A fine tale about youthful exploration and the joys of forbidden knowledge, by the artist and occult scholar Joel Biroco:
When I was at university there was a vibrant underground interest in locks and keys. In my first year I caught a whiff of it hanging around the student newspaper office, which published my cartoons. I longed to find someone who could teach me this knowledge. One day I was approached by someone who worked on the newspaper, who I knew vaguely, a boring man who had failed his final year exams and was just killing time before getting a job. He held in front of my eyes a needle file he took from his inside jacket pocket.
‘Do you know what this is?’ he said.
‘A file.’
‘A needle file. Get yourself a set and I’ll come round and show you a few things.’
Read it here.
Thanks Gavin Semple!
