Secrecy and silence

Use in the book

The opening pages defend a small custodial community against criticism of its reticence. I links hermetic sealing with restricted doctrine and says that persecution required written meanings to be veiled. The ready pupil is promised a teacher when understanding becomes possible.

VII changes the function of closed lips. Hermes' silence about why creation occurs may mean that there is no answer, or that even advanced pupils were unprepared. The author leaves both interpretations available while declining to answer in Hermes' place.

Places to read

1. Original Introduction · Block 3“There is no portion of the occult teachings possessed by the world which have been so closely guarded as the fragments of the Hermetic Teachings which have come down to us” …
2. Original Introduction · Block 7… “in The Kybalion: "The lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding."”
3. Original Introduction · Block 8… “silently aside with a pitying smile on their closed lips, while the "heathen raged noisily about them" in their customary amusement of putting to death and torture the honest but misguided” …
4. I The Hermetic Philosophy · Block 6… “use the term "hermetic" in the sense of "secret"; "sealed so that nothing can escape"; etc., and this by reason of the fact that the followers of Hermes always observed the” …
5. I The Hermetic Philosophy · Block 8… “was written down at all, its meaning was veiled in terms of alchemy and astrology so that only those possessing the key could read it aright. This was made necessary in” …
6. VII THE ALL in All · Block 19… “his philosophy, that: "The lips of Wisdom are closed, except to the ears of Understanding," believing that even his advanced students did not possess the Understanding which entitled them to the” …

In this edition

Closed lips, veiled teaching, and silence retain their different images. The lexicon does not turn an unrecorded answer into a hidden doctrine of its own.

Reading the argument

The two readings of the final silence should not be forced into one. A limit of knowledge differs from a secret deliberately withheld. The ambiguity allows the work to acknowledge a philosophical boundary while preserving the image of an authoritative teacher.

secret

“secret” — 15 occurrences in 15 text blocks: Intro.1, 4; I.2, 6–8; II.10; III.3; IV.7; VII.18–19; VIII.25, 30; XIV.16; XV.5.

secrecy

“secrecy” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: I.6.

silence

“silence” — 1 occurrence in 1 text block: IX.8.

closed

“closed” — 5 occurrences in 4 text blocks: Intro.7–8; I.1; VII.19.

veiled

“veiled” — 2 occurrences in 2 text blocks: I.8, 10.

Use in the book

Restricted instruction is defended through the student's readiness. Harpocrates makes silence visible as an emblem. The final numbered statements defend concealed leaders, and the regulations protect confidences, manuscripts, and the location of hierophants.

These purposes overlap, but a duty to protect another person's confidence differs from a claim that inaccessible masters preserve an uninterrupted lineage.

Places to read

1. Mystic Masonry · Block 24“24. The Secret Orders never had any intention of being as secret as they are. Priests of the Religion were only too willing to teach the people, but the people were” …
2. Masonic Symbolism · Block 77“281. "Among the Ancients Silence and Secrecy were considered virtues of the highest order. The Egyptians worshipped Harpocrates, the god of secrecy, raised altars in his name, and wreathed them with” …
3. Masonic Symbolism · Block 149“351. Among the Ancients Silence and Secrecy were considered virtues of the highest order. The Egyptians worshipped Harpocrates, the God of Secrecy, raised altars in his name, and wreathed them with” …
4. Masonic Symbolism · Block 150… “the Ancient Initiates really worshipped the god of secrecy, but like in all else, they worshipped that which this god Harpocrates represented. The one thing in which Historians make their great” …
5. Masonic Symbolism · Block 155“357. This policy of Silence and Secrecy has always been a wise one, for the bitter vituperations which have nearly always been showered on the heads of those who were the” …
6. Rules and Regulations · Block 9… “the confidence of your brother by revealing his secrets; for perhaps, that were to rob him of the guard which protects his property or life. The tongue of a Mystic Mason” …

In this edition

Secret can modify doctrine, office, document, or procedure. The lexical count is not a count of one uniform practice.

Reading the argument

The explanation of concealment does not independently establish the truth concealed. A reader can understand why an order values silence while still asking what evidence supports its public historical claims.

secrecy

“secrecy” — 13 occurrences in 10 text blocks: M.49; F.45, 75; S.69, 77, 148–151, 155.

secret

“secret” — 125 occurrences in 81 text blocks: I.15–16, 19–20, 28, 31; D.1, 4–7, 9; M.1, 22–27, 31, 41, 45–47, 52–54, 59, 69–70; F.32, 34, 39, 47, 49–50, 53–54, 69, 75–76, 80, 82, 87, 89, 98, 110, 114, 116–117, 124, 128, 130, 132, 139, 144–145; S.2, 31–32, 34–35, 45, 88–89, 145, 147, 150, 152; R.1, 5, 19, 23–28; N.42, 65, 86.

secrets

“secrets” — 27 occurrences in 22 text blocks: D.6–7; M.21, 28, 31, 33–34; F.6, 21, 23, 26, 52, 57, 112, 132, 149; S.35, 148, 152, 154; R.9, 16.

silence

“silence” — 7 occurrences in 5 text blocks: F.39, 52; S.77, 149, 155.

silent

“silent” — 3 occurrences in 3 text blocks: I.30; M.13, 68.