Pagan, Shinto & Spiritual Book Reviews November 2016

Elen Sentier, Pagan Portals – Merlin: Once and Future Wizard

(Moon Books, released December 9, 2016)

Whether you see him simply as a mythical character or a god-like being who exists in another plane, there’s no doubting that Merlin, the wizard of Arthurian legends, is an important and well-loved figure in Paganism. Like the other many enigmatic icons in the tales of King Arthur, including the Grail, Excalibur and Morgan Le Fay, a large volume of books and essays have been written about Merlin, many from the Pagan perspective.

Elen Sentier’s Pagan Portals – Merlin: Once and Future Wizard is one of the latest contributions to the subject, and a rather unique one at that. Most titles in the Pagan Portals series seem to follow a similar format in my experience. They present basic information on their subject together with accounts of personal experiences, and usually include practical elements for the reader, like suggested ritual work. Once and Future Wizard is rather different. You won’t find so much basic information about Merlin and there are no rituals/spells at all. More than anything else, Once and Future Wizard is about the author’s individual, spiritual journey with Merlin and what she has learned through contact with him. Sentier has apparently had visions of Merlin since childhood, and in this book she describes them in vivid detail: Merlin telling her bedtime stories as a child, taking her on adventures and helping her to find inner wisdom.

Usually, I find these sorts of UPG-heavy works rather off-putting. But for some reason, I was oddly charmed by Once and Future Wizard. I think that’s because Sentier’s accounts of her encounters with Merlin are genuinely interesting to read. Yes, they can be pretty wacky but they’re well-written, and this combined with Sentier’s candid and sincere beliefs is what gives her work its quirky appeal. You may deny the veracity of her accounts, but you cannot deny how appealing they are.

Once and Future Wizard taps into the zeitgeists haunting Pagan books at the moment, with its references to the links between the spiritual world and the world of quantum science, interpretation of mythological characters as spiritual entities, and emphasis on the “personal journey” over established texts and research. If you’re looking for in-depth interpretations of Merlin, or even an overview of his mythological history, look elsewhere (helpfully, there is a reading list at the back of Once and Future Wizard). But if you’re happy to drift in the thoughts, dreams and visions of an individual with a highly intimate connection to Merlin and seek inspiration, Once and Future Wizard is worth your while.