. . . Certain timeless ideas, which have been submerged and subdued for a long time, are making their appearance once again. In that respect we’re living in very interesting times as the Chinese would say. Interesting times, spiritually powerful times, always cast a great shadow. There will also be great difficulties . . .
Dark Goddess
It is Morgan le Fay who will lead Arthur into the Otherworld as he is dying and Nimmue who will send Merlin into the void. Some say that these two enchantresses are one and the same, although it seems apparent that Morgan has the darker aspect. She provides an insight into how the feminine psyche is presented in the Arthurian tales. To Merlin, Water is the Goddess of the Lake, and the Wind purifying thought. Morgan is the Queen of Faery and also Death. The gender of Death is a moot point, though in his fantasy novels Terry Pratchett portrays Death, very convincingly, as male. But in the Arthurian tales, Morgan is as a Norse Valkyrie, one who takes the souls of dead warriors to Valhalla. It is she who will take Arthur to Avalon in her bark, the coracle of Cerridwen, for being of the Isis cult she ferries the dead to the underworld herself. Morgan le Fay may indeed be Persephone, the Queen of Hades and of the highest rank among the deities. She is certainly Hecate, the chthonian goddess of magick, and certainly capable of casting spells in pursuit of revenge.
Schooled in magick, Morgan certainly was. Her first master is a shadowy figure, so dark as to be to all intents invisible. We know almost nothing about him except that, like Merlin with Arthur, he was one who was anxious to oversee the birth of certain individuals. In this instance it was Morgan le Fay. In her youth she was summoned to the power centre of the Inner Temple within the sacred kingdom of Avalon. It was in that secret place that she learned her magick. She lived in a timeless state where she had no awareness of anything other than the great forces to which she slowly but surely became attuned. There is much of Nephthys, the dark sister of Isis, about Morgan. Perhaps there is more of the Queen of Heaven in Nimmue than in Morgan. Certainly Morgan is not above using her powers for her own ends, a proceeding generally not considered wise in the world of magick. Her will is almost invincible, and she displays many of the traits that we associate with the astrological sign of Scorpio.
In the modern system, Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, which in mythology was the ruler of Hades, the Underworld. Secrets, treasures, and the deepest of emotions are hidden there. Pluto also represents the catharsis in life, the purging of unwanted and therefore debilitating ideas and feelings. Revenge too is part of the Scorpio/Pluto world, and Morgan or Morgen is known as the Apple Woman, who distributes poisoned apples in an apparently wanton act of vengeance against humanity. The character of the Wicked Queen who features in many fairy tales is her legacy to children’s literature and folk tales. Morgan also presides over the three springs of Life, Desire, and Death.
As her teacher, Merlin also taught Morgan le Fay much magick. During their time together the wizard came under the enchantment of Morgan and yearned for her. It is said that Merlin’s nature was half-human and half-animal. The human half was female; the other was the Priapic god Pan, who is incapable of love and only feels lust. In Morgan le Fay it is the reverse: she is the wanton female who preys upon those men who are weak or foolish enough to be enticed by her. She is La Belle Dame Sans Merci of Keats’ celebrated and evocative poem. It is her overwhelming charms that cause Arthur to couple with Morgan le Fay one fateful Beltane. The night, bewitchment, youth, and perhaps wine are the volatile elements in this affair. It has also never been made clear whether the protagonists of this passionate encounter knew, at the time, the identity of the other party.
Whatever the circumstances, and whether motivated by jealousy or revenge, in the years following, Morgan seems intent on thwarting the king’s plans at every turn. She even goes so far as to attempt to steal Excalibur. After bewitching the guards at Camelot one night, Morgan succeeds in entering the king’s bedchamber. Discovering that Arthur sleeps with the mighty sword firmly in his grasp and if he were to wake she would be instantly slain, she contents herself with stealing the scabbard. Of this, Merlin once asked of Arthur:
‘Like ye better the sword or the scabbard?’
‘I like better the sword’, said Arthur.
