The White House & the End of Camelot

The White House and the End of Camelot[1]

In the movie “Excalibur” (1981), Merlin wryly delivers his most compelling prophecy to the young King Arthur—his and Camelot’s fate! Arthur at the time is love-struck and the object of his desire is young Guenevere. He stares at her across the Great Hall while asking Merlin to read the future, unable of course to take his eyes off the future Queen. She wafts past the two men, her eyes on Arthur who is transfixed. She gives him a cookie, freshly baked. By now, of course, Arthur only wants to hear what his blind desire wants to hear. Merlin notices that Arthur is intoxicated but gives his prophecy anyway, just as young Arthur places the cookie to his lips. Merlin begins with, “Looking at that cookie is like looking into the future. By the time you taste it, it’s too late!” Snap! Arthur takes the bite, completely ignoring his mentor’s prophecy, sealing his fate, and the fate of Camelot into the bargain.

Merlin is said to live backwards—he lives in the future and speaks back into the present; he laughs when others grieve, he grieves when others are joyous. He is silent when others speak the loudest. He leaves when others think they need him the most; he sees the future as it unfolds backwards into our present and so the prophecies he offers are sometimes valued, always feared—and mostly ignored! Our blind desires overrule prophetic wisdom!

We now are beginning to realize that only two years ago (2016), we had indeed tasted the fateful cookie, were warned what would follow, and we ignored the warning! All the news media are now saying, “we all knew who Trump was before we elected him so today’s racist outburst should be no surprise.” Yet the media continue to be surprised or shocked almost every day. This is because prophetic warnings do not touch our souls when desire blindly rules our self-serving actions. We are only “touched”, if at all, only much later when desire has cooled.

As Merlin might say, “Too late!” What must follow from tasting that cookie will follow from tasting that cookie and there is nothing more for Merlin to do…

Except maybe to show one way, his way, to navigate what must follow!

In the movie Merlin shows us his way when there is nothing left to be done for Camelot. Like Arthur desiring Guenevere, Merlin falls in love with the faerie Niniane, or Morgana. But he also knows and accepts his fate, so his desire, unlike Arthur’s, is conscious. Merlin consciously follows his desire, so that when the faerie binds him forever with his own spells, he is not surprised, not shocked, not in denial.

Instead, calm acceptance, knowing that all along he obeyed the dictates of Love.

[1] See my earlier essay: The Return of Merlin