1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: My Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production of 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:14,800 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick. And 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: it's Cauldron's Part four. This is really the last Cauldron's episode, right, yes, 5 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,760 Speaker 1: for now, um, but no, no, this is the last one. 6 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: Even my son when he asked what I was doing today, 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:30,880 Speaker 1: I said, we're going to record a fourth Cauldron's episode. 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:32,560 Speaker 1: He's like, really, I was still you are still doing 9 00:00:32,560 --> 00:00:35,599 Speaker 1: those Cauldron episodes? Like, yeah, yeah, this is some more 10 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 1: exciting stuff. And you know, there's so much we're not 11 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 1: even gonna be able to cover in these episodes, but 12 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: this is an exciting one because we're gonna roll through 13 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: a few more myths. We have some more content about 14 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: just how Cauldron's factor into our our history and our beliefs. 15 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:52,800 Speaker 1: Uh and you know we'll get into uh the Inferno 16 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:55,440 Speaker 1: a bit as well. Rob, I am ready to be boiled. 17 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's the basically we've we've alluded to this. 18 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: We've all along we've mentioned that you have some strong 19 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: Celtic traditions that involve the Cauldron and they end up 20 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: having an influence over European traditions of the cauldron in general. 21 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: Uh So let's roll through just a few of these 22 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: different myths. I'm not going to go into super detail 23 00:01:19,640 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: on these, though a number of these are the subject 24 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: of of epics and longer tales and of course treatments 25 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,959 Speaker 1: and retreatments over the years. So let's start with the 26 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: Dogda's cauldron. So Dogdo or the Dogdo was the most 27 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 1: powerful of all the too often to dine and you 28 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 1: know these are the magical folk, um, you know, the 29 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: ancestors of Ireland and so forth. Uh, Dogto was a 30 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: master of the battle club, the magic harp, and the cauldron. 31 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: He was sometimes called the good God because he was 32 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 1: simply good at everything. Today you'd call him a Mary Sue. 33 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: As Patricia Monagan explains in the Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology 34 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: and Folklore, he was kind of a god of not 35 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: only fertility, but also kind of exaggerated male desire. So 36 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: he's round, you know, kind of a rotund individual. His 37 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: tunic is a bit too short to cover his genitals 38 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: in some depictions. Anyway, he wields a mallet that's so 39 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: huge that he has to drag it behind him in 40 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: a cart So he's he's kind of this exaggerated cartoon 41 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:31,359 Speaker 1: character in many respects. I like them already. He also 42 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: has a pair of self replenishing pigs that you can 43 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: just keep eating. Um, I'm I'm not sure how the 44 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:41,639 Speaker 1: details of that work. I'm assuming it's like you cook 45 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: them up or you're I don't know if you're slicing 46 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 1: pieces off of them. I'm not sure. But anyway, I 47 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: don't know that the pigs really mind. They're magical after all, 48 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 1: but even more magical than the pigs. He also has 49 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: a magic cauldron that can never be emptied. It it 50 00:02:55,760 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: overfloweth with goodness. Uh. So he has many romantic adventure years. 51 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: He has many children. He's eventually slain in battle by 52 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:07,519 Speaker 1: the seth Leon, wife of the Great fa Marii and 53 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: King Baler, and then he goes on to party forever 54 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: in the other world, sustained by his his bottomless cauldron 55 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: that he gets to bring with him into the afterlife. 56 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: Oh that's lucky. Yeah. Now. Bonnigan, who also wrote The 57 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines, wrote that that the Irish 58 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: cauldron is of course not only a mundane item for 59 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: cooking and stewing, but also quote a place where new 60 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: life was brewed and stewed. Uh. It was a symbol 61 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:42,920 Speaker 1: of great power for the Celts. The Roman writers. Strabo 62 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: describes a great cauldron sent to Caesar by Simbri and 63 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: claims that the Celts ritually sliced open the throats of 64 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: prisoners over such a cauldron. And these traditions, to whatever 65 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: extent they are accurately reported here, may connect to the 66 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: Gunstrip cauldron that we talked about in the last episode 67 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: that was unearthed in Denmark but burying Celtic symbols, etcetera. Um. 68 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: Other cauldron's Monican rights have been found in bogs and 69 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,040 Speaker 1: lakes and are suspected to have been offerings to the 70 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: other world. Yeah, that'll actually connect to an archaeology paper 71 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:18,880 Speaker 1: I want to talk about in a minute. In general, though, 72 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: she she contends that the Irish cauldron means fullness and abundance, 73 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: and Doctor's cauldron is just a great example of this, 74 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 1: a never ending supply of good eats. Um. The Welsh 75 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: goddess sur Win also uses a cauldron to make a 76 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,960 Speaker 1: broth that abuse one with great wisdom. Uh So it's 77 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,640 Speaker 1: interesting how you know, we're getting into talking about just 78 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 1: sustaining the self, sustaining the body via the contents of 79 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: the cauldron, but then we kind of take that into 80 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: another dimension as well, sustaining the mind. Uh and uh. 81 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:56,600 Speaker 1: This will have ramifications on on other storytelling and mythic traditions. 82 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: All right, we'll come back to some of these ideas, 83 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 1: but let's let's move on of the next myth here. 84 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 1: This is another one from Celtic traditions, but it takes 85 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,280 Speaker 1: the idea of the cauldron as lifebringer and kind of 86 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,440 Speaker 1: puts a different spin on it. This is the story 87 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: of the pair do deny the cauldron of Rebirth? Now 88 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: there there are already some some accounts that indicate that 89 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: the Dogda's cauldron, in addition to overflowing with great and 90 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 1: miraculously healing foods, in some cases, could also raise the 91 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: dead if they were lowered into the cauldron. And yeah, 92 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: that leads us into what is perhaps the most noteworthy 93 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: necromantic cauldron. Um. This is the cauldron of Rebirth from 94 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: Welsh mythology and literature. Along with the Cauldron of Dogda. 