The Welsh Goddess CERIDWEN prepared a Cauldron of Inspiration by simmering magical herbs for a year and a day. The Chief Bard of Wales, Taliesin, was her student. He drank from her Cauldron of Inspiration and learned many secrets of the natural world, including the art of shape-shifting into different life forms. The Druids who composed praise poetry called themselves Cerddorion, or "Sons of Ceridwen". She is one of the prototypes of the "Learned Elder" or the Crone of Wisdom.