00 MAGIC WORDS rise to many interpretations, it can't be exhausted by any of them. Rather it serves as a window to a higher reality; it speaks of, and elicits, a deeper truth within the mind."44 Origins: "The word mystery (mysterion in Greek) derives from the Greek verb myein, 'to close,' referring to the closing of the lips or the eyes. This 'closed' character of the mysteries may be interpreted in two ways. First of all, an initiate, or mystes (plural, mystai) into the mysterion was required to keep his or her lips closed and not divulge the secret that was revealed at the private ceremony. Vows of silence were meant to ensure that the initiate would keep the holy secret from being revealed to outsiders. . . . A second way to interpret the 'closed' nature of the mysteries relates to the closing and the opening of the eyes. Closed eyes brought darkness to the prospective initiate both literally and metaphorically, and the opening of the eyes was an act of enlightenment."45 In Literature: • "[In a] wholly inexplicable way, Pierre felt himself surrounded by ten thousand sprites and gnomes, and his whole soul was swayed and tossed by supernatural tides; and again he heard the wondrous, rebounding, chanted words: 'Mystery! Mystery!'" -- Herman Melville, Pierre, Or the Ambiguities (1852) 44 Richard Smoley, Hidden Wisdom (1999) 45 Marvin W. Meyer, The Ancient Mysteries (1987)