E 6
The Serpent Sword
W
hen I was first invited to join a certain secret society—one that shall not be found on the Internet—I was amazed at the imagery and symbolism that surrounded me. On the night of initiation, one particular device set itself apart from all else—the sword. I was in a long hall that looked like an old chapel, with wooden beams and high windows. The lower parts of the windows were now boarded with finely painted oak—murals depicting the trials and tribulations of a medieval warrior monk. At the end of the hall were large satin curtains of deep red. On either side of me stood a line of men all dressed in white robes, holding aloft gleaming silver swords, and at the end the Grand Master beckoned me “come.” As I walked, the swords fell behind me and were placed zig-zag fashion across the floor so that my path behind was no longer one I could walk. This is a symbolic device, a truth we all must learn—attempting to rewalk the path we have already trodden is pointless. Eventually, I reached the Grand Master and we followed a ritual that can be dated back many hundreds of years. I bowed low and accepted my pledge as the Master’s sword symbolically killed my old self so that I might be born anew. The sword here is used as a device to bring to life the symbolic aspects of a hidden Gnostic truth and a psychology as relevant today as ever. It has been this way for an awfully long time, and it
77 H