‘Ye are the more unwise, for the scabbard is worth ten of the sword; for while ye keep the scabbard upon you ye shall lose no blood, be ye ever so sore wounded . . . ’[1]
On discovering the theft, Arthur sets off in pursuit, and Morgan le Fay, knowing he will overtake her, rides to a ‘lake on the plain’. Once there she throws the scabbard far out into the water. Its heavily bejewelled patterning ensures that it will sink. She then turns herself and her followers into stone so they will be invisible. The loss of the scabbard immediately makes Arthur vulnerable to any hurt and signifies his ultimate downfall.
Another version of the tale has Morgan le Fay succeeding in appropriating both sword and scabbard, which she presents to Accolon, her lover. Arthur is then forced to fight a duel against him. Without Excalibur at his disposal, he is powerless against his foe. It is Nimmue who saves him by causing Accolon to drop Excalibur at the moment when he is about to deliver a death blow to the king.
Nimmue
Tales abound of the union of a mortal man and an immortal female—stories which invariably end in tragedy. The most well-known involves Gwyn, a farmer’s son, who pines for a water nymph he has once seen on the shore of the lake near his home. After a year has passed she returns, and when he declares his love she agrees to marry him, having first obtained her father’s permission. A handsome dowry is offered, ‘as many sheep, cows , goats, and horses as you can count in a single breath’, but there is one proviso. Her husband must never strike her and if he does, warns the father, then ‘she will return to me and bring in her wake all that she possesses’. The couple are wed and remain happily so for the time it takes to be blessed with three sons. Unfortunately, the husband does fall prey to temper and strikes his wife three times, so the father’s stricture comes true, with indeed tragic results. On the third blow the wife immediately returns to the lake, which swallows her up. The distraught husband follows her into the water, only to be drowned.
The name Nimmue, as many characters in the Arthurian tales do, has multiple variations: Nimue, Niniane, Nyneve, Nimuehu, or even Vivienne and Vivianne. She is also Bride of the Celts, who is virginal and pure, a healing goddess who gives succour to all in travail. The father of Nimmue was Dyonas, the godson of Diana the Huntress. The ‘Lake’ was in Brittany and known as the ‘Lake of Diana’, so as a child Nimmue knew the woods and rivers of Diana’s kingdom. The goddess one day predicts that Nimmue will win the love of the wisest man in the world. This ‘water sprite’ is in essence yet another Atlantean figure who is part of the great matriarchal culture that held sway in that place. Her kind, the ‘faery women’, have already taken up residence in Britain, even before Merlin arrives at the sacred isle with Ygraine. Their role then was to demonstrate to a relatively primitive culture that the ways of magick were ever present and had control of the forces of existence.
The world of fairy existed in harmony with the mortal universe for quite some time. The influence of Christianity eventually became so insidious that ordinary people were not permitted to acknowledge, let alone embrace, the old ways. It was considered ‘wicked’ to ‘believe in fairies’, and the imposing of guilt combined with ridicule in heavy doses is a guaranteed method of destroying a faith in anything.
The Celts are one of several cultural groups that have a lively fairy tradition. The Irish are particularly associated with the ‘little people’, who, diminutive though they may be, are always powerful. Traditionally they wear green so as to blend in to the landscape, though the red cloaks they also sport announces their presence to mortals. The beneficial power of fairies appears to be as an aid for growth of animals and plants. It as if the fairy presence somehow encourages vitality. Certain mediums can see the aura or spirit of trees, so it seems reasonable that the fairy kingdom is the physical expression of this aspect of nature. Fairies take an interest in the domestic life of humans, applauding the dutiful maid and helping her in invisible ways to be the epitome of neatness and cleanliness. In Qabalistic terms, Netzach is the Sephiroth of the Fairy Queen while Hod is Puck. The Queen of Elfland has fifty-nine silver bells on her bridle. The significance of the number seems lost to us now. Perhaps the numerologist might suggest that when the number is added laterally it totals fourteen, which is a double heptad—seven being a mystical number.
