He thus became the power behind the throne of a kingdom dedicated to the sacred, which still remains an influential myth of our modern times, over 1500 years later. He then left Scotland, eventually to take up his position as magical advisor to King Arthur. When Merlin had graduated, and was ready to take up his ‘ministry’ in the world, the book related how he was given a blue spiral tattoo on his right cheek as a symbol of his empowerment and mastery. Woad finally stopped being used commercially as a cloth dye in 1932. In ancient times it was grown as a source of blue dye, which was extracted from the leaves after they had been dried, powdered, and fermented. They were a pygmy-like race of magical human beings who had the delightful practice of tattooing their entire bodies with woad, a yellow-flowered European plant of the cabbage family. In the book I read, he visited the north of Scotland and learned his magical skills from the Picts. There are many different books about Merlin, all with very different viewpoints. When I was still an impressionable youth in my early twenties, I read a book called ‘Merlin’. I still get asked: what is that blue spiral tattoo on your face? What does it signify? Well now… now is the time to explain my actions en masse, for it makes an interesting story.
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