Appeal to Higher Authorities

An anthropologist friend of mine informed me recently of a few remote groups of esoteric mystics. They seem to believe that all things come from an abstract ideal concerning groups of things, and transformations of these groups. My friend could not give me much more precise information that that, as he cannot decipher their thoughts. In part, this is due to the arcane nature of their sects. He informed me, however, that the primary problem in deciphering their beliefs is that their written language is full of non-sense symbols and punctuation, with almost no written words. To make matters worse, the few letters they use seem to be used interchangeably, and occasionally, other opaque substitutions are made.

As a scholar of languages, he asked me to take a look at the texts. So far, he has been unable to give any to me; however, he did remember (he thought) a short snippet of the unintelligible writing:

{a,b|x,y} & {c,d|z,w}
     .es.
{{a,b}&{c,d|z,w}, {c,d}&{a,b|x,y}|{a,b|x,y}&{z,w},{c,d|z,w}&{x,y}}

Clearly, I have my work cut out for me. However, these seems vaguely reminiscent of an ancient instruction book I once glanced at. There may be a link-- or even an unbroken tradition. Esoteric sects have a way of keeping themselves alive longer than should be expected.

*-*-*-*-*
The astute (and overly educated) reader will find the above set theory familiar, and would be able to "translate" & and .es.
But it doesn't matter anyway.

Ozymandias, King of Kings

In a remote corner of some uninhabitable jungle, amidst the trees, vines, miasmas, insects and demons, there is a misshapen rock. It alone suggests that a civilized hand was once here. Carved into the side of the rock in an ancient and nearly forgotten tongue, were the following proverbs. I reproduce here what translation I could muster, from what little etching remained.

...
He who ... pestilent [or pestilence or death]
the [unknown] worm [or snake] forgives the plow [or oxen]
Lower the lover of water into the river.

A fool [or ape] doesn't see the tree [or mountain]; the wise man sees.
...
... he would [or wanted to] become wise

The rest is illegible, eroded, except for a few miraculously preserved lines:

The cistern contains [or holds]; the fountain overflows [or breaks].
...
Joys don't laugh! Sorrows don't weep!

I apologize once again for the poor translation, and the unfinished text. I spent a day which felt like an eternity in that sauna of jungle attempting to read and translate it.

The whole experience of that jungle was bizzare. One could actually watch ants constructing trees; vines being wound and dropped; and leaves actively growing off of these structures-- trying to break free from their prison.