And one day, towards the end of the year … three drops of the charmed liquor flew out of the cauldron and fell upon the finger of Gwion Bach. And by reason of their great heat he put his finger to his mouth … and he foresaw everything that was to come…

(from the myth of Taliesin, included in Lady Charlotte Guest’s translation of The Mabinogion)

Three Drops from a Cauldron was an online journal - and sometime print press - for poetry and flash fiction (or any hybrid of the two) and visual art involving myth, legend, folklore, fable and fairytale. We published a wide range of weird and wonderful work from January 2015 to December 2019.

The roots of this journal sprouted from the editor’s long-term obsession with folklore and mythology - particularly of the Welsh variety - and literature. And who better to represent this than Ceridwen and her cauldron?

Ceridwen was a sorceress in Welsh legend, who has since been elevated to deity status - she is the crone goddess of poetry, magic and inspiration.

Ceridwen was also the accidental mother of Taliesin, the greatest of Welsh bards. According to legend, this is due to a mishap involving three stray drops from her cauldron of inspiration. These tiny drops of powerful potion turned her servant-boy Gwion Bach into the celebrated poet-storyteller, but not before a series of shape-shifting incidents that resulted in his being eaten by the sorceress.

But that’s another story.

As surely as Ceridwen and Taliesin shifted and changed from one form to the next, so do we all in our lives, if on a figurative level. We hope all the writers who once found a home here go from strength to strength in the future. Thank you for sitting with us and sharing stories for a while.