Meaning: Transition, choice, the sacred moment before rebirth

The Black Gate does not open for the curious.
It waits for the willing.
This is not a door—it is a vow.
Here begins the descent—like Psyche, like Odysseus, like the initiate before Eleusis.

Stand before a threshold today—a doorway, a path, a mirror.
Say: “I see what must end.”
And take one step forward, even if only in spirit.
The gate is not guarded—it is watched.

Do not bring everything with you.
Choose what stays behind.
Crossing is not cleansing unless it costs something.
This is the Nigredo—the sacred blackness where form dissolves.

At dusk, light a candle on the far side of something.
Reach for its light.
You are not returning—you are passing through.
The dead do not walk backward.