Posted by QuickReadAbout.com Staff in The word “sorcerer” brings to mind Merlin the Sorcerer in Knights of the Roundtable. In legend, Merlin was a good wizard or sorcerer whose magic was used to help King Arthur. He was the son of an incubus and a mortal woman, and therefore indestructible; but he was finally entrapped by Vivien, the Lady of the Lake, and bound under a rock forever. He was famous for his prophecies.
Merlin was many things: he was a wizard or sorcerer, a prophet, a bard, an adviser and a tutor. He appeared as a young boy with no father. He appeared as an old, wise man, freely giving his wisdom to four successive British kings.
He was dotting old fool, who couldn’t control his lust over beautiful women, who hold him in fear and contempt.
He had even appeared as a madman after bloody battle, and had fled into the forest and learned how to talk to the animals, where he became known as the Wild Man of the Woods.
Merlin was the last of the druid, the Celtic shaman, priest of nature, and keeper of knowledge, particularly of the arcane secrets.
The terms, “sorcerer, magician, wizard” are interchangeable. No matter what term is used it refers to a person who is believed to perform magic. In religion and superstition, magic is the practice of manipulating and controlling the course of nature by supernatural means.
Magic is based on the belief that unseen forces or spirits are present in all things. Because these supernatural forces are thought to govern the course of natural events, control of these forces gives humans control over nature.
The practice of magic or sorcery is believed to depend on the proper use of both the ritual and the spell. The spell, or incantation, is the core of the magical ceremony; it unlocks the full power of the ritual. The practice of magic, in looking for its desired outcome, may combine elements of religion and science. In alchemy, for example, the process of transforming a base metal into gold requires precise weights and volumes of acids, bases, and catalysts as well as the reciting of holy passages and prayers.