Secrets and Mysteries

This theme is fundamental to a book in which almost nothing makes sense from a traditional or conventional standpoint. The author establishes from the start that his objective will be to make a foray into the mysteries of culture, which will be disclosed but not destroyed. In other words, he expects to examine the central mysteries of every culture, but he does not propose to dissect or explode these mysteries, thus destroying them. He wants cultures to look at themselves in a new light, and it is this new light that he is presenting. The author's early statement of intent makes it easier for the reader to accept the descriptions of the world that follow it, in all their strangeness and obscurity. One of his points is that we are hidden even from ourselves, because so much of life is mysterious. Another is that new ways...