Old Religion

The Isle of the Blessed, the centre of the Old Religion.

“The Old Religion is the magic of the Earth itself. It is the essence which binds all things together. It will last long beyond the time of men.”

— Kilgharrah

The Old Religion is a term used to describe the formerly pervasive customs and practices of Camelot, and potentially Albion on a wider scale. The Old Religion is a form of extremely powerful magic notably followed by the Druids.

Beliefs and Structure

The Old Religion describes the customs and way of life belonging to the magic users of the kingdom. It is based on the philosophy of a sacred balance between all people, creatures, and elements of the universe which must be eternally preserved. At the heart of the Old Religion is the balance between life and death.

Destiny also seemed to play a prominent role in the Old Religion, with followers putting great emphasis on fate and prophecy. The Great Dragon, a creature of the Old Religion, claimed that Merlin, Arthur, Mordred and Morgana shared intertwining destinies, and variations of these claims were echoed by many similar beings, including druids, priestesses, water spirits, and the Fisher King. These beliefs impacted how followers acted in various situations: a creature of the Old Religion called the Dochraid chose to help Morgana because she believed Morgana was "destined to bring back the old ways," and Nimueh once refrained from taking Arthur's life because she believed it was not his destiny to die at her hand.

The structure of the Old Religion remains unknown, but brief revelations indicate that it was led by nine High Priestesses, who were among the most talented and dedicated practitioners of magic. Girls were taken from birth to be trained for the priesthood, but few succeeded in becoming High Priestesses. Those that failed were known as the lesser, but still powerful, Bendrui priestesses. The Blood Guard were an order of warrior priests sworn to protect the High Priestesses with the help of the powerful Rowan Staff.

The Court of Disir was a triumvirate of women seers, trained from birth to be the mouthpiece of the Triple Goddess. Their role included passing judgement on those found wanting in the eyes of the gods; their word was final, acting as both judgement and fate.

The Catha were an order of priests of the Old Religion. They were trained from birth to master all physical pain, and skilled in mental torture.

Finally, the Druids represented a secretive but peaceful sect of the Old Religion, living in small camps outside Camelot. They contained subgroups such as the Vates, who were powerful seers. They may have had chieftains who led their communities, as the druid Iseldir was the leader of a group in Cenred's kingdom who safeguarded magical artifacts such as the Cup of Life and the Triskelion.

Of great significance to the Old Religion was the Isle of the Blessed, a place at which numerous feats of magic occurred. A rowan tree grew at its heart, which was the symbol of the Blood Guard.

History and Practices

In the times of the Old Religion the High Priestesses would gather on Samhain Eve on the Isle of the Blessed where they could sacrifice a living human being to tear the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead. On Beltane, the High Priestesses would gather at the Great Stones of Nemeton and summon the spirits of their ancestors using the Horn of Cathbhadh. They were trained for years before doing so, and were taught never to look back at the spirit, lest they release that spirit into the living world.

The High Priestesses were the creators of a number of dark curses. For example, during their war with the ancient kings of Albion, the High Priestesses of the Old Religion took the blood of a girl and mixed it with the blood of a snake, creating powerful monsters that could control the minds of men and drain their life with an embrace. However, the Lamia proved to be more dangerous than their creators imagined; the High Priestesses lost control of them and the Lamia continued to kill, unwilling and unable to stop.

The High Priestesses also used dark magic to summon from the depths of the Underworld the Fomorroh, a creature they revered which would allow them to take over the minds of their enemies, binding them to their will. A ritual with a similar outcome was the Teine Diaga, which used mandrake roots to torment their victim with terrifying visions. When the ritual was complete, the victim would be a slave of the High Priestesses for all eternity unless the victim willingly partook in a second ritual, bathing in the Cauldron of Arianrhod.

Following the practice of the Old Religion, in the event of an unjust death being brought to one of their own, the Druids would construct shrines to appease and bring rest to tormented spirits. If this shrine were to be disturbed, however, the troubled spirit would possess the individual who did so and seek revenge for their death.

The existence of the Old Religion in Camelot changed following the death of King Uther Pendragon's wife, Ygraine de Bois, in childbirth after he asked Nimueh, a High Priestess of the Old Religion, to use magic to give his barren wife a son. Nimueh claimed that the death of someone in exchange for creating a life was necessary to protect the balance of life and death, in accordance with the ways of the Old Religion. Uther therefore blamed all magic for his wife's death and carried out a terrible retribution against its practitioners, known as the Great Purge. While some followers gave up using magic or pretended to have done so, such as Gaius, it is unclear how many were given this option. It is known that Uther drowned many on the mere suspicion of sorcery, including children.

