khiis am as shaln
The Doors of the Spirit
he Ancestors are among us. They are never farther away than the Waiting Door.
²The Ancestors are not departed. The dead are not under the earth. ³Their spirits are in the restless wind, in the fire’s voice, in the foot-smoothed step. ⁴Pay heed to these things, and you will know your absent kin.
⁵Pay reverence through gift and prayer. ⁶Acquaint the Ancestors with your affairs, with your comings and goings, with your blessings and trials.
⁷From the Waiting Door comes your protection. ⁸Heed the spirits, who are the guardians of your hearth, teachers of wisdom, counselors of fortune, seers of fate.
⁹Each bone is a door through the wall of the world. ¹⁰Each bone is the road, with Wisdom and Power the travelers. ¹¹Each bone is the ghost fence that guards us from evil.
¹²Honor the Ancestors upon your hearths, within your halls, in the community of your temples, in the solitude of your tombs.
¹³Guard your Ancestors from beasts, from thieves, from profane priests and sorcerers. ¹⁴Let no creature steal your spirits, for the plundered hearth is diminished, and the plundered tomb is shamed.
¹⁵Live in One World with your spirits. Honor the spirits within and without you. ¹⁶Do not grieve for the dead. Take shelter in their arms, and pay heed to their words.