Will there be a day when someone discovers the secrets of these supernatural events, that reflection of the shadow of the soul that manifests itself between awakening and sleep, in a state of purgatory and unconsciousness?
Sadegh Hedayat, trans Naveed Noori, The Blind Owl [Amazon, Bookshop, Publisher, Local Library]
Our teaching is purposely veiled in allegory and symbol and its deeper import does not appear upon the surface of the ritual itself. This is partly in correspondence with human life itself and the world we live in, which are themselves but allegories and symbols of another life and the veils of another world; and partly intentional also, so that only those who have reverent and understanding minds may penetrate into the more hidden meaning of the doctrine of the Craft. The deeper secrets in Masonry, like the deeper secrets of life, are heavily veiled; are closely hidden. They exist concealed beneath a great reservation; but whoso knows anything of them knows also that they are “many and valuable”, and that they are disclosed only to those who act upon the hint given in our lectures, “Seek and ye shall find; ask and ye shall have; knock and it shall be opened unto you”.
W L Wilmshurst, The Meaning of Masonry, Chapter I The Deeper Symbolism of Freemasonry
The initiate chooses to set foot on a new path; but the path itself was already there in some form – what is new is the fact that this particular initiate is now walking on it. Initiation is the beginning of something new, and it is the conservation and renewal of something already established.
Sabazius, Initiation
As flies to wanton boys are we to the gods; they kill us for their sport. Thunder again; words that proclaimed themselves true—truer somehow than truth itself.
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
