potions in a cauldron. Also, in legend, a cauldron is purported to be where leprechauns keep their treasure.
In Wicca, a cauldron can be placed in a sacred circle and used to burn items that will be set alight during a ritual (e.g. Tuitéan & Daniels 2001, pp.175-176). It is a symbol of the womb of the Goddess (Zimmermann & Gleason 2000, p. 74; Iles 2005, p. 689) and rebirth (Starhawk 1999, p.109; Tuitéan & Daniels 2001, p. 330; Iles 2005, p. 689) as it was in ancient British Celtic religion (Webster 1987 pp. 60–61) and is sacred to the Goddess. Water can be placed into a cauldron for scrying (a method of divining the future) or it can hold the ingredients necessary for a spell or incantation.
In some forms of Wicca which incorporate aspects of Celtic mythology, the cauldron is associated with the goddess Cerridwen. Celtic legend also tells of a cauldron that was useful to warring armies: dead warriors could be put into the cauldron and would be returned to life, save that they lacked the power of speech. It was suspected that they lacked souls. These warriors could go back into battle until they were killed again.
The holy grail of Arthurian legend is sometimes referred to as a "cauldron", although traditionally the grail is thought of as a hand-held cup rather than the large pot that the word "cauldron" usually is used to mean. This may have resulted from the combination of the grail legend with earlier Celtic myths of magical cauldrons.
Real symbolic cauldrons include:
- the Gundestrup cauldron, made in the second or first century BC, found at Gundestrup, Denmark
- a Bronze Age cauldron found at Hassle, Sweden
- the cauldron where the Olympic Flame burns for the duration of the Olympic Games
Mythical cauldrons include:
- Dagda's Cauldron
- The Cauldron of Dyrnwch the Giant
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