The Three Cauldrons: A Celtic Map of Your Energy Centers

In Celtic tradition, the body is believed to have three powerful centers called the Three Cauldrons, or cauldrons of transformation.

These are energetic focal points that align with different aspects of our being: physical, emotional, and spiritual. They’re kind of like the chakra system, in the way they help us to understand different aspects of ourselves. But what's different is, the cauldrons acknowledge a timeline of awakening or "warming" that comes with life experience.

The concept is that each cauldron lives in a different part of the body and together, they offer a map to understand our "three souls" (the lower self, the middle self, and the higher self). Each cauldron fills or empties based on your relationship with these three areas. 

Let’s meet them:

Cauldron of Warming:

Your Primal Center.

Location: pelvis and womb space

This is our foundation, where life begins and we find our primal instincts. It’s linked to our health, our subconscious and our survival instincts. If we were to compare it to the chakra system again, it shares characteristics of the root and sacral chakras.

The cauldron of warming connects to the Lower Self, the the part of us that is animal and connected to our physical and energetic environment. The lower self comes from the ancestors and their knowledge lives through us via what's known as “the red thread” or the “river of blood” (a maternal lineage or bloodline). 

We’re born with this cauldron already upright, filled with life force energy that fuels our physical existence. It’s called “warming” because it’s the first to warm up and sustain us.

When this cauldron is warm and upright, you feel safe, juicy, and alive. When it’s cold or depleted, you might feel anxious, dissociated from your body, or creatively stuck. Often this is caused by chronic stress, illness, or trauma.

Tend to this center and keep it warm by nourishing your body, getting constructive rest, connecting with nature, and honoring your need for safety and belonging.

Cauldron of Motion/ Vocation

Your Human Center

Location: chest and heart space

This is the place of your lived experience and sense of self. It holds the full spectrum of emotions, and your ability to connect to others and the world around you. It’s where our passions stir and where our sense of purpose is felt. Its name “moving” is in reference to the calling that propels us forward (what moves us) and shapes who we are.

This cauldron acts as a bridge between the lower self to the higher self. It corresponds to our "middle self" the the part of us that is human, with the ability to reason. This can be compared to the heart chakra.

At birth it's tilted on its side and starts to turn upright as we gain emotional maturity and a healthy sense of self. When the cauldron of motion is warm and upright you move through life with emotional fluidity and grace. When it’s cold or upside down you might feel numb, overly reactive, or like you have walls up around your heart. 

We tend to it by not stuffing down our emotions, by expressing ourselves in healthy ways, and by embracing creativity and open-mindedness. Grieve, celebrate, dance, cry, sing, make art.

Cauldron of Wisdom 

Your Intuitive & Spiritual Center

Location: the head

This cauldron holds spiritual insight, intuition, and divine remembrance. It’s the place where we align with our purpose, and we open ourselves to guidance from the unseen realms via dreams, visions, and psychic downloads. Similar to our third eye and crown chakras.

This cauldron connects to the Upper Self, the part of us that is eternal and most connected to the great spirit. It's believed that we’re born with this one upside down and empty. Over time, as your spiritual path evolves, it fills and turns upright.

When this cauldron of wisdom is warm and upright you usually feel deeply connected, intuitive, inspired, and guided. When it’s cold or inverted, its common to feel hopeless, disconnected from magic and purpose .

We tend to this cauldron when we establish a spiritual practice, seek wisdom, heal deep core wounds, or simply sit in stillness and allow higher awareness to whisper through. 

Bringing It All Together:

When these three centers are cold, and untended, we can feel like we’ve lost a piece of who we are. But when the cauldrons are warm, and upright, we’re fully connected in our power, and flowing with life’s magic. Your Lower self is grounded, your Middle self is integrated, and your Higher self is illuminated.

When that alignment clicks into place, the flame of our inner power (sometimes referred to as “Witch Fire”) awakens. This is somewhat similar to kundalini energy in that it is an ecstatic force or inner current of energy.

Through ritual, movement, meditation, or simply through living with more awareness, we can tend to each of these cauldrons.

Here are a few simple ways to pour into them and keep them warm:

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If you are seeking a deeper connection to yourself, tuning into these three energy centers invite you to honor the magic simmering inside you.

Body, Heart, Spirit

Three cauldrons, one flame. 

I tend you with love.

May I be a living chalice of earth, soul, and star.