What does it take to make a spell? A wisdom brew? It always starts with the woman. With the Goddess. It starts with her breath, her incantation, her will. It is a process of co-creation between her own self and that which she adds to her cauldron. She is a WITCH - a Woman In Total Control of Herself (as the apron which hangs in my kitchen proudly proclaims). Cerridwen is the archetypal Witch Goddess and yet, for centuries, she has not been in charge of her own narrative. Others, usually men, have written her story down in manuscripts within the Welsh tradition and it is important to remember that while they may have been looking back on older beliefs, they were doing this through a Christian lens and they come with their own agendas and biases.

So, who is Cerridwen?

Cerridwen is the magic Matriarch of the Mysteries, the Faery Queen of the Otherworld, the whisper of poetry and song. She is the raging mother, the protective mother, the wronged mother and all of the facets of motherhood in between. She is the crackle of the regenerative spring fire and the heat haze of summer when everything shimmers and the possibilities seem endless. And She is in every creation from every woman in this book, every woman who has had the courage to hear Her call and become a conduit of the Awen.

"Cerridwen, ancient Queen,
Dark Mother, take us in.
Cerridwen, ancient Queen,
Let us be reborn.
-a Reclaiming chant

Open these pages and relish the words of this divine Mother, this wild Sister, this trickster and keeper of the Cauldron of Eternity! Spend time with Her. Learn Her sacred ways, Her stories, Her lore.

I learned the chant above at the Glastonbury Goddess Conference where I taught several years ago. I often use it in both my private meditations and in public rituals. It is simple but direct, quite unlike the Goddess it honors. I learned how to pronounce Her name from a Welsh-speaking colleague who gave it a rolling "r" and an emphasis on the second syllable. Keh-RRRHID-wen. Try it. So delicious to say."

-H. Byron Ballard, from the Foreword to The Wisdom of Cerridwen