95 00:05:39,040 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: It's a key mythic cauldron. To understand the artifacts place 96 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 1: in European traditions. It's also the primary inspiration for the 97 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,039 Speaker 1: black cauldron that shows up in the novels of Lloyd Alexander. 98 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: It factors into a few different tales, including um Brandwyn, 99 00:05:55,640 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: daughter of Lear, a legendary tale from medieval Welsh literature, 100 00:06:00,440 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: and the second of four branches of the mob in 101 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: Ogeon collection of Tales. So this is a this is 102 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,359 Speaker 1: a pretty interesting one, and again I'm just giving you 103 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: the broad strokes here. Again, this one has received much 104 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: more expansive treatment and works of literature, but it concerns 105 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: the mythic conflict between the Welsh and the Irish, and 106 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: involves the exploits of Ifnissian, the half brother of Bron 107 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,520 Speaker 1: the Blessed, who has been described as an easily offended 108 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: troublemaker or even as a psychotic anti hero. Okay, so 109 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: this is a guy who does things like mutil aid 110 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: horses inside wars, burn people alive. So he's not presented 111 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:44,560 Speaker 1: as a good guy. He's not. It doesn't even seem 112 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: like it's one of these cases where you can say, well, 113 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,280 Speaker 1: today we wouldn't like him, but we have to put him. 114 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: Look at him within the context of the time. Now 115 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:55,000 Speaker 1: it seems like everyone seems to think that he's supposed 116 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: to be a crazy dangerous fellow. He's not Snake plis Skin. 117 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 1: He's Darth Vader. Yeah yeah, But like Darth Vader, he 118 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: has a redemption arc of sorts, ends up engaging in 119 00:07:08,160 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: a little bit of self sacrifice to bring balance to things. 120 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:14,559 Speaker 1: So it comes to light that the Irish are using 121 00:07:14,600 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: the magical Cauldron of Rebirth to resurrect their dead warriors 122 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: so that they can keep on fighting. And so you 123 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: know that the Welsh forces are concerned about this. This 124 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: is an unfair advantage, right if you're bringing your own 125 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: dead back to life onto the battlefield. So what does 126 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,320 Speaker 1: Ethnician do. Well, he hides himself among the enemy Irish dead, 127 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: and then the Irish hall all those dead bodies back. 128 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 1: They take them to the Cauldron of Rebirth and one 129 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 1: by one they throw them in the cauldron, and then 130 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: one by one each warrior emerges once more to fight. 131 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: Eventually they come to Ethnician, who again is pretending to 132 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: be a dead irishman. They throw him into the cauldron alive, 133 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: and this seems to sort of short circuit everything. You know, 134 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: the the cauldron is not designed or made, It does 135 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: not exist to resurrect the living. It totally just screws 136 00:08:08,080 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: up everything. And and somehow if Nisinin is then able 137 00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: to destroy the cauldron from within, but in doing so, 138 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,960 Speaker 1: not only does he shatter the cauldron, but he dies 139 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 1: in the process. And there's some wonderful illustrations of this. 140 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,040 Speaker 1: I want more detail here. Did like, did he know 141 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: that was going to happen to him? Or what did 142 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,600 Speaker 1: he expect was gonna like? Did it not? Just did 143 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,240 Speaker 1: it not cross his mind that like, oh, yeah, I 144 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: can't be resurrected because I'm not dead yet. I think 145 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:38,600 Speaker 1: he knew, I mean, otherwise it's not that I mean, 146 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:42,200 Speaker 1: the self sacrifice is diminished if he doesn't know that 147 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: that this is probably going to destroy him. Uh So, 148 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: I think the general vibe is the he knows that 149 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: this will be the end, but it's the only way 150 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,800 Speaker 1: to stop the cauldron of rebirth. Okay, he's not just 151 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: being like, dude, I'd love to be resurrected from the dead. No, no, no, alright, 152 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: I'm gonna run through a few other cauldrons. Of note, 153 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: there's the Cauldron of drin which the giant In medieval 154 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 1: Welsh tradition, there are thirteen Treasures of the Island of Britain, 155 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: in tailing various horns and chariots, knives, rings, and more. 156 00:09:11,559 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: But there's also a cauldron owned by the giant Drin 157 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: which which can tell brave men from cowards because it 158 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,960 Speaker 1: will not boil meat for a coward, but we'll quickly 159 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: boil meat for a brave man. Now I'm not sure 160 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,400 Speaker 1: if there was a vegetarian option, but basically it's it's 161 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: said to just be massive enough to cook an entire 162 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,440 Speaker 1: wedding feast within Uh. It eventually falls into the possession 163 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: of King Arthur and some tellings. But yeah, I guess 164 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,319 Speaker 1: it's like if if you're not sure if somebody is 165 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,679 Speaker 1: is brave or cowardly, you just have them bring forth 166 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,360 Speaker 1: their chicken Cutlets throw them into the cauldron here and 167 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: see what happens. Here's another one where I wonder about 168 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: the mechanics of exactly what that means. So you put 169 00:09:52,280 --> 00:09:54,319 Speaker 1: the meat in. Does it mean if you're a coward 170 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,080 Speaker 1: the water won't come to a boil, or does it 171 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:00,599 Speaker 1: mean even if it boils, the meat won't get under 172 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm I'm just imagining it like, Okay, 173 00:10:04,320 --> 00:10:06,600 Speaker 1: you put the meat in and maybe the water looks 174 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: like it's boiling, but the meat is not cooking. You 175 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: just got some some raw chicken cutlets in there, just 176 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: bobbing around. Well, it reminds me of those stories of 177 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: um people up on mountaintops trying to cook food, like 178 00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:24,040 Speaker 1: boiling potatoes in a pot on Mount Everest, where your 179 00:10:24,040 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: potatoes don't get cooked because when you go higher and 180 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: higher into the into the atmosphere, the boiling point of 181 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,079 Speaker 1: water goes down. So you can be there boiling a 182 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: pot on the stove and it is actually boiling, like 183 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,480 Speaker 1: it's bubbling and turning into steam, but the boiling point 184 00:10:39,559 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: is so low that the water is actually not hot 185 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:44,600 Speaker 1: enough to cook your food. So you can boil potatoes 186 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: at the