There’s obviously a lot of work that needs to be done by the individual to follow this pathway and there is an immense body of knowledge and information that must be described and discovered to quantify the experiences in Celtic terms. For now, it is enough for us to seek to discover our own pathways to spirit through self-knowledge, openness and meditation.. Opening these pathways within our selves, will sensitize us to the voice of spirit and enable us to more effectively access divine knowledge.

Aligning one’s cauldrons and dúile is like a journey beyond self. It is a voyage beyond the nine waves of being into unknown seas. It is a return to spirit from the hardness of the physical world and the cutting edges of the mind. The entire process is involves a letting go from hardness to an acceptance of the intangible. When we exceed the ninth wave, we are beyond all that is imagined and known. We are then within the Otherworld where different rules apply and different beings live. In that world we are entirely spirit. I personally think that fire is the wave that runs along the edges of all nine waves, though perhaps it is only between the boundaries of the cauldrons as seems to be implied in Taliesin’s, “Defense of the Chair.” It is a measure of how we flow from one state to another. It is the surface of the waves and the boundaries between them. It is the difference between one state of being and another as we transcend physicality and mentality into realms of spirituality.

Celtic meditations, as described below, should start in the hard elements of the self and flow outward as waves of spirituality and beyond. A gateway is sometimes experienced in the transitions from one world to another. It becomes an opening that takes us through the limitations of illusion into the actual destinies of present, past and future reality. One can literally become a spirit so that the experience of deity is like the flowing of a river into a mighty ocean. In the journey, many connections will be made and much will be revealed as we return to the essence of who we are and how we are connected through spirit to the gods. In using the Cauldron Meditation we should attempt to empower, focus, and still, each of the Three Cauldrons of the body: Coire Ernma, Coire Goiriath, and Coire Sois.

The first Cauldron to be addressed is the Cauldron of Vocation. This cauldron comprises the bones, the flesh and the skin/hair. One should attempt to find a safe, relaxing place to stretch out (I always orient my head toward the direction that is chosen to be most suited to the purpose of the working). The next step is to lay down and get comfortable. The meditation can also be done while sitting or standing, though I personally believe that it is more easily accomplished while laying down (in the dark if possible). The usual method is to start at the feet, lifting them one at a time, then letting them gently drop. As they come to rest, try to sense and feel sensations of peace and relaxation as they flow up the legs into the torso. The meditator may have to lift and drop, then release each leg, several times until it is truly relaxed and completely ‘at ease.’ Once the legs are relaxed and ‘floating,’ the same process should be performed upon the arms until they are
completely relaxed.

The next body part to be relaxed is the head (and the face, as well as the
neck). Drop and release. Flow and relax…until completely apart from the muscles, separated from the heaviness of the bones and any tactile sensations of the skin. At this point, the Cauldronof Vocation has been placed in order. The next stage in the meditation is to regulate and release the Cauldron of Warming. The first dúile to be addressed is the breath. Focus upon the act of breathing. Is it natural? Is breathing being done deeply and slowly? Is the torso tight? Please do whatever it takes to ensure that the act of breathing in meditation is exactly like the breathing of one who is asleep (though the mind should be very much awake and focused at this point). Eventually, breathing becomes automatic and forgotten. At this point, the primary awareness should be on the heartbeat and the thoughts (comprising the other two dúile of the Coire Goiriath: the blood and the mind).

Please focus on your heartbeat. Is it fast or slow? Is it regular? Does it have a strong steady beat? Listen to the drumming beat of the heart and consciously Will it to be deep, slow, and strong. The volume of the drumming will increase and stabilize until the point is reached (which is very akin to the ‘silent point’ of shamanic drumming) where the heart is no longer heard. At this point, the mind is in synchronization with the heartbeat and the breathing. They are no longer separate but have become One. It is now time to quiet the thoughts and prepare the Cauldron of Knowledge to receive inspiration or Imbas. Consciously focus on a black circle within the mind’s eye. Let this circle grow as random images appear within it and come out of it. Let the circle of darkness grow. Feed thoughts into the cauldron as one would feed a fire. Slowly project your consciousness into the darkness.

