Navajo Prayer/Poem

With beauty (hózhó) before me, I will live.
With beauty (hózhó) behind me, I will live.
With beauty (hózhó) below me, I will live.
With beauty (hózhó) above me, I will live.
With beauty (hózhó) all round me, I will live.
With beauty (hózhó) from within, I will live.

From the East, beauty (hózhó) has been restored
From the South, beauty (hózhó) has been restored
From the West, beauty (hózhó) has been restored
From the North, beauty (hózhó) has been restored
From the Nadir, beauty (hózhó) has been restored
From the Zenith, beauty (hózhó) has been restored
From every direction, beauty (hózhó) has been restored

Beauty (hózhó) has been restored.
Beauty (hózhó) has been restored.
Beauty (hózhó) has been restored.
Beauty (hózhó) has been restored.

The prayer is a form of positive affirmation!

When Navajos greet each other, they do not say, “how are you?”, “how is it going?” or any other kind of interrogative, they say y1’1t’44h!
This word means “It is good!” It is a positive affirmation!
One always is admonished, expected and even required to think positively.

Hózhó might best be described as a cosmic concert. But the concert is not out there in nature for one to hear or observe; it is centered in the self as an active participant.

Hózhó flows from one, to one, and revolves all around one. You can experience hózhó but you can never exclusively possess it.

You cannot experience hózhó in isolation, only in conjunction with others, only in concert with a whole environment, only in community.
And the community of others includes not only humans but all the animal species and all the features of one’s environment.