top of a mountain for a long time, 187 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: take them out, and they're basically still raw. Yeah. I 188 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 1: don't have an answer for that, but it does make 189 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:55,800 Speaker 1: me wonder to what extent like to experiences with different 190 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: altitudes and uh and and attempts to boil stuff in 191 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:03,600 Speaker 1: the cauldron, how that might affect this because they would 192 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:06,600 Speaker 1: clearly notice you would know that well here it seems 193 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: to take longer to to cook our food. Uh why 194 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:12,240 Speaker 1: might that be? I haven't done the math. I don't 195 00:11:12,240 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: know if there are peaks in Britain high enough for 196 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 1: that to happen. I'm not sure. Maybe so perhaps word 197 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 1: of of this had traveled, who knows. Let's see, here's 198 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: another cauldron. This one comes from Norse mythology. Heimer is 199 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: a giant and the father of two ace or gods, 200 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: according to Carol Rose, who was said to live on 201 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:33,800 Speaker 1: the eastern edge of the universe and had a brewing 202 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:37,240 Speaker 1: pot or a cauldron so large that the heavens could 203 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:40,319 Speaker 1: fit inside it. So we we mentally alluded to this 204 00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: something like this earlier, and one of the other episodes 205 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: about the cauldron becomes kind of like a model, a 206 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:48,600 Speaker 1: technological model for the cosmos itself. And here we have 207 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:53,200 Speaker 1: a cauldron so vast that the universe itself fits inside it. 208 00:11:53,360 --> 00:11:55,600 Speaker 1: Whereas the cauldron while you're thinking too hard about this 209 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 1: myth or maybe you're not, I mean, maybe that's ultimately 210 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,880 Speaker 1: kind of the goal of one of these stories is 211 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: to sort of give you a real head spinner about 212 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:06,839 Speaker 1: about the nature of the universe. So that's the cauldron itself, 213 00:12:06,880 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 1: but there's there are some stories attached to it. So 214 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,200 Speaker 1: at one point the gods decide they're gonna have a 215 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: great feast, but they need some sort of vessel to 216 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,800 Speaker 1: put all the meat that they're going to drink. And 217 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: they're the gods, they can drink a lot of meat. 218 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: So they send Thor to borrow uh Heimer's brewing cauldron. 219 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,480 Speaker 1: So Thor shows up and Heimer says, no, you can't 220 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,319 Speaker 1: borrow this. But they start discussing and they agree, well, 221 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:36,320 Speaker 1: well let's settle this. We'll have a fishing contest. And 222 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:40,080 Speaker 1: there are apparently many different versions of what follows next um. 223 00:12:40,120 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 1: In one version of Heimer uses two bowls too as 224 00:12:43,280 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: bait and then catches two whales, but then Thor, not 225 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 1: to be outdone, catches the mid guard storm itself the 226 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: world serpent um. In some versions, the results are inconclusive 227 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:58,560 Speaker 1: or they're disputed, so they move on to a drinking 228 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:02,080 Speaker 1: contest after of the fishing contest, and in some tales, 229 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,079 Speaker 1: Door wins and takes the vessel with him, or finally 230 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: just steals it, and Heimer chases after him with an 231 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:11,480 Speaker 1: army of giants, and Thor has to smite all of 232 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: them with his hammer. Um. But at any rate, thor 233 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:18,000 Speaker 1: it usually ends up with the cauldron. And the cauldron's 234 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:25,959 Speaker 1: power again is that it's just super big. Thank you, 235 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: thank so. Maybe this is a good place in the 236 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:32,720 Speaker 1: discussion to talk about interesting paper. I was reading an 237 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:37,839 Speaker 1: archaeology paper. So this was published by uh the Proceedings 238 00:13:37,880 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: of the Prehistoric Society, Cambridge University Press in and it's 239 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:45,920 Speaker 1: called fire Burn and Cauldron, Bubble, Iron Age and Early 240 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:50,160 Speaker 1: Roman Cauldrons of Britain and Ireland by Jody Joy. The 241 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: author of this paper, Jodie Joy, is a senior curator 242 00:13:53,160 --> 00:13:56,359 Speaker 1: at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University 243 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 1: of Cambridge. And the paper begins with the quote I 244 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:02,240 Speaker 1: really like it's as uh. It's an old Kazakh saying 245 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,160 Speaker 1: that a man can live to fifty, but a cauldron 246 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: will live to a hundred. I think you compare yourself 247 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:13,240 Speaker 1: to a cauldron now. But anyway, so Joy begins with 248 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 1: some sections examining the archaeological record of cauldrons in Britain 249 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,360 Speaker 1: and Ireland from the Iron Age and the Early Roman period, 250 00:14:21,800 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 1: and the early parts of this paper going to a 251 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: sort of catalog of all these different cauldron artifacts and 252 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:31,760 Speaker 1: a discussion of their manufacture and physical characteristics. One of 253 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: the main things about the section is that cauldrons of 254 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: the time took a lot of skill to produce. But 255 00:14:37,800 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: the part of this paper that really got my attention 256 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:44,720 Speaker 1: was his section on the use and significance of cauldrons 257 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:48,080 Speaker 1: from this period. Now, it's obvious from the prominent role 258 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:51,840 Speaker 1: of cauldron's in myths and legends like the ones we've 259 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: just been talking about, uh and as magical items in 260 00:14:55,320 --> 00:14:59,360 Speaker 1: early medieval literature from Ireland and Wales, that these objects 261 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:06,479 Speaker 1: were charged with mythical significance, particularly associated with resurrection and sacrifice. 262 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: But if you think about it, why would just a 263 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:15,880 Speaker 1: big metal pot have any particular symbolic or mythic significance? Now, 264 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: rob we we've already talked about some ideas we've had 265 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,080 Speaker 1: on that that maybe uh it has something to do 266 00:15:21,120 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: with the way that cauldron's transform foods when you cook them, 267 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: though of course that's straw of smaller pots as well. 268 00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: You know, cooking transforms, and thus uh it may be 269 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,400 Speaker 1: is symbolic of transformation in some way, But there are 270 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,680 Speaker 1: other ways that they could acquire magical significance, as well, 271 00:15:38,760 --> 00:15:42,400 Speaker 1: and Joy argues that some of the significance might be 272 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: related to how these objects were actually used in their 273 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: role in the culture of iron Age Britain in Ireland. 