Isis Unveiled: chapter I (an axiom of hermetic philosophy)

"How many of our inveterate skeptics belong, notwithstanding their materialism, to Masonic Lodges? The brothers of the Rosie-Cross, mysterious practitioners of the mediaeval ages, still live - but in name only. They may "shed tears at the grave of their respectable Master, Hiram Abiff"; but vainly will they search for the true locality, "where the [...]

Isis Unveiled: chapter I (an axiom of hermetic philosophy)

"Speaking of ancient geographers, Plutarch remarks in Theseus, that they  "crowd into the edges of their maps parts of the world which they do not know about, adding notes in the margin to the effect that beyond this lies nothing but sandy deserts full of wild beasts and unapproachable bogs."   Do not our theologians [...]

Isis Unveiled: chapter I (an axiom of hermetic philosophy)

"Superstitious and blind as it is, a faith conducted on such principles certainly deserves some respect, and can never be offensive, either to man or the true God.   Not so with that of the Roman Catholics; and hence, it is they, and secondarily, the Protestant clergy - with the exception of some foremost thinkers [...]