o 29 light . . . struck her as the most beautiful she had ever seen in her life."40 How true it is that "Magic words ma[k]e us see things in a different light."41 Steeped as they are in history and romantic tales of adventure,42 the words open sesame are potent with mystery and intrigue, and they always transport the spirit back to that primal, womb-like cavern of wonders, that secret passage to other worlds.4 As a pass phrase the words may well qualify as a "worst-kept secret," but their power has not diminished. Unlike phrases such as "hocus pocus" or "mumbo jumbo" that the general public so often uses derisively or mockingly, the literature attests that "open sesame" demands respect. It is simply the thing one says when faced with an obstacle. Meanings: • Admission, ticket -- Jennifer L. Scheidt, On Miller's Death of a Salesman (2000) "Since when has money been an open sesame to the Turf Club?" -- James Clavell, Noble House (1986) • Avenue "The child's smallness and inadequacy is the 'open sesame' to a future and to the unfolding of potentiality." -- Thomas Moore, Care of the Soul (1992) "The single-track railway across the desert was the 'open sesame' to almost everything in Transcaspia, including the capture of the Merve oasis." -- Peter Hopkirk, Like Hidden Fire (1994) • Breaking and entering "Wonder signaled he was ready to perform his 'open sesame' act [to break down the door]." -- Richard Marcinko, Designation Gold (1997) • Certificate "Money was the coin of the urban realm from which we came, -- the open sesame to the satisfaction of needs and wants." -- Scott Nearing, The Good Life (1989) • Clue, key evidence "You may have found our open-sesame, Holmes!" -- Matthew Pearl, The Dante Club (200 ) • Controller "The cavern, apparently, required a human presence to operate it, a living open, sesame to switch on power and lights and to open doors." -- Ian Douglas, Luna Marine (1990) • Cue "[S]ome cue, an open sesame . . ." -- Jose Saramago, Blindness (1999) 40 What Maisie Knew (1897) 41 Howard Kaminsky and Alexandra Penney, Magic Words (2002) 42 As Nietzsche suggested, history and romance are hopelessly entwined, "once upon a time" being an "open sesame" to the past (Keith Jenkins, The Postmodern His- tory Reader [1997]). 4 A similar concept is discussed by Gilles Neret in Erotica 20th Century (2001).