What's in a Cauldron?

One of my favorite things about my witchy activities is finding excuses to use my mortar and pestle and my cauldron. I love them. They make me feel witchy. I was not, however, willing to spend $30+ on Amazon.com for a cauldron that was 3" with a little pentacle on the side, cute as it was. It seems the bigger they get, the more expensive they get!

Then I discovered a secret....a cauldron is nothing more than a dutch oven cooking pot, cast iron and, most importantly, fireproof! Check out the prices per size anywhere you can purchase dutch ovens. I found mine at Cal Ranch, and I paid $12 plus tax for my 4.5" wide almost 3" deep desert dutch oven.

For example:

This 8qt, 20lb dutch oven for $58, versus this 7" $75 witchy cauldron.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008GKDW/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=486539851&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B000JZZIKI&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=0Z67Q8GVD3WS4H5QP8NY

http://www.amazon.com/Large-Pentagram-Cast-Iron-Cauldron/dp/B001BZKCVK/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1308862410&sr=1-5

Be sure to look around and use smart shopping and price comparisons-- the example above is really not all that extreme. The cauldrons marketed at pagans and witches are generally two to three times higher in price than a larger cast iron dutch oven, when both are good for spellwork and one even doubles as a cooking utensil, which is what cauldrons were used for back in the old days, don't forget.