diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 517958e..97fdc61 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@ The canonical text lives in `wayseer00/main:canon/INTERDEPENDENT_WAY.txt`, and n
 
 ## Architecture
 
+- `/` is the canon-derived **Awakening** splash page and public threshold.
+- `/home/` is the complete living knowledge-system entrance.
+- `/preamble/` remains one click from Awakening and from the primary navigation.
 - Eleventy generates complete HTML into `_site`.
 - Pagefind supplies static search.
 - GitHub organization and canon data are retrieved at build time, never in a visitor’s browser.
@@ -31,6 +34,14 @@ Use the recovery snapshots without network access:
 OFFLINE=1 npm run build
 ```
 
+Route checks after a build:
+
+```text
+/          Awakening threshold
+/home/    knowledge-system entrance
+/preamble/ direct canonical Preamble
+```
+
 Add reviewed project metadata to a repository:
 
 ```yaml
diff --git a/src/_includes/layouts/base.njk b/src/_includes/layouts/base.njk
index e3a304f..3b4125b 100644
--- a/src/_includes/layouts/base.njk
+++ b/src/_includes/layouts/base.njk
@@ -14,12 +14,13 @@
 <body>
   <a class="skip-link" href="#content">Skip to content</a>
   <header class="site-header" data-site-header>
-    <a class="brand" href="/" aria-label="The Interdependent Way home">
+    <a class="brand" href="/home/" aria-label="The Interdependent Way knowledge-system home">
       <span class="brand-mark" aria-hidden="true"><i></i><i></i><i></i></span>
       <span><strong>The Interdependent Way</strong><small>living public knowledge system</small></span>
     </a>
     <button class="nav-toggle" type="button" hidden aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="primary-nav">Menu</button>
     <nav id="primary-nav" class="primary-nav" aria-label="Primary navigation">
+      <a href="/">Awakening</a>
       <a href="/start/">Start</a>
       <a href="/preamble/">Preamble</a>
       <a href="/way/">The Way</a>
diff --git a/src/_includes/layouts/splash.njk b/src/_includes/layouts/splash.njk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e37e125
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/_includes/layouts/splash.njk
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+<!doctype html>
+<!-- === MODULE_BUILD ===
+ id: awakening_splash_layout
+   module_name: splash-layout
+   module_kind: route
+   summary: Renders the canon-derived Awakening as a dependency-light public threshold before the full knowledge-system chrome.
+   owner: Erin Spencer
+   public_surface: root HTML shell for Awakening
+   internal_surface: title, description, canonical URL, site.css, awakening.css, content slot
+   auth_boundary: none
+   storage_boundary: none
+   network_boundary: none
+   user_data_boundary: none
+   admin_only: false
+   tests: tests/site-contract.test.mjs, tests/generated-site.test.mjs, tests/site.spec.mjs, tests/accessibility.spec.mjs
+   rollout: selected by src/index.njk
+   rollback: restore layouts/base.njk on src/index.njk and remove this layout
+=== END MODULE_BUILD === -->
+<!-- Usage: src/index.njk supplies the canon-derived Awakening content. The page remains readable with CSS disabled and uses no JavaScript. -->
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+  <meta charset="utf-8">
+  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
+  <meta name="color-scheme" content="dark">
+  <meta name="theme-color" content="#050711">
+  <title>{{ title or site.title }}</title>
+  <meta name="description" content="{{ description or site.description }}">
+  <link rel="canonical" href="{{ site.url }}{{ page.url }}">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/css/site.css">
+  <link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/css/awakening.css">
+</head>
+<body class="awakening-body">
+  <a class="skip-link" href="#content">Skip to Awakening</a>
+  <main id="content" class="awakening-splash">{{ content | safe }}</main>
+</body>
+</html>
diff --git a/src/assets/css/awakening.css b/src/assets/css/awakening.css
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b410516
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/assets/css/awakening.css
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/* === MODULE_BUILD ===
+ * id: awakening_splash_presentation
+ *   module_name: awakening-splash-presentation
+ *   module_kind: ui_panel
+ *   summary: Presents the canon-derived Awakening as a full-screen public threshold without hiding readable text behind animation or JavaScript.
