Jonathan shrugged again. He cared not for mysteries. Instead he smiled as he reached into his scrip and pinched a big fat chunk of meat to put in his mouth. He cared a lot more for pork.

Lavie Tidhar, Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels [Amazon, Publisher, Local Library]

Hermetic quote Tidhar Judge Dee and the Three Deaths of Count Werdenfels cared not for mysteries cared a lot more for pork

Consider also:

  1. “Hey, know what? I haven’t even introduced myself. Sorry about that.” “Don’t bother. I am not interested in who you are.”
  2. “upon attainment of the K & C, the adept then takes up the task of aspiration unto the true and ultimate grail, the supernal Cup of Babalon.”
  3. “Religion, like nations and individuals, passes through the regular gradation, first of infancy, when religious ideas and thoughts are crude in the extreme; the age of Puritanism, when innocent women and children are burned at the stake for witchcraft, when with gloomy faces and in unsightly dress the poor fanatics sacrificed every pleasure on the altar of duty; the time when Sunday was a day of horror to children from its gloom, a day when every innocent amusement was forbidden. After religion’s infancy comes youth. At that stage, the absurd dress and gloomy faces were not considered essential adjuncts to religion, but free discussion was not allowed upon religious subjects. Everything must be taken for granted, without any investigation on the part of the people. After youth comes manhood, the time when reason has full sway, when superstition and credulities form no part of religious teaching and thought. People are able to think, to reason for themselves. After the age of manhood, comes old age and that is the stage of agnosticism. Questions are being asked, and ideas propounded which must not be overlooked nor treated with contempt. All questions asked in a fair spirit, must be answered in a fair manner. It is not sufficient to say, ‘it is so’, but good and tangible reasons must be given to prove the truth of an assertion. We are now in the stage of ‘old age.’ Agnosticism and Infidelity are wide spread. After old age comes decay and the decline of the absolutely orthodox. From time immemorial, every religion has passed through the same gradation, of infancy, youth, old age and decay finally comes philosophy.”
  4. “One cannot be careful enough in selecting one’s guides,” continued the stranger. “There are at present so many false prophets and guides. All the world is at present crazy for poking their noses into the mysteries of the astral world. Everybody wants to be taught witchcraft and sorcery. Secrets, which for thousands of years have been wisely kept hidden before the eyes of the unripe and profane, are now bawled out from the housetops and sold at the market-place as objects of trade. Hundreds of self-appointed ‘masters’ and guides speculate upon the selfishness and ambitions of their disciples, and, the blind leading the blind, they both come to grief. If only all the seekers for truth were like you, they would not be deluded by false promises held out to them for attaining adeptship.”
  5. “Jonathan knew that most vampires did not live as lords and ladies in grand castles. Most lived as rats, hidden in the slums in cities, or out in the countryside as hermits, posing as holy men or witches.”