Although it is not at all uncommon for someone’s earlier years to be filled with a certain sense of experimentation, for artists, these experiments can go to much further extremes. In the case of Peter Sellers, it’s more extreme than most, suggesting that great artistry can go hand in hand with great eccentricity. This isn’t to suggest that any of the things that characterized his life were in themselves eccentric or extreme, but taken together they form an eclectic and entirely fascinating portrait. 
For the young Sellers, finding the perfect methodologies through which to channel his talents was not an easy task. It wasn’t as simple as finding the perfect fit for his acting ability, like buying cooper tires online to match one’s car. In Seller’s case, he was the vehicle and the contents, and there was never a solid and stable nature to either. He was like a volatile chemical reaction, always on the verge of something dangerous, and this is what made watching him so terrifically compelling.
It has been noted widely that he was initiated as a Freemason, but not so widely that he was never what one could consider a member in good-standing. After a few moments of attendance, it seemed to have dropped out of his life altogether. He was following a familial tradition, to be sure, but it seems to have fit his acting persona about as well as big rims on a subcompact car. It could work, but only for a very short while, and better if no one is around to see it happening.
Instead, Sellers seems to have invented a kind of wonderful blend of methods. His work is as esoteric and complex as any of the hidden sciences, and it does not require a deep knowledge to catch a glimpse of its mystery. His mystery did run deep, and it was apparent to those viewers who only saw the surface, as well as to those who knew him very well. Whatever Freemasonry did or didn’t do for him, there were tenets that combined with an interest in color vibrations, an ability to enter trance states for performance, and a particularly deft capacity for the mechanics of acting. The results of this alchemical combination were absolutely genius. On a profound level, his work speaks to the initiated, with a complexity that is almost Kabalic. However, on a more base level, his work speaks directly to the gut. He is simply a very funny man, and his work and life bear repeated consideration.