Iusiurandum

The Invitation

Draw near, reader, and be not hasty. No hand is laid upon thee here, and no voice compelleth. If thou wilt take the Pactum upon thyself, thou shalt walk its ten articles in order, pausing at each until thy heart consenteth. Read aloud if thou art able; read in silence if thou art not. At the last thou shalt close with Amen or Selah, as thy spirit chooseth. And if thou turnest back at the third article, the door standeth open.

The Walking of the Ten

Here the ten articles are set before thee one by one. None watcheth; none recordeth; take what thou wilt and leave what thou wilt not. When an article is finished, speak what thou wilt: consent, or question, or silence. When the tenth is ended, the walking is complete.

The walking carrieth each article abridged; the whole of every article standeth in the Pactum, and the full list of names of the Third Article is kept there with it.

The Keeping

Thy oath is kept in thine own browser, upon thine own device, and it is sent nowhere. No clerk readeth it, no roll of names is kept, and the temple doth not watch its readers. One keepsake remaineth: the day thou tookest the covenant, held here, that thou mayest look upon it after many years. If thou wilt have this forgotten, blot it out whensoever thou wilt; the keeping is thine, and the clearing also.

Where this keeping standeth in the temple's record: the privacy record's storage inventory nameth this key and its room, and nothing of the temple is kept beyond it.

The Closing Word

Now go quietly, and let the covenant be carried not upon the tongue only but in the hands. Where thy heart affirmeth, say Amen; where it is too full for speech, keep the closing silence, which is Selah. Thou hast taken the repair of the world upon thee, and thou art not alone in it. Verily, the vow kept in secret is heard in heaven.