Liturgy for the Blindfolded Guest

Ritual

(Instruction: Secure the blindfold. Ensure no light leaks. Breath must be shallow and rhythmic.) Inhale for four counts. Hold for four counts. Exhale for four counts. I am not a pulse. I am the stillness of the cedar beam. I am the silence of the settling stone. Eye that seeks, seek elsewhere. The warmth you smell is old oil in a lamp. The rhythm you hear is the wind in the eaves. (Instruction: Lower the chin. Relax the shoulders. Slow the heart.) I am tasteless. I am the grey ash of a dead fire. I am the salt on a rusted nail. I am the void where a shadow should be. Pass me by. I am a thing of wood. I am a thing of glass. I am a thing of dust. (Instruction: Hold breath. Do not blink behind the cloth.) I am not here. I am the absence of a guest. I am the echo of a room already empty.