Mention
the word 'sorcerer' and you might conjurer up a vision of say Merlin,
adviser-in-chief at the legendary court of King Arthur and a master weaver of spells who could foretell the future. According to
various, if varying, versions of the tale.
In
Roman times, being seen as a sorcerer, far from elevating you to the
status of a Merlin was likely to be more than you life was worth, a
drastic way of dealing with dissidents. The accusation was often
made against women practicing what today we might call 'alternative
medicine', for healing was the prerogative of male priests in the
temple.
Neither
did Christianity improve the lot of the supposed magician or sorcerer. Such unfortunates were deemed to be in league with
the devil and to perform all manner of unmentionable acts. This led to the
prolonged and shameful period of the witch-hunt, with women again the
prime victims.
My
Sorcerer, with his passion for antiquarian books and the opposite
sex, has not much in common with these predecessors. Perhaps just a
little with Merlin, who also had an eye for the
ladies. This led to his downfall as he eventually took up with the
wrong one, who having discovered the secret of his spells, promptly shut him up for ever more in an invisible tower, or hawthorn
bush, or a cliff (in Brittany) or rock on the coast of Cornwall,
depending whose version you want to accept. There are
many to choose from.
My
Sorcerer could produce comic verse, but whether he used incantations
or magic spells that could be revealed to a designing damsel, I honestly cannot say. But, they would be of little use in predicting the future as he clearly never
knows what is going to happen later the same day let alone what is in
store for him. Or anyone else.
What I
can say, however, is that he has arrived.
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