Notable victims of the Purge were Gregor and Jaden Muirden, friends of Gaius who practised magic. They were the parents of Edwin Muirden, whose deaths led to his facial disfigurement when he tried to rescue them from the flames. Notable escapees include the High Priestesses Nimueh and Morgause; it is uncertain how the former escaped, but the latter was smuggled out of Camelot as an infant and trained by the High Priestesses from birth.

The Cup of Life, an instrument protected by the Druids

Following the Great Purge, Uther banned all forms of magic in Camelot, and it is unknown whether the other kingdoms in Albion followed the same practices. Alator, a Catha priest and warrior, once claimed to have been "shunned, persecuted, and sometimes even hunted in every corner of the Five Kingdoms."

Known Priests & High Priestesses

• Nimueh - a very powerful High Priestess who was killed by Merlin. †
• Morgause - a sorceress smuggled to the Priestesses as an infant and later became one herself. †
• Morgana - a great enemy of Emrys and also the last High Priestess of the Triple Goddess. †
• Alator - a Catha warrior and priest of the Old Religion. †
• Finna † - a Bendrui priestess

Significant Entities

The Cailleach - the gatekeeper to the Spirit world. The Cailleach was an immortal being who appeared after Morgana sacrificed Morgause on the Isle of the Blessed, thus tearing the Veil between the living world and the Spirit world. The Cailleach appeared to take no side, simply demanding payment where it was due and revealing prophetic information to both Morgana and Merlin.

The Triple Goddess - presumably the main deity of the Old Religion, though her role is not expanded upon. This may or may not be synonymous with the White Goddess of the Cauldron of Arianrhod. Another possibly distinct goddess is the Earth Mother, Nemaine, whose tears became the magic-consuming slug known as the Gean Canach.

Followers

“The Old Religion? Is that something you were taught?"
"It's not something you can learn. Either it's a part of you or it isn't.”

— Merlin and Balinor^[src]

Despite the ban of magic in Camelot, followers of the Old Religion still existed. A significant minority of these people used dark magic with the intent of enacting revenge on the king due to the loss of loved ones during the Great Purge. Among these were Mary Collins, Nimueh, Edwin Muirden, Tauren and his band of renegade sorcerers, Alvarr and his followers, and, ultimately, Morgana and Mordred.

Other notable followers were Gaius, though he relinquished the practices of the Old Religion while still maintaining a great respect and knowledge of it. The Great Dragon and other surviving sentient magical creatures are examples of creatures who continue to sustain the Old Religion.

Known Followers:

Alator † Julius Borden † Ferryman Merlin/Emrys Freya Morgana Pendragon † Morgause † Mordred † Vivienne † ? Great Dragon Nimueh † Gaius Mary Collins † Thomas Collins † Aulfric Tir-Mor † Sophia Tir-Mor † Sidhe elder † Devlin † Lochru † Valdis † Niede Dochraid

Grunhilda † Pixies Sidhe Aglain † Anhora Balinor † Edwin Muirden † Jaden Muirden † Gregor Muirden † Trickler Cerdan † Iseldir Cornelius Sigan † Lady Catrina/Troll † Jonas † Alvarr Medhir † Cylferth † Osgar † Ari Atorloppe

Knights of Medhir Taliesin Grettir The Fisher King † Alice Gilli† Blood Guard High Priestess † Gilli's father † Balinor's father † Balinor's grandfather † Disir Dragons Dragonlords Druids Tauren † Diamair Queen Mab Ruadan † Finna † Befelen Lamia

Gallery

Merlin

The Great Dragon

Morgause

Nimueh

Morgana

Edwin Muirden

Mary Collins

Balinor

Mordred

Freya

Anhora, the Keeper of the Unicorns

Iseldir

Aglain

The Fisher King

Historicity

The root of "the Old Religion" is not specifically mentioned in either the show or the legends. Historically, the Old Religion appears to be a reference to the Celtic religion that existed in Britain prior to the Roman invasion during the 1st century AD. Like the Old Religion in the series, it had a complex system of gods, mythology and religious leaders, who appear to have been the druids. The religion more or less died out after the adoption of Christianity by the Roman Empire. Subsequently the British developed their own version - Celtic Christianity. This may be the "new religion" within Albion.

The three figures of the Triple Goddess may be derived from Neopaganism. In common Neopagan usage, the Triple Goddess is usually described as "The Maiden Huntress", "The Mother Goddess" and "The Death Crone", each of which symbolises both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the moon. Often each aspect rules one of the realms of earth, heavens and the underworld. In various forms of Wicca, her masculine consort is the Horned God.

In the legends, Arthur's religion varies. Some retellings describe King Arthur as a pagan king, very tolerant towards differing religions, as Merlin is often referred to as being a druid. Arthur would also have both pagans and Christians in his army. In other versions, Arthur is seen as having Christian leanings, sometimes influenced by his wife, Guinevere, to the extent where he threatens and eradicates the existence of paganism in Britain.