Matthew “Merlin” Kenney is a professional classical astrologer and ritual magician who has spent the last 11 years of his life devoted to his craft.
He studied classical philosophy and linguistics at university, and reads and translates Ancient Greek and Sanskrit, utilizing the insights of ancient wisdom in his teaching and client practice.
Matthew teaches and practices astrology as a complete spiritual path. Following in the footsteps of the ancient hermetists and magicians of old, he utilizes the horoscope alongside herbal medicine, ritual magic, and daily spiritual practice to find healing and empowerment.
Matthew has been featured as a speaker on several prominent astrological platforms, including Kepler College and Nightlight Astrology. He has taught about traditional views of the seven planets, the relationship between astrology and philosophy, and advanced techniques for prediction.
Before becoming a professional astrologer and magician, he studied philosophy, classics, and German at the University of Pittsburgh. Matthew first devoted a great deal of time into analytic philosophy and took multiple courses on the philosophy of language and modal logic, and then studied Hegel, Heidegger, and other phenomenological thinkers before finally returning to his roots in the pre-socratics, platonists, and neo-platonist schools of philosophy that shaped the western esoteric tradition.
In addition to his studies of the western esoteric tradition, Matthew has also deeply devoted himself to the path of Daoism - another school of star-venerating mages with an unbroken lineage. He is a 24th generation discipline of the Daoist Chun Yang Dragon Gate Sect, and bears the name 诚贤 (Chéng Xían).
Early on in his spiritual path, Matthew was also given the name Merlin by a Mexica elder, and it’s stuck ever since. Many of his clients, students, and friends call him by this name.
Matthew’s professional practice is deeply informed by his daily spiritual practice. He is a dedicated practitioner of Ashtanga yoga, Daoist internal alchemy, and Baguazhang, engaging in about 2-3 hours of practice every day to stay true to the craft. He is also an avid practitioner of the Wim Hof Method and have studied primitive skills and received the Scout initiation at the Tom Brown Tracker school.
Matthew and his wife live a very simple life in West Virginia where, when not engaging in spiritual practice or helping students and clients, they tend to their food forest and the spiritual well-being of their landscape.
Foreign Language Reading Proficiency
German
Ancient Greek
Sanskrit
Latin
Research topics
Babylonian and Hellenistic Astrology
Ancient Greek and Egyptian Spiritual and Magical Practices
Daoist Neigong and Neijia
Indo-European Religion and Language
Dedicated Spiritual Practices
Graeco-Egyptian Hermeticism
Qigong and Baguazhang
Hatha Yoga
Earth-based Ceremonies
Matthew’s Teachers
Astrology
Adam Elenbaas, Founder of Nightlight Astrology
Robert Schmidt, Co-Founder of Project Hindsight (never studied with him in person but have consumed dozens of hours of his lectures and written material)
Daoism, Qigong, Baguazhang
Eric Randolph, Senior Master with the ICMAA
Shifu Li Xingde, Abbot of the Five Immortals Temple
Jack Schaefer and Josh Paynter, Abbots of the Parting Clouds Temple
Indigenous Spirituality / Herbalism
Ola Obasi, Founder of Well of Indigenous Wisdom
Donna Patricia Maciel
Grandmother Barbara Morningstar
Philosophy / Psychology
Robert Brandom, Neopragmatism and Philosophy of Language, University of Pittsburgh
Bruce Ellis Benson, Phenomenology and Existentialism, University of Nottingham