To Be a Wizard

“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting.”The Sword in the Stone, Book One in the series, The Once and Future King by Theodore H. White.

There are many definitions for what/who a wizard is. There are computer wizards and highly intelligent and talented individuals in many fields that are called wizards. Perhaps this idea of a wizard being someone that is uncommonly knowledgeable came from a time when wizards were highly respected for their knowledge. From a magickal point of view, the literary likes of Merlin, Gandalf, Belgarath, Dumbledore, and others are archetypes of the modern day wizard.

Oberon Zell-Ravenheart is a modern day wizard. His book Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard was very inspirational to me. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart assembled some of the top mages, Wiccans, Druids and other wizards into a modern day Grey Council of Wizards. (An amazing feat in iteself.) Many of the Grey Council members contributed to the Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard. The Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard is the primary book of the Grey School of Wizardry of which Oberon Zell-Ravenheart is the Headmaster. The school was designed to be a real world equivalent of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from the popular Harry Potter book series albeit an online school. As such the Grey School of Wizardry started out as a school for children. As with many brilliant ideas, the school quickly captured the imagination of many adults. The information presented in the school is ageless so it was decided to accomodate adults as well. I am one of the students. I am a member of The Coterie of the Flowing Waters lodge.

It may seem rather presumptuous for me to call myself a wizard. I am by no means in the same league as Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and definitely not a candidate for the Grey Council. But, there are adept wizards and there are novice wizards. I'm in the novice category. :)

Those that have read the Lord of the Rings series by JRR Tolkien are familiar with Gandalf the Grey. He later became Gandalf the White. In the book Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard, page 21, the apprentice wizard is encouraged to "choose for yourself which color you feel most connected with." Also on page 21, the color grey is associated with "Lore Mastery" and "Knowledge". Grey is the color that is neither white nor black, but, is made up of both.

I am Pacadoon the Grey.


Cited Sources:

Wizard. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wizard

Grey School of Wizardry. http://www.greyschool.com/index.php

Hogwarts. Wikipedia.org. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogwarts

White, Theodore H. The Once and Future King p.83

Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon. Grimoire For The Apprentice Wizard