The ancient Greeks believed that the soul of each individual entered the world of matter by descending a ladder of seven planets. The word planet is derived from the Greek word planetai, which means "wanderer." To the Greeks, the wanderers were the seven celestial bodies, visible to the naked eye, which appeared to move independently from the constellations. They included the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. The ancients believed that the Earth was in the center of the cosmos and that the seven planets circled the Earth. Each orbit was thought of as a crystal sphere, one nesting inside the next with the Earth in the center. Encasing the outer most crystal was the eighth sphere of the constellations, and beyond that was the home of the spirit. Pythagoras created the Western musical scale with seven notes to capture the music that these spheres made as the planets circled the Earth. The same theme is reflected in the Biblical account of the seven days of creation. This Jewish tradition divided the month into seven-day weeks, which were adopted by the Roman Empire and received the names of the seven planetary gods. In English, we have substituted the names of equivalent Germanic gods for half of them. As the soul descends from the outer sphere, each planet clothes the soul in qualities-later listed by Christians as the seven virtues and seven vices-as the soul makes its way to becoming a living individual. These planets are soul centers; they are echoed within our bodies as the seven centers commonly called chakras. The journey of the soul can also be conceived of as a journey through inner space. The astrological natal chart is designed to map this process. However, for the mystic the process must be reversed because all life yearns to reunite with what is greater than itself. In a trance state, the mystic ascends this seven-runged ladder and lets go of each quality, until the union with the soul is finally achieved. The ultimate goal to alchemists was not the literal search for gold, but rather it was symbolized by gold and the Sun. As we now proceed through the seven days of the week all these many centuries later, we are in fact reenacting the mystical process described by the Greeks. When Sunday arrives, we have symbolically achieved the goal and should take some time to stop and meditate.