Essentially the story is an extended
riddle, the mysterious description referring to a commonplace fact (as Borges points out in the prologue to
Artifices). The probable and common answer is that the riddle refers to
sexual intercourse, and Borges himself confessed as much. However, in relation to the debate on Borges' sexual orientation, it is argued by some that the secret Borges had in mind was, more specifically,
homosexual intercourse or homosexuality in general; to support this, they point to such clues as "scattered across the face of the earth, […] only one thing—the Secret—unites them and will unite them until the end of time." Against this reading, however, one might observe the story's claim that "the history of the sect records no persecutions", which cannot be true if the 'Secret' is homosexual intercourse. Moreover, the name of the sect associates it with the mythological
Phoenix, suggesting regeneration and renewal of life: the more obvious analogy, therefore, would be with procreative (that is, heterosexual) intercourse. It is also referred to in
El Aleph, a precursor to this story. ==References==