274 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: So how were they used? Uh, This is a good 275 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,720 Speaker 1: question because there are several lines of evidence pointing to 276 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: the conclusion that these huge pots were primarily used to 277 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: cook food, particular pularly soups and stews containing meat. Now 278 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: we we've already sort of been assuming the soup and 279 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,880 Speaker 1: stew connection, but technically, you know, just a big metal 280 00:16:08,920 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: pot could have been used for all kinds of things. 281 00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:13,280 Speaker 1: So it is good to examine what the actual evidence is. 282 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: And we know of examples where large metal vessels were 283 00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: used for other things that might have been just decorative, 284 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: or they might have been used to make burnt offerings 285 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,040 Speaker 1: to the gods or something like that. But no. In 286 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:27,480 Speaker 1: the case of these cauldrons from from iron Age and 287 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: and early Roman Britain and Ireland, first of all, it 288 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: seems they were clearly designed to hold liquid, and we 289 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: can tell because almost all of the cauldrons from this 290 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: period in this place show signs of having been through repairs, 291 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: which in itself is interesting because it indicates a long 292 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: social life for each individual cauldron. You know, they're being 293 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: used long enough that people have to like go in 294 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: and fix them up after they get damaged. Yeah, it 295 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: kind of takes us back to that quote. Right, you 296 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 1: may live to be fifty, but you're auldron will live 297 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,960 Speaker 1: to be a hundred. Right. Nowadays humans may live to 298 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: be a hundred, but like these cauldrons, you'll probably have 299 00:17:06,359 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: to have some holes patched here. And that's true. Uh 300 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,359 Speaker 1: and and so why do we think that these cauldrons 301 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:15,920 Speaker 1: were designed to hold liquid? It's because when you look 302 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 1: at the repairs that were done to them, we see 303 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:21,479 Speaker 1: that they're essentially repairs that would function to keep the 304 00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:25,159 Speaker 1: cauldron's water tight. And if these were just decorative or 305 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:27,479 Speaker 1: if they were used for say like making a burnt 306 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: offering to the gods or something, they wouldn't need to 307 00:17:30,440 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: patch tiny holes and keep the vessel water tight. It's 308 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:37,920 Speaker 1: obvious that they wanted to prevent leaks. Second line of evidence, 309 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 1: they were clearly designed to be suspended over fires. So uh, 310 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:45,640 Speaker 1: this can be seen from the presence of uh, sort 311 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: of supplemental materials like chains, handles, and frames that would 312 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:55,440 Speaker 1: all serve to hang or suspend the cauldron over a hearth. Uh. 313 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,720 Speaker 1: And also many cauldrons have layers of soot caked onto 314 00:17:58,760 --> 00:18:01,720 Speaker 1: the outside surface, knowing that a fire was applied to 315 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: them from the outside. Third, you've got organic residues. Few 316 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: artifacts from this period, for example, a group known as 317 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:14,159 Speaker 1: the Chiselden cauldrons have been sampled for organic residues on 318 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:18,080 Speaker 1: the inner surfaces, and chemical analyses indicate the presence of 319 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: animal fats, which points to soup source stews containing meat. However, 320 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 1: some cauldrons from Northwest Europe also showed traces of honey, 321 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:32,639 Speaker 1: probably indicating their use in serving honey based meads, which 322 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,240 Speaker 1: would be an alcoholic beverage. Yeah, which brings us back 323 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: to the myth of the giants brewing cauldron. Yeah. Yeah, 324 00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: So these cauldrons were almost definitely used mostly for cooking food, 325 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:49,480 Speaker 1: usually meat based soups and stews, but sometimes alcoholic beverages 326 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: as well. But can we infer anything else about how 327 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: they were used? Well, Joy argues yes we can, and 328 00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,880 Speaker 1: points as specifically to the fact that these were big. Boy, 329 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: these cauldrons are huge. Quote. The cauldron from Hochdorff could 330 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:08,680 Speaker 1: hold five hundred leaders. The cauldrons examined here had more 331 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 1: modest capacities, ranging from thirty to eighty leaders. Even taking 332 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,919 Speaker 1: into account the fact that they are unlikely to have 333 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,120 Speaker 1: been filled to the brim and probably only ever two 334 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: thirds full, even the smallest cauldrons still probably contained twenty leaders. 335 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: This is a substantial quantity of food and drink. And 336 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: I agree. I don't think I could eat twenty leaders 337 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: of soup in a single sitting, but that alone. You 338 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:38,760 Speaker 1: can easily imagine this becoming extrapolated into myths of cauldrons 339 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:41,159 Speaker 1: that are just so full of goodness that you cannot 340 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:44,159 Speaker 1: empty it. You cannot possibly eat all of this food. 341 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:48,720 Speaker 1: Now combine the bigness of these boys with the another factor, 342 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,880 Speaker 1: which is that cauldrons are relatively scarce in the archaeological 343 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:56,359 Speaker 1: record compared to other types of household items, even those 344 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:00,560 Speaker 1: made of similar materials. And from these facts, Joy infers 345 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:05,080 Speaker 1: that cauldrons were not used for everyday cooking, but instead 346 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: they were used for the community based practice of feasting. 347 00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: And I believe the argument is that this is sort 348 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: of what gives cauldrons their special power, what makes them 349 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: uh fit for use as a recurring magical item in myths. 350 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:25,200 Speaker 1: And legends and literature. Uh Joy rights as follows. At 351 00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: their heart, feasts involved the creation and maintenance of social 352 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 1: relationships and can be used to redistribute wealth, mobilized labor, 353 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 1: create alliances between or exclude different groups, celebrate marriages, commemorate deaths, 354 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:44,520 Speaker 1: and compensate for transgressions. As objects used during feasts, cauldrons 355 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:47,840 Speaker 1: helped facilitate these activities and that is where much of 356 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 1: their significance and value derives. So Joy is arguing that 357 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: feasting was this incredibly important tradition in the cultures of 358 00:20:56,960 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 1: Iron Age Europe, and it had this complex suite of 359 00:21:00,160 --> 00:21:03,200 Speaker 1: social utilities. And the paper invokes the work of a 360 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: different scholar named Michael Dietler, who has created three different 361 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: categories of sort of the social roles of feasting, which 362 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: are empowering, the patron role, and the diacritical. So empowering 363 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 1: feasts quote allow people or groups to acquire prestige without 364 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: necessarily requiring the existence of fixed social hierarchies. By hosting 365 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: a feast, debts or obligations are passed on to guests, 366 00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:36,919 Speaker 1: thus making feasts arenas for negotiations of social influence. But 367 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: empowering feasts can also be viewed as celebrations of community identity. 