Secret Seeker — the entry into the Hanged Man path, and from the very start it is built around dangerous knowledge.
The bearer's spiritual perception is high, and they use it not for divination but to catch the presence of mysterious and eerie entities. To this comes granted knowledge: considerable lore on sacrifices and some knowledge of ritual magic.
The method of action explains the step better than any list and at the same time explains why the path is considered dark:
the Secret Seeker's abilities are built around prayer and secrets;
the play consists of receiving secret knowledge through prayer or "begging" for it;
and the more dangerous the received knowledge is, the better the potion is absorbed.
The last point is worth rereading. The Hanged Man path rewards not caution but the willingness to go where one should not go: the more terrible what the bearer has learned, the faster they grow. Precisely for this reason this branch so often leads to madness — the advancement mechanics itself pushes toward it.
The formula matches: a singing black mushroom and a bat of darkness, to them red wine, a segment of a church-consecrated candle, a poisonous mushroom, and verbena powder.
