In the House of Boet-hi-Ah Where we become safe And looked after.'

There's a passage in the Third of Vivec's Sermon that haunts me.

> Vivec felt that his mother was afraid, and so consoled her. > > 'The fire is mine: let it consume thee, > And make a secret door > At the altar of Padhome > In the House of Boet-hi-Ah > Where we become safe > And looked after.' > This old prayer made the netchiman's wife smile and begin such a deep sleep that when Dwemeri atronachs returned with cornered spheres and cut her apart she did not awake and died peacefully.

Let's leave aside the tortured labyrinth of meaning in Vivec's writings, and focus instead on the material. "The old prayer" means it is not a Vivec original, but an ancient Chimer prayer. It's quoted again when Vivec kills the eighth of his monsterous children

>The eighth monster was there, but he did not act much like a monster. He sat with his legs in the ocean and with a troubled look on his face. When he saw his mother-father, he asked why he should have to die and return to oblivion. >Vivec told the eighth monster that to be otherwise was to betray his nature. Since this did not seem to satisfy the monster and Vivec still had a touch of Ayem's mercy he said: > >'The fire is mine: let it consume thee, >And make a secret door >At the altar of Padhome, >In the House of Boet-hi-Ah >Where we become safe >And looked after.' > >The monster accepted Muatra with a peaceful look and his bones became the foundation for the City of the Dead, anon Narsis [sic].

You can find tons of discussion of the meanings of these passages on /r/teslore and elsewhere, but it's not the greater meaning that lingers with me. It's the *very human* nature of the prayer and how it opposes most of what we think/talk about with Boethiah. We all *know* that the Dunmer see Boethiah as one of the Good Daedra who teaches them how to live. But we usually don't *feel* it, talking instead of Boethiah as the patron of struggle, plotting, deceit, plots, struggle etc.

And here is a prayer to Boethiah that encourages the dying person to let go, to stop struggling, because the struggle is pointless and only hurting them more. No matter what use Vivec makes of the prayer, I think it sheds a light on how the ancient Chimer (and some of the Dunmer) *feel* about Boethiah, not just a harsh teacher, but the welcoming protector at the end of the journey.