in these sacred matters; and these priestly
castes would naturally emphasize the importance of their calling,
would hold themselves aloof from the common herd, endowed with special
powers and entitled to special privileges. They would interpret the
oracles in ways favorable to themselves and their order; they would
proclaim themselves friends and confidants of the god, walking with
him in the night-time, receiving his messengers and angels, acting as
his deputies in forgiving offenses, in dealing punishments and in
receiving gifts. They would become makers of laws and moral codes.
They would wear special costumes to distinguish them, they would go
through elaborate ceremonies to impress their followers, employing all
sensuous effects, architecture and sculpture and painting, music and
poetry and dancing, candles and incense and bells and gongs

And storied windows richly dight,
Casting a dim religious light.
There let the pealing organ blow,
To the full-voiced choir below,
In service high and anthem clear,
As may with sweetness through mine ear
Dissolve me into ecstacies,
And bring all heaven before mine eyes.

So builds itself up, in a thousand complex and complicated forms, the
Priestly Lie. There are a score of great religions in the world, each
with scores or hundreds of sects, each with its priestly orders, its
complicated creed and ritual, its heavens and hells. Each has its
thousands or millions or hundreds of millions of "true believers";
each damns all the others, with more or less heartiness--and each is a
mighty fortress of Graft.

There will be few readers of this book who have not been brought up
under the spell of some one of these systems of Supernaturalism; who
have not been taught to speak with respect of some particular priestly
order, to thrill with awe at some particular sacred rite, to seek
respite from earthly woes in some particular ceremonial spell. These
things are woven into our very fibre in childhood; they are sanctified
by memories of joys and griefs, they are confused with spiritual
struggles, they become part of all that is most vital in our lives.
The reader who wishes to emancipate himself from their thrall will do
well to begin with a study of the beliefs and practices of other sects
than his own--a field where he is free to observe and examine without
fear of sacrilege. Let him look into Madame Blavatsky's "Secret
Doctrine", or her "Isis Unveiled"--encyclopedias