Merlin’s Tower of the Stars

Merlin’s Tower of the Stars 

This meditation is intended to bring you into the sphere of Merlin and to encounter something of the wisdom he offers to those who seek it.

Closing your eyes and sinking deeply into meditation, you find that you are standing on a green trackway that winds between fields of blue cornflowers. A little way ahead is a dark line of trees, the edge of a great forest that stretches as far as the eye can see. You may hesitate for a moment here, knowing that once you enter this place nothing may ever be quite the same. 

If you feel unprepared for this great journey, turn back now; bring yourself to everyday consciousness and leave the temple. If, however, you are prepared to undertake this adventure, continue onward into the shadowy world beneath the trees. 

Ahead the path winds onward into the heart of the forest. Mighty trees and thickets of dense undergrowth surround you, but there are clearings too, filled with sunlight and capped with blue skies and white, fast-moving clouds.

When you have been walking for a short while, you become aware of the silence. No birds sing here, no animals rustle in the bushes. This is a place so ancient and holy it has yet to be filled with familiar sounds and movements. You walk alone here, your mind slowly stilling until it knows only peace. 

After a time you reach a new clearing, and there you see a tall, narrow tower stretching upwards into bright, mid-morning air. As you approach it you see that it has several narrow windows indicating five floors, and a wooden door, closed at present, with a curious knocker made in the form of two entwined serpents. “The wisdom of the stars” is written on the door. 

You raise the knocker and knock thrice, at which the door swings open, revealing a flight of worn steps leading upwards into shadow. As you climb, counting the steps, you begin to feel a change in your metabolism: your breathing slows; your pulse beats to a strong, steady rhythm; your sight grows clearer— so that, although the tower is dark within, you have no difficulty finding your way. 

Soon you emerge on the first floor and find yourself in a circular room in which the only furniture is a large mirror in an ornate carved frame. A second flight of stairs leads on upwards. You may choose whether or not to go and look in the mirror, which may show you either your true self or an event from your past or future life. 

If you choose not to look, or after you have spent some time in front of the mirror, you begin to climb upwards again, feeling as you do so a deepening sense of awareness, so that the stones against which your hands brush as you climb seem to possess a living quality, as does the very air you breathe, which is far clearer than you would expect within the confines of the tower. 

Soon you emerge on the second floor and find yourself in a room identical to the first save that around the walls are hung a series of tapestries depicting scenes that have a deep personal meaning for you. 

They may once again be events from your own life, past or future, or they may be images of archetypal importance containing meanings not only for you but also of a wider significance. You may choose whether to examine them in detail or continue your ascent by way of the stair that leads upward. 

As you climb onwards you once again experience a sense of change, this time to your sense of hearing. Tiny sounds of mice in the stonework, spiders spinning their intricate webs, and birds singing outside the tower break the silence of the forest and become clear and sharp as crystal. At the very edge of hearing you become aware of voices singing music of unearthly beauty. 

Now you arrive at the third level, finding yourself in a room filled with light that comes from a great globe of crystal that stands at the center. You may approach and look within if you desire, and there you may see the ways in which your own deepest wishes are fulfilled. (This may be hard, for not all things desired happen as we might wish.) If you do not wish to look within the globe, begin your ascent to the next level. If you choose to look, do so, and in your own time proceed to the next flight of stairs. 

This time the change within you is subtler: you begin to be aware of connections, of the links that form between many different and variable things. Ideas or images that seem to exist independently of one another are seen to resonate, forming fresh thoughts or pictures in your mind. 

Now, as you arrive at the fourth level, you find yourself emerging into a place where the walls are transparent, like glass or crystal, and where the winds somehow blow, bringing scents of the outer world— all the rich and delicate aromas of nature. You can see, with your enhanced sight, much farther than you are normally able, and you look out across a landscape of richness and variety. 

Here are mountains and valleys, rivers and streams, forests and green hillsides; wild, uncultivated lands and the colorful quilt of fields and gardens. Houses, too, you can see, with smoke curling lazily into a blue sky. If this seems to you the landscape of the otherworld or of an earthly paradise, you are not far from the truth, for this is Logres, the inner kingdom of Britain, over which Arthur, the great king, once ruled. To your eyes it may seem familiar if you entered the world of Arthur from an earlier meditation. 

Above the land arches the sky, and though it seems like day in the country beyond, in the sky you see stars. There are familiar constellations, including Arcturus, which you know to be connected with Arthur. From it beams of golden light spill out over the land, awakening it to glorious beauty and strength. Your eyes may be drawn to any one of the starry patterns you see, and you should remember this, as it may become important to you in your later journeys. 

When you have looked your fill and have drunk the wine of the air, you begin your ascent to the fifth and final level, this time emerging into an airy room lined with shelves and cluttered with curious objects. In a chair before a roaring fire sits a figure in robes of deep blue. His hair is white, yet his face seems ever young and his eyes see deeply into you. 

You know at once that you are face to face with Merlin and that it is his observatory you have entered and climbed. He bids you welcome and to be seated in a chair opposite his own. Before you can speak he holds up his hand for silence and regards you deeply. His scrutiny is powerful and uncompromising. Whatever secrets you hold are revealed to him, and the true purpose of your coming is also known. 

After a time he speaks, and in his words you hear either words of welcome or instruction. He may tell you that you are not yet ready to enter the realm of Arthur, to answer the call. If this is so, then you should rise and take your leave, returning by the way you came and awakening to everyday consciousness. 

If, however, Merlin bids you welcome to the realm where his power is all, then you may speak the desires of your heart— the reason for your coming and your hopes for the journey you have undertaken. Only truth may be spoken here, for Merlin has read the very books of the stars and all things in potentia are known to him. 

Finally, he rises and offers you a goblet of silver in which is a clear drink. You may choose whether or not to accept this, but be sure that if you do you are imbibing truth itself, a distillation of Merlin’s wisdom, which will remain yours for as long as you are worthy of it. Beyond this you drink from the wisdom of the stars, which Merlin has studied from this tower for time beyond measure. 

This done, Merlin draws aside a curtain to reveal a small wooden door in the wall. He opens it and ushers you through… and you find that you have returned once more to the place from which you began your journey. Take a moment to reestablish contact with your physical surroundings, then open your eyes. You will find that your senses remain enhanced for some time, and whatever you discussed with Merlin or whatever you learned during your time within his tower will be yours to refer to whenever you have need.

Merlin’s Tower of the Stars

Matthews, John; Chandler, Virginia; Matthews, Caitlin; Knight, Gareth. Arthurian Magic (p. 249). Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.. Kindle Edition.