Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard

Class III: Wizardly Regalia

The old gentleman that the Wart saw was a singular spectacle. He was dressed in a flowing gown

with fur tippets which had the signs of the zodiac embroidered all over it, together with various

cabalistic signs, as of triangles with eyes in them, queer crosses, leaves of trees, bones of birds

and animals and a planetarium whose stars shone like bits of looking-glass with the sun on them.

He had a pointed hat like a dunce’s cap, or like the headgear worn by ladies of that time...

—T.H. White, describing Merlin (The Sword in the Stone, p. 31)

You might want to go to your neighborhood fab-

ric store and check out the sewing patterns available.

If you ask for help (tell the clerks you’re making a

costume for a party or for Halloween), you will find

that there are many fine patterns for wizardly robes,

cloaks, tunics, jerkins, and even Wizard’s hats. I’ll list

a few such patterns here, although most of these de-

signs are so simple that you probably won’t even

need a pattern other than the diagrams I have drawn

here for you.

IMPORTANT: Use natural materials, such as

cotton or linen. Avoid man-made fibers like poly-

ester or nylon, as they are insulators against

natural energies.

Lesson 2. Tunics & Jerkins

The basic generic costumes worn by men and boys

throughout all of European history until modern times

have been simple tunics and jerkins. These are also

the traditional costumes of the Apprentice Wizard,

and so they are the first ones I will teach you to make.

It’s really easy! Jerkins and tunics look best when

worn with leggings, tights, or baggy pants with elas-

tic at the ankles.

First, look through all the different kinds of fabric

in the store, and pick out something you really like.

For a tunic or jerkin, it can be any color you want, but

it should not have a printed pattern. Have them cut a

length of this material about as long as you can hold

each end in the grip of your outstretched hands. Since

fabric measurements are in 6” increments, have it cut

slightly shorter rather than slightly longer. Also, if

you wish to work with a regular sewing pattern, Sim-

plicity pattern #5840-C,D and #9887-C offer excellent

(and somewhat different) tunic designs. #9887-C in-

cludes a short cape.

The Tunic

For a tunic, fold the material in half from end-to-

end; and then again from side-to side, so it is in quar-

ters. Lay it out neatly as shown here, with the open

corners matching at the lower left, and the folded cor-

ner at the upper right. From the upper right corner,

use a water-based felt marker to draw a cut line along

1. Introduction: The Costume
   of a Wizard

HEN WE PUT ON ANY CLOTHES WE ARE

creating a persona (character) to

present ourselves to both others

and ourselves within a context; all

clothes are costumes designed to

hide or reveal the real you. Your

magickal regalia (splendid

clothes; finery) are sufficiently

different from everyday clothes to help remind you

and others that you are now in the role of the Wizard,

instead of the role of school student, athlete, or other

mundane identity. Just as other roles have their tradi-

tional costumes and uniforms, so does Wizardry.

Each Wizard develops a unique individual style

all his own, and no two Wizards appear quite alike.

Wizards do not buy their magickal clothes off the rack

at the department store, but rather design and sew

their own, or acquire them from other skilled seamsters

and seamstresses in the magickal community. Being

able to design and sew your own clothes is a very im-

portant skill for a Wizard, and I strongly

urge you to learn this. If you do

not have a

sewing ma-

chine, try to get

one, and

learn how

to use it.

Merlin, by

Daniel

Beard

Corrected pages 3rd printing.1.p65 39 6/10/2004, 2:59 PM