| What is The Heart of Merlin? |
The Heart of Merlin is many things, but above all it is a quest. In the old fashioned sense of the word quest, it's an adventurous expedition undertaken by a knight to secure or achieve something. As a seeker of truth and an initiate of the healing mysteries of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake, I am called to quest for the teachings, magic, and mystery that still remain hidden from modern knowledge. I have been called to retrace the steps of our legendary Priest and Priestess of Nature. I believe that in the forests of Caledonia in Scotland, in the hills of Wales, in the lakes of Brocéliande, and in the caves of Tintagel, there are secrets that are calling for me to find them. I intend to go to all these places and more and learn from the land, from the energy, and from the spirits that have resided in those places for hundreds of years. I feel compelled to find these teachings and bring them to the public in the form of a book, workshops, a three dimensional magical art installation, and more. The seed for the Heart of Merlin began towards the beginning of 2012, during my second visit to the Island of Britain. I arrived in London and for the second time in my life I felt immediately connected and rooted to that land. I didn't know exactly what it was but it felt strong in my heart. I visited my spiritual mentor in London the next day and he told me that I looked different in the UK than I did in the US. He said I looked like I belonged there and I that I had deep ancestral roots in the British lands. He confirmed to me that I had a mission in that part of the world but it took another year to figure out what it was. I returned to England in the summer of 2013. This time I knew I had to go deeper into my relationship with the spirit of the land, so I planned a month long road trip around the island with a friend. We went from London all the way to the southern tip of Cornwall, up through Wales until we got into the dramatic landscape of Scotland. Along the way we visited every sacred site we could, from Stonehenge to Glastonbury to Tintagel. Stone circles and caves and burial mounds became our home for the month. We took part in Summer Solstice ceremonies in the Avebury stone circle and Stonehenge, we slept on a druid-cursed burial mound on St Johns Day, and we had our hearts stolen by the Island of Avalon, now known as Glastonbury and the Tor. Throughout the next year, my studies took me deeper into the more obscure legends and stories about Merlin, Avalon, and the Lady of the Lake. Simultaneously, I underwent a ceremonial initiation and become the sixth teacher in the Magical Awakening spiritual energy healing system. Merlin and the Lady of the Lake were calling to me from all sides; literature, art, energy work, intuitive healing, channeling, teaching, new friend relationships, and more. Quickly I found my whole reality had become transformed by these two magical guides and my quest was revealed to me through meditations and monthly healing rituals that I co-taught. I am to return to the land of my ancestors, the land of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake. I desperately need to find something that has been lost. What it is, I still have to find out, but I know that it's out there waiting for me and I know that it wants to express itself through my gifts of art, writing, and teaching. I intend to spend an entire summer or more backpacking around these sacred places; being quiet, meditating, tuning in, listening, doing energy work, and opening my heart to receive the lost mysteries of the ancient teachers and healers of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake. Over the next few years of external and internal exploration, I intend to produce a book about my quest and my calling. I also intend to create a mixed media, three-dimensional art installation to bring the magical energies of Merlin and The Lady of the Lake out of the realm of dreams and into the realm of the physical world, available to all who wish to find it. Finally, I intend to integrate the knowledge and teachings that I receive from the land and the spirits into the series of workshops that I currently teach in San Francisco, Chicago, upstate New York, and hopefully worldwide.
ITINERARY UPDATE 4/2015 England Portion: Wales Portion: Scotland Portion: Sept/Oct - Digest experiences and WRITE! |