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©Eileen Holland - www.open-sesame.com
- Other names:
- Merddin - Myrrdin - Emrys -
Ambrosius - Rof Breoht Woden, Bright Strength of Woden
(British)
Powerful Druid wizard, counselor to three High Kings; key figure in the Arthurian legends.
Merlin was a bard, seer, prophet, magician and political advisor. He was a magical
child with an unnatural birth, the son of a virgin and a demon. He inherited magical
abilities from his father and learned the Craft from a mage named Bleise. Christian myths
say that Merlin was baptized.
He
was brought as a boy before King Vortigern, the usurper, who sought to sacrifice a
fatherless child upon the Salisbury Plain to stop the nightly destruction of the fortress
he was trying to build. Merlin saved his own life by revealing the source of the problem,
two dragons that fought nocturnal battles in a subterranean pool. He directed digging
beneath the construction site which unearthed two dragons, one red and one white, who
immediately started fighting. Merlin began to prophecy, using the dragons' battle to
foresee the outcome of the Saxon/Briton wars. He also predicted the death of the king as
well as that of the Old Religion, telling Vortigern and his druids:
"And Janus shall never have priests again. His door will be shut and
remain concealed in Ariadne's crannies." As
Chief Druid Merlin served first King Ambrosius, later his brother Uther Pendragon, helping
them to overthrow Vortigern. Uther fell madly in love with Igraine, Duchess of Cornwall, a
married woman. Merlin did not approve but made a deal with Uther to use magic to ensure
his seduction of her, provided he was given the child they would conceive that night.
Merlin transformed Uther into the likeness of the Duke of Cornwall, enabling him to walk
right into the seagirt fortress of Tintagel and bed Igraine, who took him for her husband.
The duke was killed in battle by Uther's men while he lay abed with Igraine, enabling him
to later make her his queen.
Uther kept his bargain with Merlin, handing the infant Arthur over to him. Merlin arranged
foster parents for the boy but visited him periodically throughout his childhood, molding
him. This arrangement saved Arthur's life and Merlin later made him king and helped him to
unite England. When first he saw Guinevere, Merlin predicted she would break Arthur's
heart.
Legendary feats ascribed to Merlin include construction of the Round Table and placing the
sword in the stone. He is said to have changed himself into a fish and swum beneath the
sea, to have designed Camelot and built it in one night. Merlin was once believed
responsible for erecting Stonehenge, also called the Giants' Dance, by using magic to
transport the stones from Ireland.
There are several myths concerning Merlin's death, which is usually believed to have been
brought about by his fatal attraction to Nimuë/Viviene, the Lady of the Lake. He saw her
dancing in a wood and was instantly besotted with her. The attraction was not mutual and
the aged Merlin stalked her, made a fool of himself over her, agreed to teach her magic
but promised never to use magic on her.
She
played along until she had obtained all his knowledge, then used his own spells to bind
him to her and beguiled him in Brécéliande Forest beneath a flowering whitethorn tree.
Nimuë circled him nine times dragging her veil behind her, making her spell nine
times, then bound him to a stone. Or trapped him in an enchanted forest. Or imprisoned him
in a crystal cave. Or in a tower of air.
Another myth tells how Merlin accidentally sat in Galahad's chair at the Round Table, a
seat reserved for the purest of knights, and was instantly swallowed up by the earth. The
gentlest version of the legend has Merlin simply choosing to return to the Otherworld,
Nimuë the nurse and companion of his old age and final journey, to whom he bequeathed all
his knowledge.
- Sacred Animal:
- Geography:
- Depicted:
- as an old man with long
white hair and beard, wearing robes and a pointed hat - as a strong, handsome, magical
young man
- Invoke Merlin for:
- wisdom - psychic work -
magic - passion - protection - spells - advice - prophecy - influence - manipulation -
magical power - temporal power - wise counsel - shape-shifting - protecting the land -
enchanted sleep - harmony with the environment - sensitivity to unseen powers and natural
forces - shaping future events - connectedness with the Old Gods
- Invoke Merlin where the wind
can be heard rustling in the leaves of trees.
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