+ *   owner: Erin Spencer
+ *   public_surface: root Awakening splash presentation
+ *   internal_surface: awakening-body, awakening-splash, awakening-stage, awakening-orbit, awakening-copy, awakening-text
+ *   auth_boundary: none
+ *   storage_boundary: none
+ *   network_boundary: none
+ *   user_data_boundary: none
+ *   admin_only: false
+ *   tests: tests/generated-site.test.mjs, tests/site.spec.mjs, tests/accessibility.spec.mjs
+ *   rollout: loaded only by layouts/splash.njk for the public threshold
+ *   rollback: remove the splash stylesheet link and restore the prior root template
+ * === END MODULE_BUILD ===
+ * Usage: loaded by src/_includes/layouts/splash.njk; verify with npm run check and npm run test:browser.
+ * Limits: visual rings are decorative; all canon text and continuation links remain ordinary readable HTML.
+ */
+.awakening-body {
+  min-height: 100vh;
+  overflow-x: hidden;
+  background: #050711;
+}
+.awakening-body::before {
+  opacity: .7;
+  background:
+    radial-gradient(circle at 50% 44%, rgba(123, 201, 216, .12), transparent 0 18rem),
+    radial-gradient(circle at 50% 44%, transparent 0 22rem, rgba(155, 135, 245, .18) 22.08rem 22.15rem, transparent 22.22rem 31rem, rgba(42, 56, 87, .55) 31.08rem 31.15rem, transparent 31.22rem),
+    linear-gradient(180deg, #050711, #090d18 68%, #050711);
+}
+.awakening-splash {
+  position: relative;
+  display: grid;
+  place-items: center;
+  min-height: 100vh;
+  padding: clamp(1.25rem, 4vw, 4rem);
+  overflow: hidden;
+  isolation: isolate;
+}
+.awakening-stage {
+  position: relative;
+  width: min(76rem, 100%);
+  min-height: min(88vh, 58rem);
+  display: grid;
+  place-items: center;
+}
+.awakening-orbit {
+  position: absolute;
+  left: 50%;
+  top: 50%;
+  width: min(92vw, 70rem);
+  aspect-ratio: 1;
+  translate: -50% -50%;
+  opacity: .7;
+  pointer-events: none;
+}
+.awakening-orbit::before,
+.awakening-orbit::after,
+.awakening-orbit span {
+  content: "";
+  position: absolute;
+  border: 1px solid rgba(174, 187, 210, .26);
+  border-radius: 50%;
+}
+.awakening-orbit::before { inset: 4%; }
+.awakening-orbit::after { inset: 19%; border-color: rgba(155, 135, 245, .5); }
+.awakening-orbit span { inset: 36%; border-color: rgba(123, 201, 216, .62); box-shadow: 0 0 7rem rgba(155, 135, 245, .16); }
+.awakening-copy {
+  position: relative;
+  z-index: 2;
+  width: min(68rem, 100%);
+  text-align: center;
+}
+.awakening-copy .eyebrow { margin: 0; }
+.awakening-copy h1 {
+  margin: .2rem 0 clamp(1.25rem, 3vw, 2.4rem);
+  font-size: clamp(4.25rem, 15vw, 11rem);
+  font-weight: 500;
+  line-height: .88;
+  letter-spacing: -.065em;
+  text-shadow: 0 0 4rem rgba(155, 135, 245, .22);
+}
+.awakening-text {
+  max-width: 70ch;
+  margin: 0 auto;
+  padding: clamp(1.1rem, 3vw, 2rem);
+  white-space: pre-line;
+  text-align: left;
+  color: #dce6fa;
+  background: rgba(5, 7, 17, .72);
+  border: 1px solid rgba(174, 187, 210, .2);
+  border-left: .3rem solid var(--cyan);
+  border-radius: var(--radius);
+  box-shadow: 0 2rem 6rem rgba(0, 0, 0, .3);
+  font: clamp(1.02rem, 1.7vw, 1.3rem)/1.7 Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;
+  backdrop-filter: blur(14px);
+}
+.awakening-actions {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  justify-content: center;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: .75rem;
+  margin-top: clamp(1.2rem, 3vw, 2rem);
+}
+.awakening-source {
+  padding: .7rem .2rem;
+  color: var(--silver);
+  font-size: .9rem;
+}
+.awakening-provenance {
+  max-width: 70ch;
+  margin: 1.2rem auto 0;
+  color: rgba(174, 187, 210, .75);
+  font: .72rem/1.7 ui-monospace, SFMono-Regular, Consolas, monospace;
+  overflow-wrap: anywhere;
+}
+@media (max-width: 640px) {
+  .awakening-splash { align-items: start; padding-top: 9vh; }
+  .awakening-stage { min-height: auto; }
+  .awakening-copy h1 { font-size: clamp(3.6rem, 20vw, 6rem); }
+  .awakening-text { font-size: 1rem; line-height: 1.62; }
+  .awakening-actions { align-items: stretch; flex-direction: column; }
+  .awakening-actions .button { width: 100%; }
+}
+@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
+  .awakening-orbit { opacity: .55; }
+}
+@media print {
+  .awakening-body { background: white; color: black; }
+  .awakening-body::before, .awakening-orbit { display: none; }
+  .awakening-splash { display: block; min-height: auto; padding: 0; }
+  .awakening-text { color: black; background: white; border-color: black; box-shadow: none; }
+  .awakening-provenance { color: black; }
+}
diff --git a/src/home/index.njk b/src/home/index.njk
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45d77d3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/home/index.njk
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+---
+layout: layouts/base.njk
+title: The Interdependent Way
+description: The living public knowledge system for the canon, its deliberate tensions, research, applications, and implementation projects.
