Douglas Monroe & Merlyn

[wildhunt]

This should be interesting. I first read the 21 Lessons of Merlyn by Douglas Monroe years ago and I loved it. I became disenchanted when I researched and found that the book was mostly rubbish, but there has always remained a certain sentimentality about the book; I still own it. I recently researched it again and found that some of the stuff I thought was rubbish wasn't actually rubbish at all. And on top of that, as a student of the Golden Dawn's esteemed Israel Regardie, Monroe puts forth in the book perfectly usable formulas for magic. Considering that the Druids wrote nothing down, and the clever way Monroe goes about writing this book, I'd say it's actually worth the time and money. But there is a point to all of this. I have a question for anyone familiar with this book. Have you found the Charm of Making anywhere other the movie Excalibur?

I know, this is a pretty arcane post and obscure question, but hopefully someone knows what I'm talking about. lol

-RSG

[Hagred]

Sorry I missed your thread Wildhunt.

I also have Monroe's 21 Lessons of "Hogwash" (to quote Bonewits) - it really got me going on Druidry, and yes, like yourself I found it entertaining and not so far off the mark in some of his writings. His big problem, especially with the academic Druids (most of them intellectualize far to much), is his claim to it being authentic Celtic mythology and Druidry that got him into hot water.  Yes, there are many glaring mistakes and it seems that the big "L ..." publisher (he who must not be named) doesn't send manuscripts out for peer review (which might not be a bad thing after all). That aside, I researched the Charm of Making and yes, there is a translation on the net -  here it is:

Anail Nathrock


Anall nathrach           Hither from the father (comes word)     
Urthvas beth 'ud    There is to be on yonder 'cultural centre'     
Dagiel dienve       a dyer guild established

Doesn´t seem to make much sense, it might be a bad translation.

Another reference where it is cited is in a Spanish translated edition from a French book called La Magie Médiévale by Abraxas et Akzinor 555.  Chapter 6 is very Monroeish with a lot of his Welsh chants as well as the  Charm of Making - obvious badly translated copies from the 21 Lessons.

I hope this helps

[Theflyingsorcerer]

Hither from the father (comes word)                                                                                                      There is to be on yonder 'cultural centre'     
 a dyer guild established

Now doesn't that sound for all the world like a Nostradamus quatrain with a line missing?

...probably totally irrelevant........

Theflyingsorcerer.

[Hagred]

Yes, it does sound a bit Nostradamus-ish.  According to this net link http://es.scribd.com/doc/7318877/The-First-Charm-of-Making it is old Irish - no author.

[ThunderWolf]

Yes, it does sound a bit Nostradamus-ish.  According to this net link http://es.scribd.com/doc/7318877/The-First-Charm-of-Making it is old Irish - no author.

I'm not trying to be contrary here, but I am familiar with this website. Members can upload and download various documents for free there. You can find anything from copyrighted material being shared illegally to stuff written by the individual member themselves. To maintain a free membership there and retain the ability to download files you must also upload files. In my mind this makes this author suspect. They may have written the article to the best of their ability and had good intentions but not have really known what they were talking about. Or it could be an author very knowledgeable about the subject matter. I'm not attempting to make any claims one way or the other, but to just assume it appears at a link gives it reasonable credence falls short in this particular case.

[Hagred]

Ooff! you put me to work on this one TW.  Looked up some more serious pages on the matter using Bonewits as my source.

The charm of making appears to be some sort of Old Irish according to Everson.  Boorman used it in his film Excalibur and it seems Douglas purloined it from there.  Here's Emerson's page if anyone is interested:

http://evertype.com/misc/charm.html

Gives what looks like a more reliable breakdown of the Gaelic translation.  I'm no expert on Celtic languages so I take his word for it.  Perhaps the Celtophiles on the Forum might have some intersting comments.

Going back to the 21 Lessons, I do admit I was greener than green back then when I read it, but I did spot some botanical bloomers though  - pumpkin trees and echinacea indeed, and in the UK back when even the Vikings didn't get to America let alone Columbus.

Oops, the UK wasn't called the UK back then was it?  Arthur was just beginning to get ideas.