend time experiencing and comparing the energetic impact of yarrow as an essence, and yarrow as a magical herb that you burn, as detailed in Chapter 4. Again, reflect upon how each makes you feel, and journal all of the insights that come to you when you meditate upon the energies of the elixir and the energies of the herb itself.
Week Three of Moon Two: Continue to take the lunar elixir daily, but this week spend time researching the medicinal, folkloric, and magical uses of yarrow, beginning with the information provided in Part Three of this book. Compare your findings this week with your direct experiences, being sure to journal all of the insights and connections you’ve made.
Week Four of Moon Two: Continue to take the lunar elixir daily, but this week meditate upon the mythic portion of the month and reflect upon the ways in which the energies of yarrow are related to the present portion of Ceridwen’s tale, and how it helps you to build a relationship with Ceridwen herself.
End of Moon Reflections: Under what circumstances could you see yourself using the Yarrow Elixir in support of your work and personal process? If you had to describe the actions of this lunar elixir using one word, what would it be? What about using one sentence? What about using a whole paragraph? Again, be sure to journal everything.
11. John T. Koch, “Taliesin” in Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia (Oxford: ABC-CLIO, 2006), 1655.