“Do you want to know a secret? Do you promise not to tell?” sang the Beatles in 1963. Nearly all of us would answer “Yes” to both questions, but as this issue of Parabola reveals, most secrets end up being told, for better or for worse.
And so these pages brim with revelations—about little-known Native American lore, about the hidden life of Isaac Newton, about Macbeth and addiction and poet Robert Lax in Hollywood. There are unveilings about the Freemasons, and the Catholic confessional; about animal tracks and trackers, and the mysteries of the Hebrew alphabet.
Rabbi Eliezer Shore indicates in his essay here on the vision of Ezekiel, such a secret can be taught only “to a student who understands it on his own.” To reach that understanding can sometimes demand severe trials, as Cynthia Bourgeault describes in a riveting narrative about her stormy journey into the “imaginal realm.” Ultimately, understanding the deepest secrets seems to depend upon one’s quality of “being”; readers will find their own tested as, with the guidance of commentator Jean-Yves Leloup, they ponder the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Thomas: “These are the words of the Secret…Whoever lives the interpretation of these words will no longer taste death.”
There is lighter fare in this issue, too, including a fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm, an array of prayers from nurse/Zen teacher Ellen Birx, and the three winning poems of this year’s Poetry of the Sacred Contest. There is even a recipe for a Jewish holiday cookie with a hidden center.
May this issue of Parabola serve you well—and if it does, please don’t keep it a secret.
—Jeff Zaleski