368 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: So there's a lot that's going on here in this 369 00:21:42,920 --> 00:21:45,719 Speaker 1: first category. Like you you could host a feast and 370 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: serve people out of a cauldron, and this is this 371 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,439 Speaker 1: is a powerful community activity. In one sense, it maybe 372 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: makes everybody who's at the feast feel more united. It's, 373 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: you know, um, it cements this idea of community identity, 374 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,080 Speaker 1: but it also sort of puts guests in your debt. 375 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: It is, you know, empowering to the host in terms 376 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:10,680 Speaker 1: of enhancing their perceived social prestige, maybe even making them 377 00:22:10,720 --> 00:22:14,879 Speaker 1: feel temporarily like some kind of king or something. And 378 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: then there are a couple of other types of feasts. 379 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: One of the patron role feasts where they're um is 380 00:22:20,880 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: sort of an it's sort of like without the strings attached. 381 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,440 Speaker 1: It's an expectation that the social elite must host, but 382 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:32,160 Speaker 1: not necessarily the the obligation for reciprocation by the guests. 383 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: And then finally there's what is called a diacritical feast, 384 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,840 Speaker 1: and this is where subgroups of a culture consume different 385 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: types of food or drink to emphasize their difference from 386 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,399 Speaker 1: other people. Interesting, I mean, I don't know if this 387 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,600 Speaker 1: is a useful exercise. But I can't help but try 388 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: and take these categories and apply them to modern communal 389 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,920 Speaker 1: feasting situations, like I do feel like the patron role 390 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: feast does sound a lot like the office Christmas party 391 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: you know, where uh, you know, it's kind of expected 392 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,600 Speaker 1: that the that the boss powers will provide you with 393 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,080 Speaker 1: some sort of a food or you know, some sort 394 00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:13,400 Speaker 1: of wine from plastic cups at least, but there's no 395 00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:15,720 Speaker 1: it doesn't mean that we need to host the next 396 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: feast for our processes. It doesn't put you any more 397 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,600 Speaker 1: in the boss's debt or service than you were already. Right, 398 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: But then if they don't know the first category, the 399 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: empowering feast, if your CEO was too suddenly out of 400 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 1: the blue say hey, why don't you and your family 401 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:32,720 Speaker 1: come over over to my house for a little get 402 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: together We're going to have. Yeah, you wonder what they're 403 00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:37,879 Speaker 1: gonna hit you up for? Yeah, yeah, that might be 404 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: some sort of situation where their strings attached. I'm not 405 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 1: sure exactly how best to apply the diacritical one because 406 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: I don't know exactly like to what extent that would 407 00:23:45,640 --> 00:23:49,760 Speaker 1: apply to religious rituals, like say, like Christian communion or 408 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:53,240 Speaker 1: things like that. Um, I mean that's where my brain went. 409 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,199 Speaker 1: But maybe that doesn't really apply. I'm not sure. It 410 00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,239 Speaker 1: doesn't make me wonder, like I don't know, you know, 411 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,440 Speaker 1: you know, they're like egg no people and and non 412 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:06,400 Speaker 1: eggnog people, and I wonder if that's going nowhere. Yeah, 413 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:08,640 Speaker 1: the only thing that comes to mind is pot luck 414 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:11,240 Speaker 1: for some reason, like I'm imagining different people bringing their 415 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: different dishes and uh yeah, maybe missing the mark on this. 416 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: I don't know if that really serves to emphasize difference. 417 00:24:19,640 --> 00:24:21,719 Speaker 1: This may just be a sort of a category that 418 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:24,720 Speaker 1: doesn't really show up in American culture today. Maybe it will. 419 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,840 Speaker 1: Maybe it's the food court at the mall, celebration of differences. 420 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: Everybody can get what they want. You don't have to 421 00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:32,000 Speaker 1: like the other person's food. It's just about whatever you eat. 422 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:35,920 Speaker 1: Maybe not. Maybe does that emphasize your difference? I don't know. Well, 423 00:24:36,359 --> 00:24:39,440 Speaker 1: is there anything more divisive than the mall food court? 424 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,040 Speaker 1: I don't know. I have vivid memories of of walking 425 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: through my mall food court when I was a kid, 426 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,880 Speaker 1: because there was a there was a Japanese place where 427 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:52,040 Speaker 1: they would have somebody out with a tray handing out 428 00:24:52,080 --> 00:24:55,640 Speaker 1: little bites of chicken teriaki, and it was so delicious 429 00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,560 Speaker 1: they would oh man, sometimes I would walk by multiple times. 430 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:02,640 Speaker 1: Oh but anyway, So to come back to the idea 431 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:06,760 Speaker 1: of like the magic power infusing the cauldron as a 432 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,439 Speaker 1: symbol being in some way related to the role of 433 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 1: cauldrons in feasting traditions, it strikes me that in many 434 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: ways the cauldron could be seen as a symbol kind 435 00:25:15,359 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 1: of like a crown with with this view, because it's 436 00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: you know, it's symbolic of power, of power over the 437 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,600 Speaker 1: social order, of like possessing the kind of the wealth 438 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 1: and abundance that you can freely give out to others 439 00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: by hosting a feast um, but also being symbolic of 440 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:34,800 Speaker 1: the ties that bind a community. Another thing that this 441 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:40,159 Speaker 1: paper highlights is the way that cauldrons are often apparently 442 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:46,399 Speaker 1: deposited intact in some deliberate, perhaps ritual manner in the 443 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:48,960 Speaker 1: in the ground or in the water. They're sort of buried, 444 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:53,119 Speaker 1: seemingly given as offerings to gods or to ancestors. This 445 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:57,439 Speaker 1: would be though it's it's sort of confusing because there 446 00:25:57,440 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: were some people saying it's not a cauldron, but This 447 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:01,639 Speaker 1: was the case with the Good District cauldron, right that 448 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: it was apparently deliberately deposited in the bog um. This 449 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:09,359 Speaker 1: also appears to be something that happens with things that 450 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 1: are definitely actually cauldrons used for cooking, and Joy makes 