Vesica Piscis Mystery Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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We don’t know whether this cache takes you to the occult - - or merely a visit to one of Oceana County’s rural curiosities. The owner calls it a ‘labyrinth - - of herbal dimension’. According to the dictionary, you should expect “an intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit”. The intricate paths and passageways are there - - but you won’t get lost nor have any trouble finding your way out.
According to the brochure available at the adjacent Cherry Point Market, this labyrinth has the form of “an ancient spiral pattern which, when walked, is thought to be a spiritual journey and symbolic of one’s path in life”. The brochure further invites the visitor to “breathe deeply, listen, meditate, experience the space, the energy”. We did all this, but failed to be carried-away by any extra-body experience.
What we did find was the pleasant fragrance of several dozen rows of lavender that radiate outwardly from the central hub - - which fragrance is replaced, as one enters the inner region, by the scents of countless other herbs that comprise the “vesica piscis” center of this curious structure. Yes, again, we resort to the dictionary where we learn that “vesica piscis” is “an elliptical figure in pointed form, usually one made by the intersection of two arcs and used, especially in early Christian art, as an emblem of Christ.”
The coordinates provided place you in an appropriate parking area. From there, venture to the precise center of the labyrinth. If you hear strange voices, leave immediately. If not, count the number of “vesica piscis” elliptical figures used to create the hub. (The “hub” is the region inside the circle defined by the pairs of wooden posts). If you’re not a mathematician or you have no idea what we’re talking about, stand at the labyrinth center and count the number of ‘herb segments’ pointing toward you (count only those on the first circle or tier closest to you). We’ll call this number: VP.
Next, walk the perimeter of the hub and count the number of wooden post pairs. We’ll call this number: PP (each pair counts as one).
Lastly, ascertain the age of the labyrinth owner (on January 1, 2033), add to that age the price of lavender per pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (on that same date), then take the square-root of that number or,
Alternatively, count the number of wooden “rafters” laid between any one set of adjacent pairs of wooden posts (i.e. not the total number of rafters, just those found within any single segment). We’ll call this number: RR.
Use the following computations to spell the five letter word that will ‘tell you’ where the cache is (where A=1, B=2 . . . Z=26):
First Letter: PP/2 - RR + 1
Second Letter: VP + RR - 1
Third Letter: 2xRR + 1
Fourth Letter: VP
Fifth Letter: VP
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gur guerr ahzoref (CC, IC, naq EE) pbzchgrq nobir fubhyq unir n 'snzvyvne evat' onfrq ba bhe Whyvna pnyraqne.