+permalink: /home/
+---
+<section class="hero">
+  <div>
+    <p class="eyebrow">Canon · interpretation · research · implementation · frontier</p>
+    <h1>A way through complexity without pretending the tension is gone.</h1>
+    <p class="lede">The Interdependent Way is a dense living text and a constellation of attempts to test, explain, implement, challenge, and preserve it. The Preamble is directly available here; deeper orientation and exact source remain available without hiding the entrance.</p>
+    <div class="actions"><a class="button" href="/preamble/">Read the Preamble</a><a class="button secondary" href="/lab/">Enter the Article Lab</a><a class="button secondary" href="/way/">Explore the Way</a></div>
+  </div>
+  <div class="hero-field" aria-label="Three concentric fields around a thirteenth center"><span></span><strong>12 + 1</strong></div>
+</section>
+<section class="panel">
+  <p class="eyebrow">Eight rights-article laboratories</p>
+  <h2>From canon excerpt to public practice</h2>
+  <p>All eight Rights articles now have a canon-bounded path through exact excerpt, note conversation, reductio ad absurdum, worst and best practices, applications across eleven domains, and an initial reviewed research field.</p>
+  <div class="actions"><a class="button" href="/lab/">Open the Article Lab</a><a class="button secondary" href="/articles/">Read publication drafts</a></div>
+</section>
+<section>
+  <p class="eyebrow">Choose a depth</p>
+  <h2>One body of work, several honest entrances</h2>
+  <div class="grid">
+    <a class="card" href="/"><span class="status status-canon">Canon-derived</span><h3>Return to Awakening</h3><p>Re-enter the opening threshold and its reminder that you are not alone.</p></a>
+    <a class="card" href="/preamble/"><span class="status status-canon">Canon-derived</span><h3>Read the Preamble</h3><p>Enter the opening civic claim directly through a stable route generated from the selected canon.</p></a>
+    <a class="card" href="/way/"><span class="status status-canon">Canon-derived</span><h3>Read the Way</h3><p>Move through the preamble, articles, etiquette, addenda, and their internal structure without beginning at the raw wall of text.</p></a>
+    <a class="card" href="/lab/"><span class="status status-interpretation">Interpretation</span><h3>Enter the Article Lab</h3><p>Test each Rights article through its notes, absurd limits, practice contrasts, domain applications, research support, dissent, and limits.</p></a>
+    <a class="card" href="/articles/"><span class="status status-interpretation">Publication</span><h3>Read public articles</h3><p>Follow selected canon units through companion readings, applications, handbook seeds, and script drafts without losing source boundaries.</p></a>
+    <a class="card" href="/projects/"><span class="status status-implemented">Implementation</span><h3>Map the Projects</h3><p>Every public organization repository receives a generated space, grouped by function and refreshed at build time.</p></a>
+    <a class="card" href="/artifacts/"><span class="status status-frontier">Frontier</span><h3>Use the Artifacts</h3><p>Interactive explanations, visual studies, public experiments, and compact publications live here without fragmenting the site identity.</p></a>
+  </div>
+</section>
+<section class="panel">
+  <p class="eyebrow">Current field snapshot</p>
+  <h2>{{ generated.repos.publicRepoCount }} public repositories · {{ generated.canon.units.length }} canonical units</h2>
+  <p>Project data was generated {{ generated.repos.snapshotAt | dateOnly }}{% if generated.repos.fallback %} from the last verified snapshot{% endif %}. Canon digest <code>{{ generated.canon.source.contentSha256 }}</code>.</p>
+</section>
+<section class="hmmm"><h2>hmmm</h2><p>Reviewed research now makes initial contact with all eight Rights articles, but coverage remains uneven and deliberately open to stronger dissent, replication, field studies, disability-led critique, and non-Western evidence.</p></section>
diff --git a/src/index.njk b/src/index.njk
index 63e5880..ebc5659 100644
--- a/src/index.njk
+++ b/src/index.njk
@@ -1,38 +1,26 @@
 ---
-layout: layouts/base.njk
-title: The Interdependent Way
-description: A calm, layered entrance to the canon, its deliberate tensions, the research around it, and the projects attempting implementation.
