Welcome to season two of Shaman Talk. My name is Rhonda and I'm your host, and I am delighted to be back. As with season one, season two is packed with information, teaching, and ideas for you to walk a Celtic shamanic path. And this week, we start with the core fundamentals of the Three Cauldron power center. We're going to talk about what they are, how you can tell if yours are out of balance, and we're going to give you some really good ideas to start to work and rebalance your Three Cauldron power centers. So thank you so much for joining me, and let's dive into the Three Cauldrons. My pathway with energy centers used to be quite tricky. I never resonated with chakras.

I have tried, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't retain all the information from that many places in my body. My ADHD brain just wouldn't allow it. It was very difficult for me. When I discovered the Three Cauldrons, I was so relieved to have a system that fit so well into the existing way that I teach. For example, when I first started my individual coaching many years ago, I called it the sacred triangle. It was in three parts. All my friends were teaching in fours, four directions, four wins. But it was funny. No matter how hard I tried to write in four, I just stalled. I always returned to three. My first flagship program, the Apprenticeship, formed itself into three parts. And I tried really hard to make that four parts, tried really hard, but the inspiration just did not come.

So I relinquished, I surrendered to three, and it felt really good. So when the Cauldrons came into my life, it was one of those moments that the heavens began to sing above me. It was like, oh, the Cauldrons are in the sacred number three. That's a Celtic sacred number. And the concept is rooted in these lands the same as me, rather than being rooted in other lands that are unfamiliar to me. I'm going to share an introduction to the Three Cauldrons in this podcast, including symptoms of issues and ideas to begin to rebalance. So let's get started. If you've ever felt a connection to something deeper within yourself, but you couldn't quite put your finger on it's really interesting that since ancient times, mystics and sages, shamans and seers have perceived the existence of energy centers within the human body.

And these centers are usually found along the spine, and they're associated with our physical, emotional, and spiritual well being. Different cultures have named and described these in different know. The Yogis of India called them chakras that we've mentioned. The Sages of China referred to the three Danshan. And even some North American tribes conceived of energy centers through which the soul entered the body. But what about the ancient Celts? Well, they believed that the Three Cauldron power centers were responsible for storing and cultivating energy within every human being, with a 7th or 8th century bard named Armageddon Glungell, who wrote of these cauldrons in his famous poem The Cauldron of Poese. And he described each cauldron's qualities in some detail. Not in full detail, but certainly in some detail.

And when all of these cauldrons are working harmoniously together, you gain access to your full potential. You feel at peace in yourself and the world around you, and you're more likely to be in optimal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. However, when these cauldrons are out of balance, the consequences can be quite exhaustive and difficult to deal with. You might suffer from, say, physical exhaustion, confusion, anxiety, brain fog, low self worth, fear, emotional outbursts, and conflicts with others may become a pattern in your life. But if you can understand these ancient Celtic teachings as the key to unlocking your inner potential, to find this balance you seek, then you can connect with these three cauldrons.

You can embark on a transformative journey towards healing and self discovery, and you can embrace the wisdom of the ancient ancestors to create a modern, consciously connected spiritual life. Let's meet each of the cauldrons. If you're running on empty, the ancient Celts have answer for you. Your Lower Cauldron, known as Corey Goriath or the Cauldron of Warming, is the site of grounding, connection, belonging and self true self, actual self, the self that exists when you come here, when you choose to take on a human life. Now, this cauldron has strong parallels with the root chakra in the Indian framework and should contain the energy you need to accomplish your purpose in life.

Unfortunately, this cauldron can get tipped over or emptied by adverse experiences in childhood, such as trauma or emotionally unavailable parents or one of the many other things people experience growing up. And these experiences cause this precious life fuel to run low. Interestingly, being disconnected from nature, especially in our fast paced technological world, can also deplete this life force energy. If you've ever felt like you're struggling to keep going, like you're wading through mud, a tipped over lower cauldron could be the culprit. But there is hope. The rewards of writing and filling your Lower Cauldron are immense. You will gain access to stores of energy that were previously inaccessible to you, energy that can power all aspects of your life.

