in the house made of the evening twilight,
in the house made of dark cloud,
happily may he walk.
In beauty may he walk,
with beauty above him, he walks
with beauty all around him, he walks
with beauty it is finished,
with beauty it is finished.
From The Blessing Way
of the Navajo
"It had been Nashibitti who had taught Leaphorn the words and legends of the Blessing Way...taught him the lessons of the Changing Woman--that the only goal for man was beauty, and that beauty was found only in harmony, and that this harmony of nature was a matter of dazzling complexity...And thus one learned, gradually and methodically, if one was lucky, to always 'go in beauty,' to always look for the pattern, and to find it."
Tony Hillerman
Dance Hall of the Dead. The Blessing Way lines are from his novel, The Blessing Way. Illustration adapted from sand paintings associated with The Blessing Way.
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