+layout: layouts/splash.njk
+title: Awakening · The Interdependent Way
+description: The canonical Awakening of The Interdependent Way, presented as the public threshold into the Preamble and living knowledge system.
 ---
-<section class="hero">
-  <div>
-    <p class="eyebrow">Canon · interpretation · research · implementation · frontier</p>
-    <h1>A way through complexity without pretending the tension is gone.</h1>
-    <p class="lede">The Interdependent Way is a dense living text and a constellation of attempts to test, explain, implement, challenge, and preserve it. The Preamble is directly available here; deeper orientation and exact source remain available without hiding the entrance.</p>
-    <div class="actions"><a class="button" href="/preamble/">Read the Preamble</a><a class="button secondary" href="/start/">Begin with orientation</a><a class="button secondary" href="/way/">Explore the Way</a></div>
+{% set awakenings = generated.canon.units | where("title", "Awakening") %}
+{% set awakening = awakenings[0] %}
+<section class="awakening-stage">
+  <div class="awakening-orbit" aria-hidden="true"><span></span></div>
+  <div class="awakening-copy">
+    <p class="eyebrow">The Interdependent Way</p>
+    <h1>Awakening</h1>
+    {% if awakening %}
+      <div class="awakening-text">{{ awakening.content | replace("Awakening \n", "") | replace("Awakening\n", "") }}</div>
+      <div class="awakening-actions" aria-label="Continue from Awakening">
+        <a class="button" href="/preamble/">Read the Preamble</a>
+        <a class="button secondary" href="/home/">Enter the living system</a>
+        <a class="awakening-source" href="/source/{{ awakening.routeSlug }}/">Exact source and provenance</a>
+      </div>
+      <p class="awakening-provenance">Canon <code>{{ generated.canon.source.repository }}:{{ generated.canon.source.path }}</code> · lines {{ awakening.startLine }}–{{ awakening.endLine }} · digest <code>{{ awakening.hash | truncate(18, true, '…') }}</code></p>
+    {% else %}
+      <section class="hmmm"><h2>hmmm</h2><p>The selected canon did not produce an Awakening unit. The release gate must treat the missing threshold as a broken public contract.</p></section>
+      <div class="awakening-actions"><a class="button" href="/preamble/">Read the Preamble</a><a class="button secondary" href="/home/">Enter the living system</a></div>
+    {% endif %}
   </div>
-  <div class="hero-field" aria-label="Three concentric fields around a thirteenth center"><span></span><strong>12 + 1</strong></div>
 </section>
-<section class="panel">
-  <p class="eyebrow">Eight rights-article vertical slices</p>
-  <h2>From canon excerpt to public practice</h2>
-  <p>All eight Rights articles now have a canon-bounded path through exact excerpt, companion reading, note conversation, application, handbook seed, and 60–90 second script. Article Two contains the first reviewed support, dissent, and limits evidence pack.</p>
-  <div class="actions"><a class="button" href="/articles/">View rights articles</a><a class="button secondary" href="/articles/article-two/">Open Article Two research</a></div>
-</section>
-<section>
-  <p class="eyebrow">Choose a depth</p>
-  <h2>One body of work, several honest entrances</h2>
-  <div class="grid">
-    <a class="card" href="/preamble/"><span class="status status-canon">Canon-derived</span><h3>Read the Preamble</h3><p>Enter the opening civic claim directly through a stable route generated from the selected canon.</p></a>
