The urge to do this post followed doing the one on the Four Hallows and came after reading a small article by Stephen McNallen of the Asatru Free Assembly, which itself came about when an Asatru in Vinland mentioned that Mr McNallen had done a work on the Three Cauldrons taken from his research and the Cauldron of Poesy. This was likened to the three 'vessels' in Norse Myth - Odroerir, Son & Bodn. (I have covered this in a non-published work called Ar-Kan Rune-Lag parts of which have been on the Saxon Heathen website under the Fire-Serpent for a couple of years now) What I would like to do here is to put this stuff together.
Firstly we need to look at the Cauldron of Poesy which is a poem by Amergin which seems to have originated in the Great North - Thule-Hyperborea. This would have spread southwards and eastwards since we find these Three Cauldrons in Chinese Lore.
1. The Cauldron of Incubation which is found at the Hara-Centre two fingers below the navel. This cauldron is upright and gives wisdom, youth and virility. In Chinese Lore this is the Lower Tan Dien. It is called The Golden Stove and is where the Essence & Spirit is stored, an energy-store of regeneration and sexual energy, the Centre of Chi (Vril-Wod), and the Centre of Balance & Gravity (used in the Martial Arts). It is the focal point for the transmutation of Jing (Essence), Chi (Vital Energy or Vril refined by heating in the cauldron) and then Shen (Spirit). This is the Bodn-Centre ('vessel', 'vat') of the Norse Lore. (Tamas)
2. The Cauldron of Motion which is the Heart-Centre or the Solar-Plexus Centre (Sun-Centre). This is for gaining knowledge, and is the 'tide-water point of knowledge' (note what I say in the runic section and meditate on this carefully), the mastery of words and language, music, law and duty, poetic ecstasy, and is the Well of Measuring (Skapker Heidrunar), giving power and strength. This is turned sideways and can be made to turn upright through the right spiritual training and life-training. This is the vessel Son ('blood') of Norse Lore. Rajas.
3. The Cauldron of Wisdom (Cauldron of Inspiration - Stephen McNallen) which is at the Third-Eye centre and is that of Divine Joy and Human Joy (poetry and sexual intimacy). This stores Shen (Spirit) and is where Chi (Vital Energy) is refined into Shin. It is the centre where communication with the gods take place, and where the union of Shakti (Freya) and Shiva (Woden) takes place, producing the Golden Nectar - Amrita, Ambrosia, Hidden Man-na. This centre was known as the Crystal Palace by the Chinese.
Interestingly, the Chinese Lore may have originated in Aryan India, since some accounts of this tradition trace it back to Bodhi-Dharma who is the Blue-Eyed Barbarian Monk from India, a descendant of Gaut-hama Buddha known as Sakya-Muni. It is thus Aryan Lore passed through the Sakya Tribe who are the Sak-Wong or Sai-Wong of China, whose legend says they came from India. These were the Sakae, Saka and the Sacae-Sani (Sacsons) who were a Scythian Folk. What goes round comes back!
It is also interesting to note that the Chinese also refer to the union of the male-female, through the mastery of these three centres as producing the Diamond-Body which is the Sahu of Egyptian Lore and is the Absolute I of Miguel Serrano and this occurs in the Crystal Palace (not the football team!).
We could equate these three 'cauldrons' with the Three Wells -
1. Well of Wyrd (Ur-da) - the Third Eye. ASGARD.
2. Well of Mimir - The Solar Plexus/Heart Centre. MIDGARD
3. The Well of Hvergelmir - The Hara-Centre. ('Seething Cauldron' or 'Roaring Kettle'). HEL - NIFLHEL - NIFLHEIM.
This is just a piece of contemplation really and I have not done any meditative work on this, but it would be worth doing. This also fits with the Three Castes (I think Stephen McNallen touches on this) -
Kon - Priest-King - Third Eye Centre.
Earl - Warrior-AEthlingas - Solar-Plexus/Heart Centre.
Karl - Landsman-Craftsman-Virility-Fertility - Hara-Centre.
I have called it the 'Hara-Centre' because this is a Japanese Martial Arts term for the Dan Tien of the Chinese, but it is also an Aryan Indian title for Rudra-Shiva, whilst the title 'Hari' is used of Vishnu. The term is also used of Woden as Har which is usually translated as 'hoary' but which seems to stem from a root meaning 'One-Eyed'. It is also the same as the term Arya which has many offshoots.
Using the Chinese version of this the Crystal Palace (Third Eye) is where Shen (Spirit) is refined into Wu Wei (Emptiness) and this gives a clue to the purpose of using this spiritual discipline. The vital energy (Kundalini) is aroused at the base centre (Hara in this method), moves upwards righting the Solar Plexus Cauldron and moving on to the Third Eye Cauldron which is righted, thus conjoining the Male-Female (HE-SHE or Woden-Freya) and then refined into 'Emptiness' (The Void - Ginnungagap - The Black Sun - The Black Hole). This is the abyss (Ginnungagap = 'Gaping Chasm' or 'Abyss'), which has to be crossed, making the leap to the Ubermensch (Friedrich Nietzsche). Going beyond the fusion of opposites, above the abyss, to the Ultimate I thus creating the Diamond-Body. This is the Son of Man - The Awakened Man. (Ing = Son of Man represented by the Ing-Rune or 'Diamond').