In our own times these fairy beings can still be contacted, and ‘sensitive’ individuals often do so. Their presence in ancient woods and places of power can be felt quite easily even by those who may not actively be seeking them. Tales are still told of the ‘fairy band’ whose music entices travellers to follow them into strange and lonely places where they succumb to an unnatural sleep. Fairies seem to be abroad mostly on a summer’s eve when a glint amongst the trees betrays their presence. It is well to know that the intentions of the fairy race are not always for the benefit of humanity, and many people have heartily regretted their association with these creatures from another time. For it is their attachment to the past that makes them dangerous. They cannot ever change to become part of our own times, and so they wish to take mortals into their own realm. Those who are flattered by the attentions of fairies and accompany them seldom return from that enchanted kingdom.
The Arthurian Tales span the change of consciousness of man and his ultimate failure to secure the spiritual salvation of the Grail. The function of the Lady of the Lake in the Arthurian tales relates not only to Merlin but indirectly to Arthur, or rather what a king represents. By presenting the youthful monarch with Excalibur, she is directing his untamed virility into a transcendental force. That is her intention and had it succeeded, or rather had Arthur acted in a different manner, all would have been well. The acquisition of Excalibur should have awakened the female element in Arthur and given him the polarity that Merlin owns. This was not to be. His incestuous coupling with Morgan le Fay and his inability to relate to Guinevere his queen amply demonstrate that his spiritual growth remains stunted throughout his life. There is much to be said for the view that his youthful lust becomes a debilitating impotence, and it is he who is the Fisher King.
To return to our theme of the union of mortal and immortal, the ‘Lady of the Lake’ may once have been married to a mortal. Nothing is known of him except his honorary title Emrys of Powys. This is one of the titles owned by Merlin, so it may have been passed on to him. The actual Lake provides us with another dimension of meaning, for it is the astral plane and only those who truly acknowledge this otherworld can be privy to its secrets. In Qabalistic terms it is Yesod, the dominion of the Moon, presided over by Isis, who sits before the veil. Merlin is obviously associated with the Sephiroth of Hod. The planetary correspondences are Mercury and the Moon, respectively. The Qabalah path between the Sephira is represented by the Tarot card of the Sun, the ultimate cosmic energy.
The character who presents Arthur with Excalibur is a different ‘Lady of the Lake’ than the lover of Merlin. The former is the foster mother of Lancelot, abandoned when his father’s kingdom was ravaged by a rebellion. This tale bears a great similarity to the Greek myth of Thetis, a sea nymph who raises Achilles, also a great warrior. The husband of Thetis is Peleus, and in some versions of the tale of Nimmue she takes the knight Pelleas as her lover. Thetis gives Achilles a magickal shield and armour to protect him, as Lancelot is later to be given protection by a magickal ring, the gift of Nimmue. Some resemblance to the tale of Melusine is also apparent. She is one of three daughters, raised in Avalon, who acquires a serpent’s tail as punishment for imprisoning her own father. She marries, and her secret is discovered by her husband, who has spied upon her while she is bathing. Melusine immediately turns into a dragon and flies away.
Lancelot does not even know his own name and does not do so until he journeys to King Arthur’s court at the behest of Nimmue. There, on meeting Guinevere, he immediately falls in love with her and gains his celebrated title. The ring that Nimmue gave Lancelot has the power of resisting enchantment, and he subsequently uses this magickal artefact when he rescues Guinevere in a later escapade with the queen. Nimmue also gives Guinevere the gift of a magickal shield which is split. The image painted upon the shield is of a knight and lady kissing, but their lips cannot touch because of the split. When their love is consummated, the shield will be made whole. This Nimmue does not suffer such a pleasant fate, being murdered by Sir Balin. That knight is then cursed, and his rash behaviour in the castle Carbonek is one of the causes of the kingdom becoming the Waste Land.
Innocence
It is said that when he became a very old man Merlin retired with Ganieda, his sister and protector, to the forest. Whether his straying from her protection brought about the denouement in the tale is uncertain. It seems that the wizard must face one more challenging episode in his life. The often accepted version of this time in Merlin’s last days makes him out to be an old dotard deluded by the wiles of a nubile nymph. That view is far too glib, and we would be better employed looking for deeper meanings in the tale. Firstly, did Nimmue always foster the same intentions towards Merlin? Or was her path determined by Merlin’s infatuation after he had come upon her bathing in a forest spring? It seems he may have been entranced by her beautiful form as she is equally taken with his magickal power. As the old saying has it ‘Man desires woman, and woman desires man’s desire’. The devotion of Merlin to Nimmue seems genuine. Nimmue is said to have promised not only her undying love but her favours as well to the wizard. Myths often echo previous myths, as when Isis obtained the secret name of Ra by nefarious means. With that knowledge she gained the ultimate power of magick. Thomas Bulfinch in his Mythology depicts the following exchange between our protagonists:
‘Sir, I would that we should make a fair place and suitable, so contrived by art and by cunning that it might never be undone, and that you and I should be there in joy and solace’.
