The first thing Merlin did when he resumed his quest to become a true magician was to go to find Blaze. By this time Blaze was considerably older and seemed to be quite frail and Merlin could see that his physical strength was declining. He greeted Merlin heartily though and said to him, “It’s been quite a while since you’ve visited, Merlin. It’s good to see you again. So how can I help you?” Merlin explained how he had neglected his quest and there was something he wanted to learn about, which were the five elements that had been so often mentioned.
“Ah, now that’s a very interesting area to inquire into,” Blaze replied. “In fact, I can tell that this is the last piece of the puzzle you require to complete your dream of becoming a master of the magical arts. I can also see it’s going to take you a year to complete this task.” On hearing this Merlin was both exuberant and disappointed. Another year to wait! He wished it would be sooner, but he was glad that he now had the key to his life’s ambition.
Blaze continued by telling Merlin that the five elements consisted of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. The first four of these were apparent to most people, but the last was more mysterious and Blaze indicated that Merlin would be given a clue into the nature of this element if he associated clear quartz crystal with it. He then gave Merlin further help by telling him that the five elements were also related to the five senses: smell, taste, sight, touch and hearing. Then he told Merlin that the rest was up to him. So Merlin bid Blaze farewell and went off to investigate the five elements to complete his magical training.
He started out at the time of the spring equinox when day and night were equal and the days were getting longer. Everywhere he went he spotted the situations where the elements were present. He made mental notes on how they acted and behaved and came up with some really remarkable situations where he found elements where he would not have expected. For example, the fire that was everywhere around in the engines of cars; you couldn’t see it, but the amount of smoke that came out of the exhaust was a pretty good clue. Also when he saw all the mobile phones, televisions, computers and numerous other electronic devices, it made him think of what Blaze said about the Ether element, because all of these contained some bits of quartz crystal in them.
But this Ether element puzzled him. What was it? You couldn’t perceive it with any of your senses like all the other elements. You could at least touch or feel all the other elements and most of them you could see. Like Air, the Ether was invisible, but somehow it was related to the senses Blaze had said. There were five elements and five senses, so each element would correspond to a sense, and Merlin reasoned that the Ether would be equated with hearing! Sound is lots of vibrations which hit the ear like waves on the ocean, and lots of other things have waves too, like radio waves. Radio waves can go through solid objects, which is why people can talk on their mobile phones even inside buildings. So Merlin thought Ether must then be all pervading, everywhere in space and thus present in the other elements also.
With this in mind he made further observations of the elements as the seasons changed from spring to summer to autumn and finally winter. As they changed, he saw that the elements would all play their roles as if they were living entities. Due to the presence of the Ether in each one, they had been imbued with a living force, an intelligence, and Merlin could no longer look upon them as dead, inert matter. With every breath he took, he could feel the living Air enter his body, carrying with it the life force to give him health and vitality. So too with the living Fire, which crackled and brightly burned in his fireplace, providing light and warmth. And also the living Water which bubbled to the surface of the living Earth in wellsprings and formed flowing brooks, eventually filling up mighty rivers and oceans. Even the stones were alive, the still quiet rock enduring for millennia. There was now nowhere Merlin could go where he didn’t feel the presence of life, intelligence and meaning. Travelling on trains; in cars; out in the woods; walking down the pavement of a city street; entering a building; writing words on paper with a pen; everything, everywhere, alive!
Now the days were once again getting longer and spring was near. Merlin went back to Blaze to find out what he thought about his discoveries regarding the five elements and to complete his lifelong goal of magicianhood. He found Blaze was by now very near to the end of his long life and although he no longer had his strength, he still had the sparkle in his eyes. Merlin told him all about his investigations and was expecting a hearty congratulations from Blaze. But Blaze still seemed to be waiting for something more.
Merlin asked, “So, now I’m a real magician, right?”
Blaze paused for a moment and then answered, “No.”
Merlin was taken aback. What had he missed that meant he had not fulfilled all the requirements to become a magician? Blaze noticed the worried look on Merlin’s face and again soothingly remarked, “Don’ be upset, young Merlin.” And he smiled reassuringly.
“You will understand in time that a true magician will never stop learning. The mark of such a person is that they can share their knowledge with others. The false magician is one who gains insight, but will not help others through what they have learned. It’s as simple as that.”
With this statement, a light dawned in Merlin and he saw Blaze now in a completely different way. He thanked him with all his heart and felt the warmth of joy in his heart also as he realised that his quest was now complete.