Separation Ceremony

What It’s For

This is a serious ceremony, carried out under the direct authority of the community council, meant to free a person from evil they can’t seem to shake or leave behind — past involvement in dark acts, exposure to others’ wrongdoing, addictions of any kind, or nightmares and aftereffects springing from an encounter with evil or spiritual corruption. It’s distinct from the Yo-ani-ah Ceremony, which carries away injuries like abuse or trauma; this one instead separates a person from an ongoing evil influence or an unfortunate circumstance — sometimes rooted in upbringing or environment — that continues to affect their life.

Identifying What Needs to Go

The real work here is pinpointing exactly what needs to be separated from — whether it came from the person’s own past choices or was imposed on them by others. This can take real, careful discernment, since some candidates already know something is wrong without knowing its source. When a Decadarchiy is involved, as is often the case, the right Eerkodeshiy must be specifically called on to intervene — this kind of protective knowledge comes through personal contact, not something shared openly.

Community Authority

This ceremony draws on the authority the righteous community holds as members of Yawd, under the Decrees of Creation. Its effects are voided against the person and sent back either to whoever caused them or into oblivion, asking Anokeesed to move in the person’s life until they’re restored to purity, as though returned to who they were before the exposure ever happened. The candidate must forgive whoever wronged them, following Naom’s example — forgiveness removes what sin leaves behind to guard against, so nothing remains that needs protecting. It’s essential afterward that the person never be made to feel at fault, and once the ceremony is finished, the matter is not revisited — only gratitude for the Lord’s blessing going forward.

Who Attends

Attendance is limited — typically men of service and their wives, the Protection Clan, and all firekeepers, everyone bringing their own sacred bundle. It’s held during the day.

Preparing

A sand painting made specifically for this occasion; fountain water brewed into raspberry leaf tea with honey; loaded protection pipes at the ready; a blanket for the candidate to sit on beside the painting; fountain water for drinking and sprinkling; honey and butter; kelly bread; clean clothes; someone designated to forgive the perpetrator on the candidate’s behalf; and two sparrows.

The Ceremony

The fire is lit, and the candidate sits on the blanket for an opening prayer with Harari. Either the candidate or someone close to them describes what happened — including any flashbacks, nightmares, or lingering effects since — while the birds listen. Gray ashes are sprinkled on one sparrow’s skin beneath its feathers, and it’s released outside. Enoch 8:36-37 is read as a determination is made.

The person closest to the victim prays aloud at the altar, facing east, for the perpetrator’s forgiveness, using Harari. The sand painting is sprinkled with fountain water, and the candidate sits at its very center while those holding protection pipes form a crescent around them, facing east. The candidate drinks tea sweetened with honey and receives kelly bread with honey-butter, though only part of the tea is drunk at first and the bread isn’t eaten yet.

Those with pipes pray facing east from the painting’s east side; the man of Abarah circles the painting, placing and dribbling Harari in each direction. The candidate then eats the bread and honey-butter while prayers continue from the north side, calling on the Eerkodeshiy to bless them, and finishes the tea. The group then turns west, sending what happened back to where it came from, parting as the man of Abarah sends it northward.

Harari is placed on the second sparrow, marking that the blessing of separation is now present; smoke is blown on it before it, too, is released — a herald carrying the news of this healing to all the Eerkodeshiy. Everyone present circles the candidate, smokes the pipes, and blows smoke in the painting’s four directions; the candidate and then everyone present shares in smoking at least once.

Everyone leaves the building while the candidate bathes in raspberry leaf tea and dresses in clean clothes. Each person present then disturbs one section of the sand painting, and the ceremony closes with the Protection Song.

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