The Round World

sacredness of the soul.

In ritual you communicate to the world you are willing to speak its language, see its behaviors, adjust to its speed, learn what it has to teach you.

[Some scholars suggested that the master’s emphasis on the utility of cycles evolved from a more specific interest in ceremony and ritual, but nothing in this manuscript justifies that supposition.

We have not corroborated such an interest from any of the sources contemporary with his writings. The rose is a motif that comes back again and again in the manuscript, but it is not clear whether it represents something or if it is drawn for its own sake. For all we know, the master simply loved the flower and enjoyed sketching it when he got bored.

This may not be as satisfying as the assumption the rose holds a secret meaning, but often the simplest answer is the truth.]