451 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,800 Speaker 1: a connection between this kind of ritual use and the 452 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 1: use of the cauldron in feasting, saying quote, the use 453 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:24,280 Speaker 1: of cauldrons as receptacles for symbolic food stuffs is drawn 454 00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: upon in deposition, and they are instead used as containers 455 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,960 Speaker 1: for another kind of offering, this time to deities or 456 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: ancestors rather than attendees at feasts. So the End of 457 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:39,280 Speaker 1: Joy summarizes and says, yeah, probably a major reason why 458 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:44,000 Speaker 1: cauldrons are such a such a respected and fearsome magical 459 00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,920 Speaker 1: object in all these stories is that they are socially 460 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: powerful objects. They they represent social power, and they're used 461 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: in powerful social customs, mainly feasting, because feasting is something 462 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:02,960 Speaker 1: that establishes hierarchies, that is used as as expressions of 463 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 1: individual power or used to strengthen the identity of a community. 464 00:27:07,640 --> 00:27:10,760 Speaker 1: And it's interesting how how this this seems to apply 465 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: rather broadly like this, this could have been a quotation 466 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,560 Speaker 1: from any of the papers we're looking at concerning UH 467 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:21,879 Speaker 1: cauldrons and Eastern traditions as well. Uh, the idea that, 468 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 1: like the cauldron is a thing that produces, can produce 469 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:26,520 Speaker 1: a massive quantity of food. It can be made to 470 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:28,679 Speaker 1: used to make a sacrifice. It as a symbol of 471 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:32,440 Speaker 1: power those who possess the cauldron. Uh, it means something, 472 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: it stands for something. I mean, I'm trying to think 473 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,720 Speaker 1: how this compares to uh, modern things like what's a 474 00:27:38,840 --> 00:27:42,719 Speaker 1: type of serving vessel or some type of food related 475 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: thing that you wouldn't really use just for you in 476 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: your own household. You only break out to certain like 477 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,040 Speaker 1: when you're hosting a party. I guess maybe a punch 478 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:54,640 Speaker 1: bowl or or maybe a fonduce set or something like that, 479 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: these other things that would serve a similar function there, 480 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 1: like an object that symbolizes your your power to host. Yeah, 481 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: I guess you could also get into the whole realm 482 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,920 Speaker 1: of like the fine china, the good silverware, and so forth, 483 00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:13,040 Speaker 1: which is kind of the the cauldronization of your entire 484 00:28:13,960 --> 00:28:17,240 Speaker 1: dining room. I guess. I mean sometimes that is part 485 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: of it. It's like it's not only it's the special 486 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: dining room, not the place where we we don't normally 487 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: eat dinner, but this is a special event. So at 488 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:33,359 Speaker 1: this point we're gonna finally come around to something that 489 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 1: a number of you may have been thinking about, and 490 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 1: that is the Holy Grail. So you've given all of 491 00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: these associations with cauldrons and rebirth. It's notable that connections 492 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,920 Speaker 1: have have certainly been made between pre Christian traditions of 493 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:52,120 Speaker 1: sacred cauldrons and the the medieval legacy of the literary 494 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,720 Speaker 1: concept of the Holy Grail. The Grail, after all, is 495 00:28:55,760 --> 00:28:59,120 Speaker 1: not a product of Biblical texts, but rather emerges during 496 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:02,040 Speaker 1: the medieval period it with our earliest mention of it 497 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,680 Speaker 1: coming from a work by Kretianti, a twelfth century French poet. 498 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: It's thought that the concept of the Holy Grail, the 499 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: goblet which collects the blood of Christ, is a combination 500 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,520 Speaker 1: of pre existing cauldron traditions and the right of the Eucharist, 501 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: who I'm generally depicted as a cup something, especially in 502 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,600 Speaker 1: more modern renditions. You know, this is the thing you're 503 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: going to see Indiana Jones holding this is the what 504 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,240 Speaker 1: you're gonna see in the clouds in Monty Python and 505 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 1: the Holy Grail. Uh. Still other other times it seems 506 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: to connect with the idea. Certainly when you get into 507 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,680 Speaker 1: the etymology of the word, it connects with this idea 508 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:42,600 Speaker 1: of a bowl or some other kind of serving vessel 509 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: of varying materials, so it doesn't necessarily need to be 510 00:29:46,160 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 1: made of solid gold or whatnot. So very loosely speaking, 511 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: there seems to be a connection between Celtic legends involving 512 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:58,240 Speaker 1: cauldron's thirteenth century romances and uh that end up involving 513 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: the Grail, and then centuries worth of tales to follow. 514 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,320 Speaker 1: I also think it's interesting that that while the right 515 00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: of immersion baptism and Christian traditions has its roots in 516 00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: the use of rivers and streams, modern churches often use 517 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:17,520 Speaker 1: artificial baptism tanks that wind up feeling more in line 518 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:20,920 Speaker 1: with some of these ideas of immersion within a cauldron. 519 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: What did you think about any of that as we 520 00:30:23,040 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: were rolling through this stuff. No, I did not really 521 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 1: make that connection, though, yeah, obviously there it is a 522 00:30:27,920 --> 00:30:31,000 Speaker 1: broader theme, the idea of immersion and some kind of 523 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:35,840 Speaker 1: liquid being a transformative process and the process of baptism, which, 524 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: of course baptism actually you know, predates Christianity. Even in 525 00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:42,160 Speaker 1: the Bible, John the Baptist was baptizing people in the 526 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: River Jordan's before before Christianity was invented. So you know, 527 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:48,360 Speaker 1: this is an idea that goes way back and is 528 00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:51,840 Speaker 1: applied in many different contexts. Yet and so we see it, Yeah, 529 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:53,840 Speaker 1: we see it again in the imagery on the Gun 530 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,680 Speaker 1: District cauldron. There is something going on there where there's 531 00:30:56,720 --> 00:30:59,720 Speaker 1: some kind of baptism like event where a god is 532 00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:04,440 Speaker 1: like dunking uh slain warriors headfirst into a cauldron, and 533 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:09,280 Speaker 1: this is somehow transforming them into some other state. Alright, 534 00:31:09,320 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: speaking of other states, it's uh, it's time to go 535 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:16,520 Speaker 1: to Hell once more. So we you know, we mentioned 536 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:20,120 Speaker 1: in one of the previous Cauldron's episodes that Western connections 537 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: to divine cauldrons may have prevented their use in some 538 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:28,000 Speaker 1: depictions of Hell in later Christian traditions, and despite the 539 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:30,680 Speaker 1: fact that certainly many of those myths involved people being 540 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: immersed in said cauldrons, and the fact that death by 541 00:31:33,760 --> 00:31:35,840 Speaker 1: cauldron was very much a thing in parts of Europe 542 00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:41,720 Speaker 1: as well. Um this in talking about European ideas and 543 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,520 Speaker 1: medieval ideas of Hell, of course, there's there's one place 544 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:46,200 Speaker 1: we end up having to go to, and that, of 545 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:50,520 Speaker 1: course is Dante's Inferno in the Divine Comedy. A lot 546 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: of modern ideas about about the Christian Hell are from Dante. There. 