‘My lady, I will do all this’.
‘I would not have you do it, but you shall teach me, and I will do it, and then it will be more to my mind’.
‘I grant you this’.
Thus Merlin seals his fate and then, like the unicorn, goes on to put his head in Nimmue’s lap. In mythology the unicorn places his horned head in the lap of a virgin, the tradition being that it is only an innocent who can gain the creature’s trust. It is a virgin who tames him. The sexual overtones of this scenario are anything but subtle. Yet Nimmue will not give herself to Merlin, for she knew he was ‘a devyl’s son’. The story continues:
And a sleep
Fell upon Merlin like death, so deep . . .
Merlin wakes in the bedchamber, forever a prisoner in the enchanted tower. He never leaves it, though it is said that Nimmue visits him from time to time. It is as if Merlin has been sent to a retirement home for old wizards! Arthur sees his trusted companion only once more. Merlin tells him in a vision that the destiny of the Round Table is to search for the ‘Sacred Graal’. Merlin adds that the knight who will succeed in the quest has already been born. He is Galahad, the son of Lancelot, conceived through sorcery. The setting for this final chapter is the Forest of Broceliande, near the city of Rennes in Brittany. Many of the episodes in the Arthurian tales are said to be set here. Scenes involving Morgan le Fay in the Val sans Retour and Gawain’s encounter with the Green Knight have a Breton backdrop. Tumuli and stone alignements abound there, and an air of mist and mystery is strong in that country. The Bretons have a strong affinity with the Celts of Britain, and many visitors to this part of France remark upon the similarity of the landscape to Cornwall, a county in England known for its Arthurian associations.
Merlin’s love for Nimmue, which effectively ends his association with Arthur, is far more than folly. It is the necessary transformation of the old star magick into the era of the wise woman. In the Vita Merlini, Nimmue is described as being a child of twelve years old, yet she is most obviously a young maiden. We might conclude that the number twelve may be regarded as a symbol of the zodiacal months in a year, and the maiden to be a version of Prosperine.
More than a touch of allegory is present in the way that ancient and modern magick meet. We might begin to see the entombment of Merlin as a sacrificial act. In ancient lore the priest/king voluntarily merges with the earth. He does this willingly in the knowledge that the starry Heavens are within and not without. An alternative version of the tale has the two living happily ever after in their world of enchantment. This is blatantly a cop-out and misses the point entirely, for the new magick must replace the old shamanic ways. Merlin places himself willingly in the dark place of the spirit where he may be a guide for others who find themselves lost in its depths. In later times Merlin will become Puck—the Magician turned witty Fool, and his female counterpart Morgan le Fay will be Titania, the Queen of the Faeries.
Merlin, being a seer, knows what his fate is to be and it is important to realize that he simply accepts it. Such an acceptance of change is the essence of the concept of Wyrd (Old English, Saxon wurd; Old High German Wurt; Old Norse urur.) The term is now regarded as meaning weird, in the sense of odd or unusual, but that was not its original meaning. It is apposite that the weird sisters in Macbeth may have been based on the Three Norse Goddesses of Destiny. Let us examine this concept by first comparing Wyrd to the ‘inexorable fate’ of the ancient Greeks. It can be seen that Wyrd does not follow that approach because it proposes that our past, both personal and ancestral, affects us continuously. What we have done, and what others have done to affect us, is the sum of ourselves. Every choice we make in the present builds upon choices we have made before; this results in Wyrd being not the end, but the constant. ‘Active fate’ might be one way of looking at it.
