their Communion. One kindles a charcoal fire in the
earthenware stove by the side of the altar, and the other grinds small
some of the barley brought by the deacon. He then expresses some oil from
the sesame seed, and, mixing the barley meal and oil, prepares a mass of
dough which he kneads and separates into small cakes, the size of a
two-shilling piece. These are quickly thrust into or on the oven and
baked, the chanting of the liturgy of the _Shomhotto_ still proceeding
with its steady sing-song and response, _Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo_, from
outside. The fourth of the tarmidos now takes the pigeon left in the cage
from the _shkando_, or deacon, standing near him, and cuts its throat
quickly with a very sharp knife, taking care that no blood is lost. The
little cakes are then brought to him by his colleague, and, still holding
the dying pigeon, he strains its neck over them in such a way that four
drops fall on each one so as to form the sacred _tau_, or cross. Amid the
continued reading of the liturgy, the cakes are carried round to the
worshippers outside by the two principal priests who prepared them, who
themselves pop them direct into the mouths of the members, with the words
_Rshimot bereshm d'hai_, "Marked be thou with the mark of the living one."
The four deacons inside the _Mishkna_ walk round to the rear of the altar
and dig a little hole, in which the body of the dead pigeon is then
buried. The chanting of the confession is now closed by the officiating
_tarmido_, and the high priest, the _Ganzivro_, resuming his former place
in front of the Sacred Book, begins the recitation of the _Massakhto_, or
"renunciation" of the dead, ever directing his prayers towards the North
Star, on which the gaze of the worshippers outside continues fixed
throughout the whole of the ceremonial observances and prayers. This star
is the _Olma d'nhoora_, literally "the world of light," the primitive sun
of the Star-worshippers theogony, the paradise of the elect, and the abode
of the pious hereafter. For three hours the reading of the "renunciation "
by the high priest continues, interrupted only, ever and anon, by the
_Mshobbo havi eshmakhyo_, "Blessed be thy name," of the participants
seated outside, until, towards dawn, a loud and ringing _Ano asborlakh ano
asborli ya Avather_, "I mind me of thee, mind thou of me O Avather," comes
from the mouth of the priest, and signalizes the termination of the
prayers.

Before the North Star