In beauty                                       may I walk
All day long                                    may I walk
Through the returning seasons                   may I walk
Beautifully I will possess again
Beautifully birds
Beautifully joyful birds
On the trail marked with pollen                 may I walk
With grasshoppers about my feet                 may I walk
With dew about my feet                          may I walk
With beauty                                     may I walk
With beauty before me                           may I walk
With beauty behind me                           may I walk
With beauty above me                            may I walk
With beauty all around me                       may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty,
                                    lively,     may I walk
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty,
                              living again,     may I walk
It is finished in beauty
It is finished in beauty

an excerpt from

translated by Jerome K. Rothenberg.

The entire text of this chant can be found at http://web2.airmail.net/zill/night.htm

Here’s an essay on the Navajo religion, filched (as usual) from the Web:

Native American languages do not have a word for `religion’ because their religion, their spirituality, is inseparable from, and completely integrated into, their life. The Indians speak of the Navajo Way, or the path marked with sacred corn (maize) pollen. The focus of Navajo ritual is on health and well-being. The Navajo were originally hunters and gatherers before they learned to farm and later to herd sheep. A sick hunter is likely to be a dead hunter. So health was understandably important. The Navajo today use modern Western medicine for healing wounds and illness, but turn to traditional Navajo religion for the cure. For the Navajo, having a broken leg set or receiving chemotherapy treatments for cancer is merely treating the symptoms. The cure must involve more fundamental questions. At the heart of the Navajo way is the concept of harmony, the need to be in right relationship. This concept is often translated as `Beauty’ in English. The proper state of the universe is harmony, balance, and equilibrium. Opposites are always present: bad/good, male/female, Mother Earth/Father Sky. These opposites complement each other and are needed for equilibrium. When everything is in harmony, there is good. When things get out of kilter, there is evil. So when illness or bad luck strike, there is some underlying disharmony which must be put to right.

– Sister Pamela Clare, Society of Saint Francis

http://www.orders.anglican.org/ssf/1999sep-pamelaclarecsf.html