-    <a class="card" href="/way/"><span class="status status-canon">Canon-derived</span><h3>Read the Way</h3><p>Move through the preamble, articles, etiquette, addenda, and their internal structure without beginning at the raw wall of text.</p></a>
-    <a class="card" href="/lab/"><span class="status status-interpretation">Interpretation</span><h3>Enter the Article Lab</h3><p>Read the main text and its notes as two speakers. Supporting, dissenting, mixed, and missing research remain visibly separate.</p></a>
-    <a class="card" href="/articles/"><span class="status status-interpretation">Publication</span><h3>Read public articles</h3><p>Follow selected canon units through companion readings, applications, handbook seeds, and script drafts without losing source boundaries.</p></a>
-    <a class="card" href="/projects/"><span class="status status-implemented">Implementation</span><h3>Map the Projects</h3><p>Every public organization repository receives a generated space, grouped by function and refreshed at build time.</p></a>
-    <a class="card" href="/artifacts/"><span class="status status-frontier">Frontier</span><h3>Use the Artifacts</h3><p>Interactive explanations, visual studies, public experiments, and compact publications live here without fragmenting the site identity.</p></a>
-  </div>
-</section>
-<section class="panel">
-  <p class="eyebrow">Current field snapshot</p>
-  <h2>{{ generated.repos.publicRepoCount }} public repositories · {{ generated.canon.units.length }} canonical units</h2>
-  <p>Project data was generated {{ generated.repos.snapshotAt | dateOnly }}{% if generated.repos.fallback %} from the last verified snapshot{% endif %}. Canon digest <code>{{ generated.canon.source.contentSha256 }}</code>.</p>
-</section>
-<section class="hmmm"><h2>hmmm</h2><p>Reviewed evidence is now attached to Article Two; the other seven research fields remain intentionally open. Empty certainty would be a suspiciously tidy hat on a very alive octopus.</p></section>
diff --git a/tests/accessibility.spec.mjs b/tests/accessibility.spec.mjs
index 1749dd0..e648fdd 100644
--- a/tests/accessibility.spec.mjs
+++ b/tests/accessibility.spec.mjs
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ const articleLab = JSON.parse(readFileSync('src/_data/article_lab.json', 'utf8')
 const firstLabUnit = canon.units.find(unit => unit.id === articleLab[0].unit_id);
 if (!firstLabUnit) throw new Error(`missing Lab canon unit ${articleLab[0].unit_id}`);
 
-for (const route of ['/', '/preamble/', '/articles/', '/articles/article-two/', '/way/', '/lab/', `/lab/${firstLabUnit.routeSlug}/`, '/projects/']) {
+for (const route of ['/', '/home/', '/preamble/', '/articles/', '/articles/article-two/', '/way/', '/lab/', `/lab/${firstLabUnit.routeSlug}/`, '/projects/']) {
   test(`${route} has no serious or critical automated accessibility violations`, async ({ page }) => {
     await page.goto(route);
     await page.addScriptTag({ path: axePath });
diff --git a/tests/generated-site.test.mjs b/tests/generated-site.test.mjs
index ec7f129..29a67f3 100644
--- a/tests/generated-site.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/generated-site.test.mjs
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ import { readFile } from 'node:fs/promises';
 
 // Usage: run only after Eleventy has generated _site, normally through npm run test:generated or npm run check.