Stephen McNallen has a rune associated with each centre, and here I am going to contrast his with those we have used on the YouTube videos on this subject, which (if I am right in saying) are also ones used in his work (sorry if I am mistaken).
Hara-Centre - Berkana-Rune which is growth and concealment. Frey and Freya/Walburg (*) and the 'Instinctive Centre' of Gurdjieff. This is Black and is Bodn.
Heart-Centre - Sowilo-Rune, associated with Blood (red) and with passion (love-anger), the warrior. Red and Son (Blood). Sowilo is the Sun (Solar Plexus) and the Soul (Sowilo).
Third Eye Centre - Odal-Rune/Edel-Rune - this is perfection and nobility and the 'Awakened Man' (Mannaz). White and Odroerir.
Miguel Serrano equates the Third Eye Centre with Adel-Edel-Odal and with the Vril-Force, which some way is a magical force which allows one to communicate with the Gods.
(*) Walburg is a Germanic Goddess associated with the Walburgen which are the Spiral Mounds such as the one in Lewes (East Sussex); the prefix -wal or -wael means 'to wind', 'to turn', 'to twist', i.e. 'spiral. This is also associated with 'breath' (respire etc.), and 'spirit'.
The runes that I have equated with these are as follows -
Hara-Centre - UR - this is the place of Origins and Destiny, and the cauldron is here a normal U-shape. Stephen McNallen uses the original Irish translation as 'Cauldron of Incubation' but I am going to translate this into a Germanic-rooted form as Cauldron of Brooding. This is a valid translation but it adds something to it, since the term 'brooding' means the same, and could be rooted in the idea of heat used to 'hatch'. The use of heat fits with this as a Cauldron of Fire. Veorsson noted that the terms Ur-ine and Ur-ethra are associated with this area of the body.
Solar-Plexus Centre - LAGU - this is the centre of 'motion' and thus the Lagu-Rune is the movement of water, but also the Fire-in-Water which is the Vril-Energy moving upwards through this centre. (Remember the 'tide-water point' in the Cauldron of Poesy). It is also the Skapker Heidrunar - Horn of Plenty. The Lagu-Rune is the rune of water & the wave - movement or motion, whereas the Laukaz-Rune is the 'leek' symbolic of the warrior, since the leek was given to the warrior at birth into the caste.
Third-Eye Centre - ANSUS/AS - this is the centre which is Asgard and of the Asen-Gods, and is the Eye of Woden. It is associated with Woden as the Master of Wod the Divine Madness, Ecstatic-Trance, or Raging-Fury, the Wod-Roarer (Odroerir).
This formula is the ALU-ULA which is a Saxon Formula found on many objects, including burial urns - which suggest that this may have been used as a means to retain the Blood Memory through such a spiritual exercise on the point of death (see the Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean which tells of such an exercise, though in vague terms).
The colours Black-White-Red are of Eternal Germania and also the colours of the Norns or Wyrd Sisters, and they are also the colours of the Arts Regia (Alchemy) - Nigra (Black), Albedo (White) and Rubido (Red) which are in a different sequence than Black-Red-White, for the Rubido is said to be the last phase and transformation into the Diamond-Body. These colours were also connected to Atlantis, and to somewhere else that I can't quite recall.
Because I have used different runes for each cauldron does not mean that I am correct in this, which is experimental at this stage. Stephen McNallen's positioning of the runes seems logical to me -
Berkana - This is the 'Birch-Rune' and the birch-tree is a 'Tree of Regeneration' since it is the first to appear when a woodland is fired or cut back. It is thus the 'Tree of Resurrection' under which grows the Sacred Mushroom (Amanita Muscaria) which bears the colours of 'Santa Claus' or 'Father Kristmas'. It is certainly the Sign of Gestation since it is the goddess pregnant with life. When opened up it is the Peorth-Rune which is the Rune of Birth and Rebirth.
Sowilo - This is the 'soul' area ('Heart & Soul') and the Solar-Centre (Solar Plexus) and the mention of the 'heart' symbol is interesting since it is a Berkana-Rune over a Trikona (Inverted Triangle) both symbols of which are related to the first cauldron. (The rune and triangle are rounded-off to make the heart symbol - the female buttocks and genital area; it is also possible that the rounded off 'triangle' represents the sacrum which is shaped much like the Ace of Spades.)
Odal/Othila - This represents the Third Eye and is the Rune of Woden and Rune of the Racial Homeland - Thule. It represents the return to the origins through the use of the Widdershins Swastika, moving backwards against the Flow of Time. It is the Rune of the Noble Man (Ad-el) and the Rune of the Noble Woman (Ad-ela).