When your Lower Cauldron is upright and full of your life force essence, everything in your life will start to thrive your career, your relationships, artistic pursuits, and spiritual practice. It is the root of all of those things. It is like the soil of your life. So when it's rich and nourished, everything you plant grows and flourishes. So by understanding and tending your Lower Cauldron, you can reconnect with your true self, as cliche as that is, and unleash your internal power and potential. I want to take a second to say thank you for listening to this podcast, and I have a small favor to ask of you in season two. I hope to reach more people with this free resource and you can help if you hit the subscribe button wherever you listen. It really does go a long way to helping this podcast grow.

If you're feeling particularly generous, please share this podcast with a like minded friend. Thank you so much. So once you've started to work on your Lower Cauldron, you're going to want to have a look at your Mid Cauldron. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the energy of those around you or struggle with compassion, forgiveness or love joy. The ancient Celts believed that the Middle Cauldron, known as Corierma, or the Cauldron of Motion, might hold the key to understanding these feelings. So this cauldron shares features with the Indian Heart Chakra and is responsible for your sense of compassion and love, both for yourself and others. It's also the home of your shadow or the collection of wounds and suppressed parts of yourself that you need to maintain to correct your emotional imbalance.

For example, if you've ever felt unable to maintain appropriate boundaries or felt disconnected from your soul's purpose, this cauldron could be out of balance. It's also known actually as the Cauldron of Vocation, guiding you to identify and carry out your soul's purpose on this Earth, even especially in the face of fears and obstacles. But the rewards of tending to this cauldron can be profound. So by restoring your innate ability to live and work from a place of unconditional love for yourself, first and foremost you unlock your ability to serve others and the planet. So whether through physical labor, creative gifts, or a compassionate heart, your balanced Middle Cauldron leads to a joyful existence. Reorientating your life towards your soul's purpose allows you to thrive, especially as you continue to experience the normal challenges of human life.

So embracing the wisdom of the Middle Cauldron can be a transformative step on your journey. Then, once we've looked at this cauldron, we move to the Upper Cauldron. So if you've ever felt disconnected from your Higher self uninspired or burnt out creatively, the ancient Celts believed in the High Cauldron known as Kori Soy, or the Cauldron of Wisdom, which kind of parallels the Indian Crown Chakra, and it's the Cauldron of Portal. It pulls down the Divine Wisdom, or what the Celts called Imbaz farozne. It's where your intuition, inspiration and spiritual gifts should reside. If you've ever confused your ego and we've all done it for divine inspiration, then this Cauldron likely needs some attention. Working with the Upper Cauldron requires caution and a sound ethical foundation.

And as it really can sometimes feed our ego in unhealthy ways, so it's essential to temper our egos with humility, reverence, service and other virtues to ensure that our spiritual work benefits all beings while harming none to the best of our ability. So if you're seeking a connection with a sense of the divine. This cauldron holds the key for you. When this is in balance, the rewards are many. You feel connected to the divine, present in the moment, perceiving the sacred in both sorrowful and joyful experiences. This quality of steadiness is a sign of spiritual mastery. Balancing your Upper Cauldron can make you a better friend, more effective mentor, and an all round resource for your community. The benefits also trickle down to your two Lower Cauldrons as well, supporting a strong heart and healthy body, and a connection to your gut instinct.

By tending your Upper Cauldron, you can unlock a path to spiritual enlightenment, whatever that means for you, and a holistic sense of well being. Now, it's important to know that you begin at the bottom with your Lower Cauldron first, and you work your way up to your Mid Cauldron and then to your High Cauldron. Don't skip. Don't skip. So start with an investigation in your Lower Cauldron, then your middle, and then your upper. And once you get that started, it's a flow, then becomes a circle of energy, and you can start to tell, oh, I have this issue, so I need to go to my Lower Cauldron to deal with that. Oh, I have this issue. This is a mid cauldron issue. So you can really start to get a sense of where to go when you do have issues.

