For your consideration today is the character of Merlin from the anime 7 Deadly Sins and why is she practically naked for the entire series?
I got really obsessed with 7 Deadly Sins – partly because it gave me so much to analyze and think about, partly because I was fascinated with the Holy War concept, and partly because of the amazing characters and the archetypes that each represents.
When it comes to Merlin, I was most perplexed with why she wears so little clothing and none of the characters seem to comment on it.
In fact, she gets more hoots and hollers and whistles when she puts on a Boar’s Hat uniform, which covers up far more than her usual…uh…robe?
As in all legends of King Arthur and his knights, Merlin represents Wisdom and with Merlin being a woman in 7 Deadly Sins, Wisdom takes on a far more potent and ancient form.
Isis and Athena were considered Goddesses of Wisdom and the Song of Solomon characterizes Wisdom as “she” – the sheer number of cultures and religions that contain a “Wise Woman” or goddess is daunting and beyond the scope of this analysis.
The main point is that Merlin represents Wisdom – and by Wisdom I’m not talking about general everyday smarts, nor the wisdom of Old Man Smithers who knows when the weather’s going to turn because his war wounds start to ache.
No, I’m talking about the Deep Inner Wisdom that every one of us has and few call upon. Call it Gut Instinct or Intuition if you wish. That kind of Wisdom has to be loved and nurtured and cared for so it can be brought to light and bring some semblance of balance to our lives.
But most of us don’t do that. Most of us don’t love or nurture or care for our Wisdom. We don’t even really consciously acknowledge it. We often treat our Deep Inner Wisdom as if it’s a child – we think it has to learn and grow and we don’t understand how powerful it is right from the beginning of conscious existence. We constantly infer that Wisdom and Knowledge are equal when they are two very different things, but we don’t believe we’re Wise unless we Know a bunch of things.
For a time I think Merlin believed that she wasn’t worth anything unless she learned everything – thus she’s branded with the Boar Sin, the Sin of Gluttony. She’s a Glutton for knowledge all the while starving to be loved and accepted for who and what she is, just the way she is.
And this is why Merlin wears almost nothing – because she hasn’t been loved, she hasn’t been nurtured and she hasn’t been cared for and she’s trying to show us that she isn’t a child – her womanhood is on display for all to see. Wisdom takes on the form that most men desire to have and to hold and most women want to appear to be.
We all want Wisdom, we all want to be wise. However, Wisdom can’t be possessed. Wisdom can’t be owned. You can’t force it to do your bidding, you can’t entrap it, and it will always see through your motives and plans and either aid them or thwart them.
You need to see your Wisdom for who and what she really is, you need to be proud of her and love her with fierce passion, and you have to trust that she wants what is best for you.
Because your inner Merlin does want what’s best for you and you need to have her back and not fight her even when it seems like everything is going to Hell.
If you follow her plan, Wisdom will lead you to victory where she will finally be clothed in Power and Glory for all the world to see.
