This Gift allows a Garou to make her body a temporary vessel for an ancestral or legendary spirit for a finite length of time determined during the activation of the Gift. It differs from the manifestations of the Past Life Background in that the host does not merely gain the Attributes, Abilities, and memories of the inhabiting spirit -- she actually 'becomes' the spirit for the Gift's duration. The Uktena usually combine this Gift with the Rite of Invitation to Ancestors (see Uktena TB), and rarely practice it outside of moots or council gatherings. Its intention is primarily to give honor to an ancestor by allowing her the ability to experience fleshly pleasures and meet her tribal descendants. This Gift is taught by an Ancestor-spirit.
The player rolls Charisma + Occult (difficulty 8) and spends a point of Gnosis while the Garou calls on a spirit to 'ride' her body. The Storyteller may choose to lower the difficulty to 7 for Garou who come from cultures whose spiritual beliefs habitually incorporate the idea of being 'ridden' by the spirits. One or two successes summons an Ancestor-spirit for a brief sojourn (one scene). Three or four successes enable the spirit to remain for a longer time (several scenes). Five successes allows such a complete rapport between spirit and host that the spirit remains until asked politely to return to the Umbra. No successes indicates that no ancestor heard the summons or else that the contacted spirit refused the invitation. A botch means that an angry or hostile ancestor (perhaps from one of the Wyrmcomer tribes!) enters the host and must be placated before she will depart. Note that a a Garou need not possess the Past Life Background to use this gift. The Garou who uses this Gift must make a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) in order to remain aware of her surroundings while her body hosts the ancestor, A failure on this roll means that the host's consciousness becomes dormant. The Storyteller may allow a player to attempt a second Willpower roll (difficulty 8) to reawaken the character's awareness if the first roll fails. Other characters may converse with the ancestor, thus benefiting from her advice and counsel. Once the spirit departs, the host Garou makes a final Willpower roll (difficulty 7) to remember what happened while her body served as the Spirit's Horse.