Burroughs writes in the introduction to Man at Leisure that ‘perhaps writers are actually readers from hidden books. These books are carefully concealed and surrounded by deadly snares. It is a dangerous expedition to find one of these books and bring back a few words’

Chris Kelso, Burroughs & Scotland: Dethroning the Ancients: The Commitment of Exile [Amazon, Local Library]

Hermetic-quote Kelso Burroughs and Scotland writers actually readers hidden books carefully concealed surrounded deadly snares dangerous expedition find bring back a few words

Consider also:

  1. “The secrets of his mental nature and the principles of intellectual life became at this stage gradually unfolded to his view. You will thus perceive, Brethren, that the F.C. degree, sometimes regarded by us as a somewhat uninteresting one, typifies in reality a long course of personal development requiring the most profound knowledge of the mental and psychical side of our nature. It involves not merely the cleansing and control of the mind, but a full comprehension of our inner constitution, of the more hidden mysteries of our nature and of spiritual psychology.”
  2. Enthusiasm and Divine Madness
  3. “under the veil of secrecy, dangerous plans and harmful teachings can be accepted just as well as noble intentions and profound knowledge; because not all members themselves are informed of such depraved intentions, which sometimes tend to lie hidden beneath the beautiful façade”
  4. The Postmodern Explained
  5. “The Lofty Master Arabi says, wrote Gramps, that the meaning of the lexical root J-N-N in Arabic is ‘concealed.’ Jinn isn’t just another created being ontologically placed between man and angel; it is the entirety of the hidden world.”