547 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:57,360 Speaker 1: You know, you can't find him anywhere in the Bible 548 00:31:57,720 --> 00:31:59,760 Speaker 1: right right, and and beyond hell, I mean you get 549 00:31:59,760 --> 00:32:04,800 Speaker 1: into the idea of purgatory, etcetera. Dante's work was incredibly influential. 550 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:09,480 Speaker 1: And uh, if you start looking around though for examples 551 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:13,719 Speaker 1: of death by cauldron or cauldron immersion or you know, 552 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:17,680 Speaker 1: cauldron torture in in Dante's Inferno, you do find a 553 00:32:17,680 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: few interesting things. So in Canto twenty three, in which 554 00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:26,600 Speaker 1: it depicts the torment of hypocrites who wear cloaks with hoods, 555 00:32:27,040 --> 00:32:31,040 Speaker 1: bright colors and lead linings, Uh, yeah, we see a 556 00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:34,040 Speaker 1: reference to death by cauldron. Uh. This is in the 557 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: sixth trench of the Malibolga. I'm gonna read from a 558 00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:42,320 Speaker 1: translation here. Outside these cloaks were gilded and they dazzled, 559 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: but inside they were all of lead, so heavy that 560 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:49,959 Speaker 1: Frederick's capes were straw compared to them, a tiring mantle 561 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:53,200 Speaker 1: for eternity. We turned again, as always to the left 562 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,440 Speaker 1: along with them, intent on their sad weeping. But with 563 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:00,240 Speaker 1: their weights the wary people pay so slowly that we 564 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,560 Speaker 1: found ourselves among new company each time we took a step. 565 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,640 Speaker 1: And then the Dante comes back to this, and one 566 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:10,840 Speaker 1: of them replied, the yellow cloaks are of a lead, 567 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:15,840 Speaker 1: so thick their heaviness makes us the balances beneath them creak. Now, 568 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: the illusion here apparently is to death by cauldron um 569 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:21,840 Speaker 1: and uh. I was looking into this in the notes 570 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 1: to the Durling and Martinez edition of Dante's Inferno that 571 00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:30,440 Speaker 1: I have. There was apparently a Guelf propaganda campaign against 572 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick the Second, who lived eleven 573 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,800 Speaker 1: ninety four through twelve fifty, that charged him with him 574 00:33:37,840 --> 00:33:41,400 Speaker 1: having punished traitors by encasing them in lead and then 575 00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:44,960 Speaker 1: roasting them. At least in some tellings, this was achieved 576 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:49,160 Speaker 1: by placing the lead cloaked individual inside of a cauldron. Now, 577 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:53,200 Speaker 1: the Guelfs were a political faction who supported the papacy 578 00:33:53,240 --> 00:33:55,840 Speaker 1: against the Holy Roman Emperor, and they were opposed by 579 00:33:55,880 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: the Ghibillins, who basically had the opposite values. On top 580 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:03,400 Speaker 1: of this, there are boilings in the Inferno there boilings 581 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:08,240 Speaker 1: are plenty. Uh. Most notably there is the river of Flagathon, 582 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,920 Speaker 1: which is literally a river of boiling blood in which 583 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,880 Speaker 1: the souls of the damned drive. Here, those who perpetrated 584 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,840 Speaker 1: violence against other humans are tormented. You have centaurs patrolling 585 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,440 Speaker 1: the banks of the river, uh, pelting anyone with arrows 586 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:26,399 Speaker 1: if they try to rise above their station in the river. 587 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,880 Speaker 1: I seem to recall Virgil and Dante end up talking 588 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:34,080 Speaker 1: to these centaurs a good bit. I I've forgotten the 589 00:34:34,120 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: conversation with the centers, but they have so many wonderful conversations. Uh. 590 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:41,240 Speaker 1: Now elsewhere, at the mount back of the Mala Bolga, 591 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,759 Speaker 1: the evil ditches of torment. The fifth Trench consists of 592 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,880 Speaker 1: a river of burning pitch, And here the demons of 593 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:51,960 Speaker 1: the Mala Braca use cruel skewers to make sure the 594 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,800 Speaker 1: grafters punished her stay immersed and don't escape. And Durling 595 00:34:56,800 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 1: and Martinez translate this is fall. Part of this is 596 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: follows quote. Not otherwise do cooks have their servants push 597 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 1: down with hooks the meat cooking in a broth so 598 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 1: that it may float. So here, once more we have 599 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:13,120 Speaker 1: cooking imagery, and the authors discussed this at length. They 600 00:35:13,120 --> 00:35:15,799 Speaker 1: have a little uh bit in the back where they 601 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,080 Speaker 1: break this down a bit more so. Dante was essentially 602 00:35:19,160 --> 00:35:24,239 Speaker 1: building upon various well established metaphors here, especially for frauds, counterfeits, 603 00:35:24,239 --> 00:35:27,840 Speaker 1: and other false individuals who are tormented in this particular 604 00:35:27,880 --> 00:35:31,520 Speaker 1: portion of the Inferno. Various of the parts of the 605 00:35:31,760 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: Malabolga feature quote sharply focused parodies of cooking and digestion. 606 00:35:37,440 --> 00:35:39,919 Speaker 1: So this part of the Inferno is kind of like 607 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,759 Speaker 1: they say, a great spider web, but also it is 608 00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,520 Speaker 1: kind of like the belly or the winding and testines 609 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:48,800 Speaker 1: of hell. Uh, there's a lot here about the consumer 610 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:52,960 Speaker 1: being consumed. Uh. Cooking metaphors were often wound up in 611 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,000 Speaker 1: discussing the fraudulent, and we see that today as well. 612 00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:00,280 Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, yeah, cooking the books, um uh, they're also 613 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:03,080 Speaker 1: the scheme is cooked up. If we're if we're tricked 614 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:05,319 Speaker 1: into following it, you know, we're we're eating it up 615 00:36:05,480 --> 00:36:08,919 Speaker 1: or we're being fed a lie or fedicon that sort 616 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:12,520 Speaker 1: of thing. Yeah. So Dante is always is painting with 617 00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,320 Speaker 1: a number of palets here, but but touches on various 618 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:20,839 Speaker 1: elements that we've discussed already in this series. Cooking is digestion, 619 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 1: cooking as transformation, cooking as torment. There are also various 620 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 1: depictions of Hell outside of Dante's work of Hell as 621 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,280 Speaker 1: a Cauldron, though, of course Dante's layout for the Inferno 622 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:36,360 Speaker 1: is far more complex than that, you know, not geared 623 00:36:36,400 --> 00:36:40,400 Speaker 1: around a single technological metaphor, but a larger mix of 624 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:43,960 Speaker 1: influences and illusions. You can't, you can't tie Dante down 625 00:36:44,040 --> 00:36:46,759 Speaker 1: