The Sect of the Phoenix is a short story written by Jorge Luis Borges. Released in 1952, it describes the titular sect.
Characters[]
- The narrator
Plot[]
According to our narrator, some claim that the Sect started in Heliopolis after Amenhotep IV died. Our narrator says that this is a fallacy. The "denomination of the sect" came after Rabanus Maurus and sources before this do not explicitly name them as worshippers of the Phoenix. Even today, members of the Sect usually do not answer to the name of the "Phoenix" even if they admit that they are "men of the Secret". Though Franz Miklosich construed members of the Sect with the Roma, the narrator vehemently denies this. The narrator also states that the Sect is not Jewish in nature.
According to our narrator, the Sect does not record being persecuted but due to its prevalence, its members are present within every persecuted group. They do not have a shared mythos, a holy book, or even places of worship. They only share "the Secret" - their only rite. This rite is "transmitted from generation to generation". Initiation into the Sect is largely done by those of the lower classes. To them, the Secret is a sacred but also faintly ridiculous bit of knowledge. To them, all words refer to the Secret and the various sectarians write poems which allude to the Secret.
To some of the sectarians, the Secret is a thing of "sacred horror". These sectarians are despised by the comrades but "they despise themselves even more". Despite this, those who renounce the Custom and directly speak with the divine "enjoy a large measure of credit". According to our narrator (who has had "the friendship of devotees of the Phoenix on three continents"), the Secret seems at first to be a vulgar yet incredible thing. It is said that it was "not lost long ago" and "extends in its tremendous fashion, to all the faithful" despite the war and carnage of human history.
Notes[]
- The Sect is essentially an extended allegory, with its "Secret" representing sexual intercourse. Some argue that the "Secret" and its sectarians are in actuality a representation of homosexuality though this is not a popular reading.
Sources[]
- Wikipedia