Secret language

Fontana, David. The secret language of symbols a visual key to symbols and their meanings illustrations by Hannah Firmin. Pavilion Books, 1993. 

Hope, Jane. The secret language of the soul. London Duncan Baird Publishers. 176p. ISBN 1-900131-48-X... 

The alchemists used the symbolic framework of Qabalah as part of their secret language to both reveal and conceal certain works. 

Like all subjects, biochemistry has its own secret language that is very useful once you know it, but a bit offputting till then. Therefore, there is also a glossary at the back for quick reference, to remind you of the meaifing of individual terms. 

His name has become a synonym for clairvoyance Nostradamus, astrologer to the king of France, the most famous seer in Western history. But the real meaning of his prophecies has gone undetected, hidden in a secret alchemical code. Known as the Green Language, it was understood by only a handful of medieval occult scholars, and has been lost for centuries — until now... 

The private letters between brother and sister spoke the language of love. Elisa nicknamed him Fritz she was his beloved Lotte. Only to Fritz would she dare to open the secret folds of my soul. They bombarded each other with endearments my darling my beloved guardian angel of my life. They wore each other s lockets and adapted love passages from Wertkr. To be so dear to your heart as I am exceeds all other pleasures except for the one of loving you, Elisa wrote typically in October 1777. To be worthy of you, Lotte, is the chief purpose of my life, he d replied. 

Most of the alchemists who claimed knowledge of the Philosopher s Stone or the materiaprima necessary for its preparation, generally kept its nature most secret, and spoke only in the most enigmatical and allegorical language, the majority of their recipes... 

Oo-koo-he " He was barely able to believe his ears. It must have been incredible to him that this strange, weak creature, like something from another world, should directly inquire after a secret tradition of his people. I have no idea how many cultural conventions were overlooked, but after a bit more conversation, or what passes for conversation between people who share no common language, I was sure that he would try to help me. Days later, on my twenty-fifth birthday, I was brought a tarry goo wrapped into little leaf packets. I was never able to obtain a hallucinogenic experience from this material, but later analysis by the chemists of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm confirmed the presence of di-methyltryptamine. Demetrius had been as good as his name. 

The implication here is that the virtuous reader, whom God has deemed worthy of the secret, will be able to read it in the text. Yet when I read the text, I do not come away knowing how to achieve the Great Work. So either I am the intended reader of this (that is, a reader who is not chosen), or I am not the intended reader of this text, and my failure is inscribed in the text itself. The text is impossible and infinite. Once again, Agamben s writings on language illuminate the paradox ... 

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