Definitions HQ

A Secret (n.) the ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠adepts whispered: that God himself, the Greatest in the guise of the Smallest, may be caught like a fish in the deep sea and eaten.

A Secret (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠is real cannot be revealed because it is not known; esoteric secrets are mostly fakes, since man needs secrets — it is not we who have secrets, but the real secrets that have us.

A Secret (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠we "cannot tell anybody" isolates, and isolation animates the psychic atmosphere until, like the desert wanderer or the saint, one is beset by apparitions.

A Secret (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a psychic poison that alienates its possessor from the community — yet in small doses an essential medicine of individuality, so that even primitives invent secrets to keep from dissolving into the featureless flow of the group.

A Secret (n.) shared ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠with several is as beneficial as a merely private one is destructive; the private secret works like a burden of guilt.

A Secret (n.) that ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠is unconscious is more injurious than a conscious one; and every personal secret has the effect of sin or guilt, whether or not popular morality thinks it wrong.

A Secret (n.) divides ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠us all, and instead of crossing the gulf on confession's firm bridge we pick the rickety makeshift of opinion and illusion.

The Secret (n.) kept ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in the mysteries is usually not worth keeping; the real mystery is the persistent psychic need to keep one, an expressive gesture pointing to an unconscious content that demands constant attention and so promotes health.