Merlin by Gordon Strong

Author:Gordon Strong
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Merlin, King Arthur, holy grail, Celtic, history, legends, myths, legends, Druid, folklore, Arthurian, biography, Welsh, Druidry, wizard, wizardry, spring0410
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2010-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

[1]. In “Morte d’Arthur” (1838).

[2]. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, trans. by Ch’u Ta-Kao. (London: Allen & Unwin, 1937).

Divine Madness

Why do you ask me about death when you do not know how to live?

—CONFUCIUS

Death and Change

A total change in consciousness may be caused by any of a myriad of states—love, danger, illness, tragedy, drugs, or visions. Whatever the catalyst, the result is to experience a totally different view of the world. For Merlin, death was the prompt and with it came a fearful madness. Our modern age would refer to ‘post-combat stress’, and certainly the effects of war must go deep into the psyche. Any conflict fought in the Dark Ages would have been a bloody affair and not easily forgotten except by the most battle-hardened veteran. Debate continues as to the precise location of the relevant battle and even the identity of the enemy. Did Merlin fight alongside Rodarcus, King of the Cumbri, against Guennolous, the King of Scotia (Scotland)? If he did, in this conflict three brothers of whom Merlin was very fond perished in the battle. Alternatively, the death of Gwenddolau, his friend and mentor, slain by the Saxons at the battle of Arderydd, might have brought about his insanity.

If the latter account is correct, the historian will imply that the Celtic culture is dying with Gwenddolau, and has its swan song in Merlin. Rhydderch Hael, the victor, is a Christian king, and Merlin fears he and his men will persecute the wizard because of his beliefs. In some accounts Merlin becomes king and rules Gwenddolau’s kingdom for a time. It is also suggested that he was once king of the Demetae, the men of Dyfed in southwestern Wales.

Whether one or both accounts are merely allegories of Merlin’s endless powers—the Wizard as King—is not clear. The outcome, however, is the same. Merlin flees into the forest and wanders among the trees in a hopeless delirium. What were the feelings he experienced? Although a wizard, he was still a mortal man. We can speculate that despair, anger, and a strange vulnerability were among his emotions. All this perhaps was greater than any anxiety about losing his sanity.

The concept of ‘normality’ is relatively modern—eccentricity of behaviour being once a hallmark of the English character. Visionaries, hermits, and saints would have been less of a rarity in Merlin’s time, so his behaviour would not have been judged with reference to any rigid standard of conformity. In the twenty-first century, society is all too ready to decide what is ‘appropriate behaviour’. The result has been legislation against the medium and the clairvoyant. Our obsession with quantifying everything has become detrimental to our spiritual well-being.

Merlin must weather the psychic storm until he gains the wisdom that will enable him to attain the next level of his enlightenment. He must endure in order to gain, for this is not his end but his beginning. Those on the threshold of spiritual transformation often experience a ‘paradoxical disequilibrium’. Merlin has become unbalanced, and he must regain his position on the Middle Pillar of the Qabalah Tree of Life.

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