Excerpt from Mysteria: History of the Secret Doctrines and Mystic Rites of Ancient Religions and Medieval and Modern Secret Orders In all ages mystery has had a special attraction for mankind. Curiosity is innate in us. The child asks about everything, What is this. What is it for, why is it made so, or so? The child fairly harries its parents with questions, never wearies of raising new ones, often so un expected and so difficult, that it would puzzle the wisest philcscpher to answer them. And this instinct of in quiry is dominant in the adult, too. 'the grown man wants to know what is to be found behind every curtain, every locked door, in every sealed letter. And when sated with such trifles he must push inquiry further, into the infinite; must lift the veil that hides the wondrous image at Sais; must pluck from the forbidden tree of knowledge the tempting golden fruit. He would with the Titans storm heaven, and ascend to heights where stirs no breath of air, where stands the boundary-stone of creation. At last when Faust, after manifold crosses and disappointments, sees that we can know nothing, the thought consumes the heart within him. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.