Maintain the vision of the circle of darkness as you enter into the Cauldron of Knowledge. Within its center there is perfect quietness and perfect blackness. It is filled with beginnings and endings. It has no front or back…no up or down. All of existence should have become an empty cauldron in every direction… black within and without. When the capacity of the mind has been expanded to see the blackness in all directions simultaneously, all around and within at the same time, it is ready to be filled. Those that have been called upon for aid can be expected to come at this time, or perhaps the answers that were sought will themselves appear? sometimes the gateways between worlds open and sometimes we are touched by the spirits of the Otherworld. This is the time when the dúile of the self are in resonance with the dúile of the Cosmos. Three Worlds are become one Center and Three Cauldrons sustain Nine Dúile. It is in this state that the self can gain the wisdom of the Gods.

This wisdom will eventually be revealed to us by the Ogham that we interpret during divination. Such a meditation is not an everyday occurrence and is definitely
a powerful experience; it is not to be undertaken lightly. The state of oneness that it gives with the Cosmos will persist for many days afterward. It is during this time that I recommend casting the fedha. To perform more mundane divinations, there is another way to meditate that also gives good results that is commonly called ‘Pathworking.’

One of the basic techniques of pathworking is to concentrate on a mandala. I use several
mandalas in my own practice of pathworking. Courtney Davis created some of these designs in his excellent book called ‘Celtic Mandalas.’ Other mandalas that I have used are based upon Fionn’s Wheel and the tale, the ‘Voyage of Mael Duin’ (both of which will be presented in graphic detail later in this work). After selecting a mandala, I suggest that you take some time to just observe the symbols and interconnected images. Listen to what they are saying to you. Allow them to speak and allow them to take control of your mind’s eye. Both activities require a safe, quiet and sacred space to complete the entire process.

This effect of ‘going into the mandala’ is very similar to the way that a so-called ‘Magic Eye’ image causes our mind to shift our method of perception. The order of the mandala becomes the new order of our own elements. Our dúile are connected to the dúile of the image. The flow of the symbols becomes its own creature and we are propelled upon a journey of the spirit into another world. If the mandala has been properly chosen, this Otherworld will contain our answers and will also connect us to our spirit helpers. Perhaps we can hear the music of the Sídhe or the Voice of the Gods at this time?
The purpose of the mandala is to open us to the experience and to also lighten our footsteps along the pathways to illumination. When we’ve returned from such a journey, we have only to interpret the knowledge that has been revealed, and to cast the Ogham to resolve the uncertainties that might exist for us in interpreting our experiences.

Casting the Ogham to determine the signs is always a good precaution to take, both before and after such a pathworking (or any other powerful Magical Working for that matter). The most powerful mandala of all is the World Tree that connects the Three Worlds to the self and the Center. It was just such a tree that taught Odin the Runes in Norse tradition and it is this same tree that will give us the knowledge of the Wise. The Ogham are the leaves of this tree. The pathways are the branches and the roots are our destiny twining up to encircle us. The breath of the gods is heard within the music of its leaves. The Magical fruit of the Bile feeds our creative fire and nourishes our spirit. The Ogham leaves of the World Tree grow within the Celtic mandala known as Fionn’s Wheel.

Fionn’s Wheel

Fire in the Head,
Head full of Stars,
Starways to Skinways,
Skinways of Serpents.
Serpents of Change,
Change between Heartbeats,
Heartbeats of Drumbeats,
Drumbeats beyond Darkness.
Darkness beneath Stone,
Stoneways above Wormways.
Wormsigns through Lifesigns,
Lifesigns of Love.
Love brings a White Light,
White Light above Pathways,
Pathblazing and Fire Finding,
Fire in the Head.
Headstones of Prophets!
Prophets of Wisdom!
Wisdom of Worldways!
Ways of Bright Knowledge!

Fionn’s Wheel is a cryptic figure that is found within the Book of Ballymote and its treatise on Ogham. Within the structure of Fionn’s Wheel is hidden the Cosmology of the Celts and the Druids. It is a Magical Mandala of Ogham, as well as a symbol of the Mysteries that are Ireland. The Ogham aicme, are shown on Fionn’s Wheel as separate pathways connecting the five circles of existence. Each of these pathways is formed by Ogham symbols that connect the extremes of the Cosmos: the Circle of the Heavens (‘Cruinne, Roth’) and the sacred Center of Being (‘Bile’). The exception to this connection of outer/inner pathways is called the ‘Forfedha,’ the fifth set of Ogham, which are arranged around the second ring of the Wheel. I call this circle the Circle of Poetic Thought or the Circle of the Oak. It is my belief that the Forfedha were placed here, due to their use by the Filidh in ritual. How this could have happened is based on the concepts of number and time, as well as the changing of the seasons, as determined by the Dagda’s Harp.