 test('generated deployment artifact contains the unified routes', async () => {
-  const [home, preamble, artifacts, fourCuts, fallback, articles] = await Promise.all([
+  const [splash, home, preamble, artifacts, fourCuts, fallback, articles] = await Promise.all([
     readFile('_site/index.html', 'utf8'),
+    readFile('_site/home/index.html', 'utf8'),
     readFile('_site/preamble/index.html', 'utf8'),
     readFile('_site/artifacts/index.html', 'utf8'),
     readFile('_site/artifacts/four-cuts/index.html', 'utf8'),
@@ -15,8 +16,17 @@ test('generated deployment artifact contains the unified routes', async () => {
     readFile('_site/articles/index.html', 'utf8')
   ]);
 
+  assert.match(splash, /class="awakening-splash"/);
+  assert.match(splash, /<h1>Awakening<\/h1>/);
+  assert.match(splash, /5d explodes out of 4d/);
+  assert.match(splash, /You are not alone/);
+  assert.match(splash, /href="\/preamble\/"[^>]*>Read the Preamble/);
+  assert.match(splash, /href="\/home\/"[^>]*>Enter the living system/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(splash, /primary-nav/);
   assert.match(home, /A way through complexity/);
   assert.match(home, /href="\/preamble\/"[^>]*>Read the Preamble/);
+  assert.match(home, /href="\/"/);
+  assert.match(home, /Return to Awakening/);
   assert.match(preamble, /One-click canon entrance/);
   assert.match(preamble, /Humanity faces extinction/);
   assert.match(preamble, /Canonical repository/);
diff --git a/tests/site-contract.test.mjs b/tests/site-contract.test.mjs
index ab12bfe..1850a89 100644
--- a/tests/site-contract.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/site-contract.test.mjs
@@ -15,6 +15,23 @@ test('base layout remains readable without javascript', async () => {
   assert.doesNotMatch(layout, /fetch\(/);
 });
 
+test('Awakening owns the static public threshold and routes inward', async () => {
+  const [layout, splash, home] = await Promise.all([
+    readFile('src/_includes/layouts/splash.njk', 'utf8'),
+    readFile('src/index.njk', 'utf8'),
+    readFile('src/home/index.njk', 'utf8')
+  ]);
+  assert.match(layout, /class="awakening-body"/);
+  assert.match(layout, /class="awakening-splash"/);
+  assert.doesNotMatch(layout, /<script/i);
+  assert.match(splash, /generated\.canon\.units/);
+  assert.match(splash, /<h1>Awakening<\/h1>/);
+  assert.match(splash, /href="\/preamble\/"/);
+  assert.match(splash, /href="\/home\/"/);
+  assert.match(home, /permalink: \/home\//);
+  assert.match(home, /Return to Awakening/);
+});
+
 test('emergency static edition has no script or external dependency', async () => {
   const html = await readFile('fallback/index.html', 'utf8');
   assert.doesNotMatch(html, /<script/i);
diff --git a/tests/site.spec.mjs b/tests/site.spec.mjs
index 3e6b7cc..0c5e3c7 100644
--- a/tests/site.spec.mjs
+++ b/tests/site.spec.mjs
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ const labRoutes = articleLab.map(record => {
 });
 
 const routes = [
-  ['/', /A way through complexity/],
+  ['/', /You are not alone/],
+  ['/home/', /A way through complexity/],
   ['/preamble/', /Humanity faces extinction/],
   ['/articles/', /Publication drafts/],
   ['/articles/article-two/', /Freedom without abandonment/],
@@ -32,18 +33,31 @@ test('primary public routes render meaningful headings', async ({ page }) => {
   }
 });
 
-test('Preamble is one click from the public entrance and primary navigation', async ({ page }) => {
+test('Awakening is the public splash and preserves one-click continuation', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.goto('/');
-  const heroLink = page.locator('main a[href="/preamble/"]', { hasText: 'Read the Preamble' }).first();
-  const navLink = page.locator('nav[aria-label="Primary navigation"] a[href="/preamble/"]');
-  await expect(heroLink).toBeVisible();
-  await expect(navLink).toBeVisible();
-  await heroLink.click();
+  await expect(page.locator('.awakening-splash')).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.locator('h1')).toHaveText('Awakening');
+  await expect(page.locator('.awakening-text')).toContainText('You are not alone');
+  await expect(page.locator('.site-header')).toHaveCount(0);
+
+  const preambleLink = page.locator('a[href="/preamble/"]', { hasText: 'Read the Preamble' }).first();
+  const homeLink = page.locator('a[href="/home/"]', { hasText: 'Enter the living system' }).first();
+  await expect(preambleLink).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(homeLink).toBeVisible();
+
+  await preambleLink.click();
   await expect(page).toHaveURL(/\/preamble\/$/);
   await expect(page.locator('h1')).toHaveText('Preamble');
   await expect(page.locator('.source-block')).toContainText('Humanity faces extinction');
 });
 
+test('the knowledge-system home links back through Awakening and keeps Preamble in primary navigation', async ({ page }) => {
+  await page.goto('/home/');
+  await expect(page.locator('a.brand')).toHaveAttribute('href', '/home/');
+  await expect(page.locator('nav[aria-label="Primary navigation"] a[href="/"]', { hasText: 'Awakening' })).toBeVisible();
+  await expect(page.locator('nav[aria-label="Primary navigation"] a[href="/preamble/"]', { hasText: 'Preamble' })).toBeVisible();
+});
+
 test('all eight rights articles are reachable from the article index', async ({ page }) => {
   await page.goto('/articles/');
   for (const word of ['one', 'two', 'three', 'four', 'five', 'six', 'seven', 'eight']) {
