My pictures are in Edinburgh–Village of Dean still and the quotes are still from the Enchanted World book.
and as usual before we get to the meat and potatoes we go for the EYE CANDY
” ‘I am a musician, an artificer like the wren,’ ” sang the Welsh Wizard Taliesin, and it was true. His songs were about creation and they made those magical thing occur.”
and of course my suggestions for making it thru the BIG D
(Droughtlander for those who haven’t seen Outlander and aren’t suffering from it not being on again—at least new ones—until next year)
TAKE HOPE—Droughtlander isn’t expected to be as long check out all the latest info including: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/07/outlander-season-3
and this
http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/outlander-season-3-news-and-updates-showrunner-hints-at-challenges-for-season-3-droughtlander-to-be-shorter-this-year/47705.htm
“…the enchanter Volga Vseslavich. Strange tales gathered about his name. His mother was a princess of Kiev, it was said, but his father was a serpent, from the mother came his courage and from the father his skill and guile.”
https://www.etsy.com/listing/236407939/the-oracle-paper-may-1967-haight-ashbury?ref=shop_home_active_1
Join a Drought Lander Support Group: https://www.facebook.com/JamieFraserOutlander/posts/406337809564735
or
https://www.facebook.com/Surviving-Droughtlander-388621141335821/
Play Psychiatrist or psychologist and help to deal with Clair…lost a baby, and a husband well kind twice…etc.
And we don’t want to even go into Jamie’s issues Oh my
start here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/outlander-caitriona-balfe-dives-deep-905245
“Guardian of the Isle of Man, Manannan Mac Lir rode a horse called Enbarr, meaning “Splendid Mane,” that took him with ease over land or sea. No weapon could pierce Manannan’s armour and no enemy could survive his sword’s thrust, that sword was called the Answerer.”
In Arthur The King by Graeme Fife (The Themes Behind the Legends) we look at Geoffry of Mammoth, who is the man who probably single handedly assure Arthur’s fame, whom we learn was “a lay canon of the Church and later ordained priest and consecrated bishop.” Fife also insists that the whole idea of Geoffry’s resurrection of Arthur was to recruit ongoing participants in the Church’s Crusades to the Holy Land and so he removed any “…lurking presence of the Druid by plainly stating that Merlin persuaded an archbishop to encourage the barons to get Uther on “whom to make king after him.”
In The Holy Grail (Giles Morgan) it says that that our popular concept of Merlin, “derives mainly from..Geoffrey Monmouth.” but he goes on to say that there probably was a historical character at his base of that his literary creation, but that much of the concept of Merlin “lie in the ancient Celtic traditions he embodies and symbolizes.” He feel that his prophecy is related to a similar function of the Druids (“major aspects of their roles…”) and thus made this aspect of the wizard very fitting. He also feels he (Geoffrey) may have used a Scottish advisor (Lailoken to King Gwenddoleu) in medieval Scottish literature as well as a 5th century Welsh legend of a boy born without a father (by supernatural means) and who had second sight and the gift of prophecy.
“In his youth, Merlin the Enchanter observed a duel of dragons and was inspired to prophecy. He foresaw the river of England run red with the blood of battle, but he also saw the coming of King Arthur and the glorious reign that followed.”
Oh a bit more confusion is added by Erica Jong in her book WITCHES where she states that “Although Merlin is more properly a wizard than a witch, the myriad legends about him incorporate many of the mythical elements of our beliefs about witches.”
So I went on to check out more on Wizards. In the Encyclopedia of Withes & Witchcraft (Guiley) wizard is said to be a term “used in various periods of history for male magicians, sorcerers or witches but seldom used in modern time. It was derived from the middle English “term wis, which means ‘wise’ First appearing in 1440 and “synonymous with wise women and wise men.” By 16th and 17th century it was used for “high magicians” but also for cunning men, women, charmers, blessers, sorcerers, conjurers and witches.” and by 1825 it became synonymous “with witch”. It has since died out for this type of use.
They have a history of making minor spells and amulets etc. for the village and claimed to get their powers from magic and “part Christian origins.” Most were not very powerful
and most were of inferior rank and had to work at other occupations to maintain a decent living. There were a group that were considered high magicians, these were the most intellectual, pursued alchemy and various wisdoms, philosophies and even scryed crystals. in England t wizards were sometime prosecuted under The Witchcraft Acts of the 16th and the practice declined in the 17 century and continue to do so until the 19th when there was a revival of High Magic.
“Protector of Britain’s future, Merlin spirited the infant Arthur away from his birthplace at the fortress of Tintagel. No one in power saw the young King until he came to claim his crown, and Merlin never told where he had hidden the child.”
In all my studies I found that: Witches who were
1. predominately woman
2. more likely than wizards to be Included in histories of strange places and tales of evil.
3. More likely to be killed than the mostly male magicians
4. And are (unless you’re into Harry Potter) more likely to be the subject as tales and terrors.
Oh one thing I found that I hadn’t seen before (The King Arthur’s Companion by Karr) was Merlin’s Bed…Mallory—the person who brought the King to Medieval France—said that to lie in it caused madness and shouldn’t be confused with the bed at Castle Adventurous of Carbonek where a person sleeping in the bed had visions of peril…the was another weird bed (these seem a bit common in the legends strange)…The Perilous one at the castle Terre Foraine of Gore which Gawaine was warned not to sleep in and Lancelot did sleep in it which pursuing Guenevere and her captor Meliagtant. He was awaken at midnight with a fiery lance coming through the window and which embedded over a foot into the floor. Lancelot being the bad ass he was cut it in half with his sword and back to bed apparently to sleep well the rest of the night.
Karr thinks that thinks this is all related to the original Merlin bed. No real point here folks I just was intrigued with all the bad beds and fiery lances–kinda gives a new dimension to insomnia….and mattress commercials.
“The venerable oak was sacred to wizards. In winter, when the leaves had died, mistletoe clinging to the oak’s branches proclaimed life’s continuity.
As I have said previously in my opinion the most famous (at least in our European dominated legends) magician is Merlin—the mage who advised Arthur England’s legendary Once and Future King. I see him as a pagan entity–not druid but a fairy Halfling and most definitely a pagan entity….but looking into Merlin I have found many other opinions.
