Sulum Factum Magus

 As I mentioned in my post on Dragon Power, I have been traveling in Denmark, and while there took the opportunity to visit Gundestrup, where the famous cauldron was discovered. The Gundestrup cauldron was discovered in 1891 in a peat bog near the village of Gundestrup in northern Denmark, a few kilometres from the town of Aars. It is thought to depict Deities and mythological scenes from the Celtic people of several centuries before the Christian era., and is most well known in modern pagan circles for the image of the Horned Lord which is embossed on one of its silver plates.

The original cauldron is now in the museum in Copenhagen, but the local museum has a very good replica, made in silver, which is on display. The museum was only open in the afternoon, and arriving about midday, I had time to have a leisurely lunch before making my way to the museum. The replica of the cauldron appears to my untrained eye to be a painstakingly reproduced facsimile, in silver, with the same details of workmanship as the original. It certainly has a presence about it, and conveys much more than a set of photographs ever could. I spent a good hour in the company of the facsimile, examining it from every angle, and studying the images represented on the various surfaces.

The cauldron is made from a hemispherical silver dish, whose bottom is embossed with an image in bas relief. Attached to this dish, is a cylinder composed of separate curved plates. There are five large plates forming the inner surface of the cylinder, and seven plates forming the outer surface of the cylinder. It appeared to me that there ought to be eight of these outer plates, but there appeared to be one missing, or at least a space where another could be placed. On each plate is a scene, sculptured from the silver in bas relief, depicting what appear to be Deities and mythological motifs.

I will set up a separate page at some stage, showing each of the scenes, and what I know about them, but for now, have a look at the Wikipedia entry, for an idea of the cauldron and its imagery.

Very little is known for sure about the meaning of the imagery on the cauldron, however, it entertained me to make the following speculations. It struck me that the design of the cauldron was purposeful in every respect. That is, the cylinder of 13 panels (12 extant, one “missing”) was constructed the way it was because this construction accorded with its purpose. Thus I concluded that the panels were designed to be easily removed or re-arranged. Could the number of these panels be significant? Could it indicate the 13 lunar months? Could the eight outer panels, each depicting what appears to be stylized Deities, correspond to eight solar divisions of the year? What is the significance of their being five inner panels?

As I looked at the cauldron, I imagined that it could be customized for various ritual purposes, at different times of the year, and depicting various deities, according to the particular magical purpose required. Calendrical factors could be adjusted by changing the relationship of the eight outer plates to the five inner plates. The vibrations of particular Deities or mythological scenarios could be intensified or combined by appropriately adding or deleting various plates to the cauldron.

Of course it is all speculation, and as far as I know, no extra plates that could fit have ever been discovered. But it is intriguing! I will keep you posted!