So what kind of symptoms can each cauldron deal help to deal with? So we'll start with the lower cauldron. So we're feeling like we're running on empty or disconnected in some other way, but you can't put your finger on what that is. For example, disconnection from nature, lack of grounding, depletion of life force energy. You're struggling to accomplish anything. So by understanding and tending the Lower Cauldron, you can begin to restore that. And just shortly, I'll give you some ideas about how you can do that. So symptoms of the Middle Cauldron, or Corierma, are struggling with compassion, forgiveness, and boundaries, being blamey or being filled with righteous blame. These challenges can be linked to the Middle Cauldron, as well as feeling overwhelmed by the energy of others, an inability to maintain appropriate physical, emotional, and spiritual boundaries.

And this idea of love for self, not being able to deal with strong emotions is another symptom of this imbalanced cauldron. And finally, if you're feeling uninspired, disconnected from the divine, or confused by your ego, then you're in the Upper Cauldron. In Cory soych, these symptoms might be a sign of imbalance. There also feeling uninspired or burnt out and just confused about where your spiritual path is going. What is you, what is ego, what you should be doing, what you shouldn't be doing, where you should be tending your spiritual path. So often when you have an imbalance in your Upper Cauldron like that, it's time to go back down to your soil, to your root, and check out what's going on down there and then move your way back up. And sometimes that can resolve your issue naturally.

Okay, some ways to deal with different cauldrons. I like to think of the four bodies of healing. So let's start with the mental body. So you've identified which cauldron you're dealing with. Now you're going to think about where you need to focus your energy, your healing energy. Is it mental, emotional, spiritual or physical? So if you're struggling with clarity, focus, understanding the mental body might require nurturing. You can look to counseling, mindfulness meditations, reading and study courses, journaling like writing your thoughts and reflections to go back to gain some insight into the patterns of thinking that you're dealing with. So, by tending to the mental body, you can start to achieve some understanding and some alignment within yourself. But that only works when you work in all four bodies.

So if you only work in the mental, which many people in the west tend to do, then you're missing a trick. You're missing three other places that you can go to look for ways to help yourself. So the physical body, if you're feeling disconnected, ungrounded, if you realize that you intellectualize your feelings and you don't feel your feelings in your body, then you can look to breath work, conscious breathing techniques, yoga or other somatic movement, a diet, a healthy diet, whatever that looks like for you, and a connection to nature. Although to be fair, a nature connection helps all four bodies. But you're physically taking yourself outside, you're spending time aligning with earth's energy. So by nurturing the physical body, you can create a strong foundation that supports the integration of your cauldron's work.

And if you're dealing with individual issues in each cauldron, then you can go ahead and check that out when you're working with this body. Next, we have the spiritual body. So if you're seeking a deeper connection with the divine or your higher self, then the spiritual body is the gateway. So that looks like meditation and prayer, engaging in practices that connect with the divine. And you can do again, you can do that outside in nature, ritual and ceremony. So you're creating sacred space and rituals to honor your spiritual connections, whatever that looks like for you and spiritual community. So connecting with like minded individuals or groups. And what is interesting is that we're not meant to do this work alone. So a spiritual community is usually very important and shamanic journeying, so exploring the spiritual realms and seeking guidance from your spirit allies.

And then finally we have the emotional body. So if you're battling with emotional turbulence or you're kind of seeking some harmony, then you need to look to your emotional body. Emotional release techniques work really well. MDR is one and Recapitulation is another that I teach quite regularly. There are some information in season one on recapitulation somatic movement. Again, engaging with body centered practices to process emotions, breath work, can also work quite well for this body too. Art and creative expression. So use creativity to explore and express your feelings and also support groups and certain kinds of therapy can help to help you to navigate emotional challenges. So by nurturing your emotional body, you can achieve emotional balance, harmony and alignment within your cauldrons depending on which one you're dealing with.

So by integrating these practices across the four sacred bodies, you can create a holistic approach to healing and aligning within the cauldrons. And this alignment fosters this profound connection with your ancestral Celtic roots and it will support you to live a consciously connected spiritual life. I really hope you've enjoyed this week's podcast. Thank you so much for joining me. Until next time, may the wisdom of the ancients guide you, the warmth of your heart comfort you, and the sacred cauldrons within you find harmony and balance.