This is the Formula 88 which we have adopted and which (I think) originated in Germany, passed on to me through a Rune-Magician of great skills (though unfortunately he is not well-known). But if we look at the formula this too fits with the Three Cauldrons (in a rather subtle way) -
1. At the base we have the Seed-Rune (Germanic Ing) which in the original formula relates to Ing-Land. Within it is the Spiritual-Seed 88 (Twin Wyn-Runes), which are 'brooding' within the Seed-Pod (Egg). This is the Rune of Gestation waiting for the cauldron to 'fire-up' to 'hatch' the Seed-Pod.
2. In the centre we have the Ur-Glyphic Irminsul which is the 'generator' and which is here the Creative-Power that brings the Seed-Rune into manifestation. It is through this Energy-Centre of Ir that the Seed-Rune will be 'born' or more correctly 'resurrected'.
3. At the top we have the Manifested 88 (reflection of the Spirit 88) inside the Peorth-Rune (Weorth-Rune) which is the rune turned on its back as the Swan-Ship (Wafeln) that here rides upon the Waters of Chaos at the end of the World-Age, bringing the World-Haeland (Wid-Ar the Avenger). This, in terms of what I have already said about the Third Eye Centre, represents the manifestation of the Awakened Man (Mann-Rune = Twin x Wyn-Runes 'nose-to-nose' = 88). (*)
(*) I have used here an 'algebraic formula' which may not easily be understood - it means simply that the Mann/Mannaz Rune is made up of two Wyn-Runes (8th rune) placed tip to tip.
This threefold division is also found in the idea of Three Fires of Agni-Inga (reflection of each as Hamasson has pointed out) -
Hara-Centre - Physical Fire or Friction-Fire (Nyd-Fire). - Nyd-Rune.
Solar-Plexus/Heart-Centre - Solar Fire. - Sig-Rune.
Third Eye - Spiritual Fire (Electric-Fire). - Kan-Rune.
A 'cauldron' is a vessel heated by Fire which is rather nearer to the point than a 'horn' as in some of the symbolism, though the 'horn' is a container. The Golden Nectar is the Amrita/Ambrosia/Man-na and is the Mead of Inspiration - Odroerir. In the Norse Myth this is made up of Kvasir's Blood and it is interesting to note that in certain Slavic Tongues the word kvasir means 'spittle'. This is formed in the mouth, and when the moving of the Vital-Force is done correctly this is transmuted into the Golden Nectar, which should then be visualised as moving throughout the whole body.
Since the Spinal Column is what we now call Mount Me-Ru which we have linked to the 33 Saxon Runes, then we have the symbolism of the Diamond-Mountain (Me-Ru we see as capped with a Crystal-Diamond - 'Crystal Palace') through which the Serpent rises and transmutes into the Eagle. In the symbolism of Yggdrasil we have the Serpent at the base, Eagle at the top, and Hawk between the eyes at the Third Eye ('Hawk-Eye'). The Third-Eye is linked to the Pineal Gland (Pine Cone).
The Hara-Centre can be associated with the Graal since it is a cauldron which is represented by a V-shape or Inverted Triangle (Trokona) which is the Brisingamen Necklace representing the Female-Fire around the genital area and the sacrum. This is the 'Cave of the Mother' or Graal Vessel into which the Spear is pushed. This mystery was that of Parsifal plunging the Spear into the Graal (Wagner's Parsifal), which Aleister Crowley claimed was a ritual designed by the OTO.
The Third-Eye Centre can be associated with the Gral which is the male equivalent to the Graal and is the Emerald Stone which fell from the Crown of Lucifer (The Evening Star - not the 'devil' figure that is pushed by the Xtians). The Evening Star is, of course, Venus, and above this planet is the Corona (Crown), and this actually hints at a planet falling down from the Corona. This may be linked to the Gar-Rune, since the root gar- / car- / cer can mean 'stone'. This is also the male part of the Gral-Graal formula where the Spear is plunged into the Graal.
Miguel Serrano uses the male (Gral) and female (Graal) symbolism which seems to work well, hence my use of it to continue that theme. We can add to this the Spinal Column which links the upper and lower centres, with the Solar Plexus roughly at the centre-point between these. This would be the Fire-Centre or Solar-Fire Centre, and viewing this as a pyramid-structure (Mount Me-Ru) this is the Fire in the Middle (Pyra = Fire & Mid = Middle). The upper centre is thus equated with the 'King's Chamber' where the process of the immortalising of the Pharaoh or King took place, where the Sahu or Diamond-Body was created. This would just as well be true for the Externsteine which also has a similar 'coffin' which would have served the same purpose in a ritual of resurrection.
On the subject of the Three Cauldrons and the Fire-Serpent, as well as the Sutton-Hoo Mask secrets and the Myth of Knit Mountain see the 'Fire-Serpent' page on the Saxon Heathen website (www.englishmovement.org.uk). Also look at the videos on YouTube under 'English Resistance' some of which cover this topic.