Ancient peoples did not have a notion of linear time and supported the idea of a phenomenal universe rather than a causal one. If a man is doomed, nothing can save him. A stoic element permeates much Anglo-Saxon poetry, and the zeitgeist considered that if a man cannot avert his fate he should at least be stoical about it. Yet courage might tip the scales in the favour of an undoomed mortal, for ‘fortune favours the bold’ as the old saying goes. Whether we take heed of them or not, signs pointing to the true way are always there when it is necessary for us to make a significant choice.
Gateway
We find ourselves in an age when it is rare for the individual to reflect upon his or her death. Longevity is the norm and youth extolled as a virtue. In the Dark Ages people were constantly stalked by Death in the shape of famine, disease, and war. The flame of Life was expected to stay alight but briefly, and thus it did. Because we know we will die, a certain unease about our human condition is bound to make its presence felt. Yet if we accept that death shapes our life, then perhaps we may see the beauty of the latter that much clearer. If ‘being there’ is temporary and uncertain, then let us ‘be’ as fully as possible. How we fill our days is our choice. We may behave as a saint or debauch ourselves, the choice is ours. We fear death as we fear the future, for we see life as a linear construct—not a continuum, as we should. To have some understanding of what might lie beyond death was the motive behind any ancient ritual of initiation. The initiate would undergo an experience akin to death.
In the West we appear to favour having one foot out of the grave. The idea that our heroes come back to rescue us when we are in danger appeals to the Western mind. Our myths confirm this. The tale of King Arthur is the most powerful Western myth, one that has endured for over a thousand years, and its theme is return. The king sleeps, his knights with him, ready for the time when he is needed once more to vanquish his enemies and restore the kingdom. We like to believe that good triumphs over evil, love is supreme, and the world is a place of beauty and joy. Merlin has no fear of death. He has travelled too far and too many times into the Otherworld to be anxious about losing his hold upon the earthly plane. Magicians regard planes of existence as simply different from each other rather than one being better than another. Merlin is of the nature of Mercury and he is constantly moving in time and space, for restriction is anathema to the winged god.
The three stages of Merlin’s life correspond to the Celtic threefold goddess, she who is personified as the Maid, the Bride, and the Crone. Merlin’s birth and youth represent the maid; his marriage to Guendolena, the Bride; and his time as a seer, the Crone. On another level, the Maiden is a virgin whose gift is inspiration. She is associated with Briggida (Brigit), Athena, and Minerva. The Lover or Bride is fertility, linked to Guinevere. The Destroyer (Crone) represents death and prophecy and is the Morrigan or Morgan le Fay. This threefold theme continues to appear with reference to the deities.
In accounts of the old gods, grouped in a mighty triumvirate, are the God of Heaven, the God of the Primeval Deep, and the Lord of the Golden Age. They are all associated with the Moon through its phases. Observing these changes would have greatly impressed the Ancients. The Moon-Priest must undergo three initiations and make three sacrifices before he is accepted by Isis or Ishtar. Isis herself is known as ‘Goddess of Heaven, Goddess of Earth, and Goddess of the Underworld’. This is her full title and one that is rarely heard outside of the Temple.
In a similar fashion to that of Arthur retiring with his knights to the caverns beneath Glastonbury Tor, Merlin vanishes into his cave on Bardsey Island off the coast of North Wales. He prudently takes with him the Thirteen Treasures of Britain. These are:
The Sword of Rhydderch, which burst into flame from hilt to tip.
The Hamper of Gwyddno, which was a cornucopia that could satisfy all.
The Horn of Bran, which provided any drink that was
desired.
The Chariot of Arianrod, which gave transport to any
destination.
The Halter of Clydno, which would conjure any steed.
The Knife of Llawfroded, which served many men at a table.
The Cauldron of Dyrnwch, which only boiled meat for the brave.
The Whetstone of Tudwal, which sharpened only a brave man’s sword.
The Coat of Padarn, which fitted only the well-born.
The Dish of Thygennyd, which provided any food desired.
The Chessboard of Gwenddolau, which would play by
itself.
The Mantle of Arthur, which gave invisibility to the wearer.
The Stone and Ring of Eluned, which granted concealment from all.
[1]. Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur: The Winchester Manuscript.
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), p. 30. Other editions are also available.