A Hermetist is comfortable whether
- performing in obscurity the activities of so-called ordinary life,
- or in the company of the high and mighty,
- or alone with his studies, inscrutable to the most intimate of his friends, relatives, and lovers,
- or entranced by the seductions of courtly love,
- or in prayerful contemplation in the presence of beautiful old men.
Greek monks call each other “kalo gero“, literally “beautiful old men”. It is also the origin of the common Sicilian name, “Calogero”, my father’s given name.