and just ask him to compare all of Hell to 626 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:50,040 Speaker 1: just one thing. That's that's not the game he's playing. So, 627 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,000 Speaker 1: of course Christian Hell and and Dante's version of it 628 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: in Inferno. Uh, we have to remind ourselves this is 629 00:36:55,960 --> 00:37:00,680 Speaker 1: not a transformative realm like we see in Eastern traditions 630 00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:04,560 Speaker 1: of hell, uh, where it's about the soul being transformed 631 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,800 Speaker 1: into something else. No, Uh, it doesn't even these versions 632 00:37:07,800 --> 00:37:12,719 Speaker 1: of Hell don't even accomplish transformation via annihilation. Um. Now, 633 00:37:12,960 --> 00:37:16,319 Speaker 1: certainly within the Divine Comedy you get into purgatory, and 634 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:20,719 Speaker 1: that is about transformation. Uh. And certainly that concept, the 635 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:23,840 Speaker 1: concept of purgatory that we see within the Divine Comedy 636 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 1: has more in common with Eastern traditions of the afterlife. Anyway, 637 00:37:28,600 --> 00:37:30,760 Speaker 1: they're still On top of this, there are certainly visual 638 00:37:30,760 --> 00:37:35,239 Speaker 1: and literary depictions of hell cauldrons in Christian and European traditions. 639 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:37,759 Speaker 1: I don't imagine you could keep them out of hell 640 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,480 Speaker 1: if you wanted to, even if you have you know, 641 00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:44,120 Speaker 1: say again like a Celtic tradition in the background, in 642 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:47,640 Speaker 1: which the cauldron seems a little too holy and a 643 00:37:47,719 --> 00:37:49,799 Speaker 1: little too special to be a part of some sort 644 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:54,160 Speaker 1: of delirious hell painting. Somebody is going to be like, oh, 645 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,080 Speaker 1: but but what if you were cooked in a soup? 646 00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:58,480 Speaker 1: Or how about that guy that we boiled last week 647 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:02,400 Speaker 1: for for making f valent coins? Uh? Like, the idea 648 00:38:02,560 --> 00:38:04,680 Speaker 1: is going to worm its way in there. There's no 649 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,319 Speaker 1: way you're going to keep that image out of your 650 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:10,680 Speaker 1: imagined afterlife. None of this hell imagery really seems to 651 00:38:10,719 --> 00:38:13,360 Speaker 1: have anything to do with with hosting or feasting, does it? 652 00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,160 Speaker 1: Uh No? But but I mean it does have a 653 00:38:18,160 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 1: lot to do with with eating and digestion. So I 654 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: mean it's it's everything seated at the same table one 655 00:38:25,040 --> 00:38:28,200 Speaker 1: way or another. Here, I'm still thinking about modern analogies 656 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:32,640 Speaker 1: for the cauldron as a symbol of hosting power. Uh So, 657 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,480 Speaker 1: I said the punch bowl earlier, maybe the Fundu said 658 00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:37,279 Speaker 1: if it was the I don't know, the seventies or 659 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:39,839 Speaker 1: eighties whenever that was. But the one that just came 660 00:38:39,880 --> 00:38:42,839 Speaker 1: to me is like the really nice smoker, you know. 661 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, they're the green ones and so forth. Yeah, yeah, 662 00:38:46,440 --> 00:38:48,919 Speaker 1: I'm gonna host a barbecue and look all the Look 663 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:50,799 Speaker 1: at all the meat I can make. Oh yeah, yeah. 664 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:54,839 Speaker 1: Big grills in general, yeah, I think totally. The really 665 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:57,360 Speaker 1: nice charcoal grill or gas grill is very much in 666 00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:00,360 Speaker 1: keeping with the tradition of the cauldron and uh, I 667 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:04,319 Speaker 1: mean the idea of a low country boil or it's variations, 668 00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:07,080 Speaker 1: uh of the low country boil, in which you know, 669 00:39:07,120 --> 00:39:10,160 Speaker 1: you're essentially essentially you have a cauldron and you're gonna 670 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:13,040 Speaker 1: cook cook up a whole bunch of shrimp and a 671 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:15,759 Speaker 1: few veggies and so forth. You know, that's very much 672 00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:19,160 Speaker 1: in the tradition. Spill it all out on the table 673 00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,520 Speaker 1: and let's all have a feast. I don't know that 674 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:23,560 Speaker 1: that would really be a special pot, but I mean 675 00:39:23,600 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 1: just sometimes when we're talking about special, we could be 676 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:29,000 Speaker 1: talking about uh, an ornate vessel. But sometimes it's just 677 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:31,319 Speaker 1: the fact that it is large. I have a pot 678 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,320 Speaker 1: large enough to to to create a low country boil 679 00:39:34,400 --> 00:39:36,799 Speaker 1: that that's in and of itself is impressed. You've got 680 00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:40,759 Speaker 1: family in Louisiana, right, or do you uh down in 681 00:39:40,800 --> 00:39:43,960 Speaker 1: that area? Yes, south of Mississippi? Yeah, okay, you do 682 00:39:44,040 --> 00:39:47,680 Speaker 1: crawfish boils? Or have you done? Oh? Yeah? Yeah? So 683 00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:50,440 Speaker 1: basically a big, big metal cauldron in the front yard, 684 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:54,600 Speaker 1: gas flame underneath it, coming up a bunch of shump, 685 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:58,280 Speaker 1: some older man telling like scolding you for not sucking 686 00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:03,120 Speaker 1: the heads on you. You gotta heads, that's what they say. Yeah, 687 00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:06,320 Speaker 1: with the with the crawl, dad's the mud bugs. Okay, 688 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,320 Speaker 1: I think maybe we're done. Yeah, but I mean, obviously 689 00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:11,520 Speaker 1: we'd love to hear from everyone out there about very 690 00:40:11,880 --> 00:40:15,120 Speaker 1: certainly this question, like the special thing in your household 691 00:40:15,239 --> 00:40:17,400 Speaker 1: or a household you grew up in, or or just 692 00:40:17,800 --> 00:40:21,320 Speaker 1: a cultural tradition surrounding you, Like what is what is 693 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:25,560 Speaker 1: your version of of the sacred cauldron, the sacred festival 694 00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 1: for feasts? Uh? What is the or or what is 695 00:40:28,680 --> 00:40:31,440 Speaker 1: the dish that is central to your experiences that that 696 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:34,040 Speaker 1: matches up with all of this? Uh, we'd love to 697 00:40:34,080 --> 00:40:36,280 Speaker 1: hear your thoughts on that, about anything that we've discussed 698 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:39,600 Speaker 1: in these four episodes on the Cauldron, so we'll be 699 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:42,960 Speaker 1: back next time with with with something new, something non 700 00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:46,520 Speaker 1: Cauldron related, so we hope you'll join us. Core episodes 701 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:48,680 Speaker 1: of Stuff to Blow Your Mind air on Tuesdays and 702 00:40:48,719 --> 00:40:51,640 Speaker 1: Thursdays in the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast feed. 703 00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:54,960 Speaker 1: On Monday's we usually do a listener mail episode. On 704 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:57,560 Speaker 1: Wednesdays we usually do a short form artifact or monster 705 00:40:57,640 --> 00:41:00,600 Speaker 1: fact episode, and on Friday's we do Weird Cinema. That's 706 00:41:00,600 --> 00:41:03,200 Speaker 1: our time to set aside most serious concerns and just 707 00:41:03,239 --> 00:41:06,000 Speaker 1: talk about a strange film. Huge thanks as always to 708 00:41:06,040 --> 00:41:09,279 Speaker 1: our excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you would 709 00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,319 Speaker 1: like to get in touch with us with feedback on 710 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 1: this episode or any other, to suggest a topic for 711 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:15,800 Speaker 1: the future, or just to say hello, you can email 712 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:26,719 Speaker 1: us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 713 00:41:26,719 --> 00:41:29,240 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. 714 00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:31,920 Speaker 1: For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart 715 00:41:31,960 --> 00:41:34,719 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to your 716 00:41:34,719 --> 00:41:44,239 Speaker 1: favorite shows.