It was always a treasure map constructed in music.

'1. The Path - First you must acknowledge your quest. Suspect there is something more and dedicate yourself to the search. Persistence is the Key. You must persist. You must be patient. You must demonstrate these qualities or the Path will not reveal itself to you.

2. The Union - Seemingly out of order, but not. Once persistence has been demonstrated, you will touch the ineffable. Or, rather, it will touch you. Just for a moment. A quick reveal for your eyes alone. Try to explain it and you will find yourself tongue-tied. Try to prove it and you will find yourself a mockery.

3. The Ruin - As quickly as it comes, it departs. You were not ready. You were not worthy. Endless recriminations echo hollowly inside your head. A memory of love and warmth lingers. But a memory is only that.

You will chase that feeling like an addict. And, indeed, addiction to other substances is a danger here. Many carcasses litter the Path at this point. Many go astray and fall into quicksand spun from false belief, wishful thinking, and an unwillingness to push the boundaries of one’s own self. Without humility and a wry sense of humor, you will not pass this gate

4. The Tribulation - You thought you suffered during the Ruin. You thought that to have touched and tasted God and then have been left alone was the worst thing that could ever happen to you. You thought the depression, self doubt, and despair were the worst that they could be. But you were wrong.

[Although I have sworn no oath, of this I will write no more. I do this in service to you dear reader, and with love.]

5. The Rose - At last the Path rises from the valley floor. Your legs ache. Your feet are blistered and tired. Yet here, by the side of the road, is a miraculous site. A city built of pyramids, populated by ghosts you cannot see, but you can feel surrounding you.

They welcome you with soundless applause and dust devils kick up to lead you through bustling empty streets to a staircase and a temple underground. The Star of Ishtar marks the door. The moon, full and dribbling it’s light onto the silent landscape, hangs in the sky overhead.

Inside the temple is a chest - the seventh chest. Inside the chest is a rose. Yet even as you reach to take it, it shifts and shimmers. The patterns of the orbits of the planets trace its petals in silver, gold and red-blue sparks.

6. The Ecstasy - As your fingers touch the stem - careful to avoid the thorns - your memory floods back. You have always known this answer. You were just too distracted by your fears, desires and selfish ego to recall.

Tears spring from your eyes unbidden. You fall to your knees not in supplication but in gratitude. Gently you replace the rose in its chest so that it will be there for those who come before you.

You know now that you will (will not) taste death. You know now why you have walked this Path, and why others will walk it before and have walked it after you. You are (are not) alone. Here in this empty temple, you feel a millennia of souls surround you, embrace you, and open their worlds to you.

7. The Prison - With infinite doors in time and space ajar before you, your feet can go in one - and only one - direction. Up the stairs and back into the blinding light of the sun.

You walk a while, lost in reverie, and realize that you are back where you began. This Path is an ouroboros. It eats itself. It does this by necessity. Ananke plays a cruel, but loving, game.

8. The Hope - You recognize the place where you began.

“The Seventh Chest lies ahead!” you yell, to those first joining the adventure.

Some mock you. Some shake their heads and smile sadly. But a few show earnest interest. A sparkle in their eye. They, too, know that life is more than this.

It is to them you owe your Service now. You cannot walk the Path for them. But you can give them Hope. Hope for a future where freedom is unbound, but evil is eschewed. Hope that one day, too, they may touch the Rose and simply remember.