Sage Twigs

Turning to the fire, the Old Kokopelli stirred the smoldering cauldron with his cane and dropped some sage twigs onto the glowing coals. They flared up, burned and turned to ash, their magical scent permeating the air.

Renewed Senses

Meredith Buffalo Calf Woman opened the beaded pouch that Gray Dawn had given her, removed several strands of sacred herb and packed them into the bowl of the chanuga. As she lifted the pipe to her lips, the slender Kokopelli lit a stick and ceremoniously transferred fire to the bowl. Meredith inhaled a long breath of the medicinal smoke and exhaled with a sigh.  

Immediately the renewed EarthWise senses rose up in her. She tasted the greenhouse gases trapped in the cloud cover around her. She saw red smog piercing through the sunset zones. She smelled the ozone layer burning in the stratosphere. She felt the excess moisture in the clouds caused by too much heating of the oceans. She heard violent storms brewing in the atmosphere.  

Liberation

The Old Humpback raised his long pipe and signaled for the other smokers to begin. Each Kokopelli took up his or her pipe and puffed mightily.  

Seeing their efforts, Meredith joined in, heedless of the danger. She inhaled and exhaled again and again, sending out huge billows of blue-green smoke which filled the kiva. Each time the sacred herb entered her lungs and spread over her body, she felt no pain, only relief that the waiting was over, the deliberation ended, the search finished. Liberation had begun. She exhaled with a sigh and coughed.

The Soul Child cried, "I'm scared."  

Kiva Melts

Just then the kiva began to dissolve. The sides of the kiva dripped, as if melting, but there was no water, only cloud stuff.  The formerly translucent building blocks were now opaque. The outside light had turned dark. A fearful storm was rumbling outside. 

The dome of the cloud kiva opened first, revealing the dark night sky. The kiva walls disintegrated, leaving the small band of smokers exposed to the open air, with only the carpet of cloud below them.

The storm was in full swing now, with a hot wind howling and dark clouds racing across the sky. 

The blue-green smoke poured out over the adjoining clouds and was blown far away.

Crusaders of the Apocalypse

Meredith smoked the magic chanuga with all her might, gasping and coughing. The Old Humpback frantically waved his pipe. The Kokopelli smokers drew gigantic breaths full of the sacred smoke into their lungs and expelled them with a vigor that far exceeded human capabilities. The blue-green smoke was taken up by the wind.

Like crusaders of the apocalypse, they spewed the potent emission over the surrounding cloudscape. 

Blue-Green Stain

The smoke spread out over the vast region of stratosphere that was the underpinning of the sky. It saturated the clouds that covered planet earth, staining them blue-green. The cloud clusters traveled, distributing the smoke to all the far flung regions of the earth.

The clouds had now changed from puffy to stringy. They condensed into a thick fog that descended upon the earth, blanketing everything in a blue-green mist that seeped into all doors, windows, vents, fans, chimneys and cracks in walls. No habitation was overlooked. 

Smoldering Pot

The beaded pouch was still half full. Unsure how much longer she could smoke without passing out, Meredith walked resolutely to the smoldering pot and peered within at the bright embers.  She handed the chanuga to the slender Kokopelli, who held it while Meredith loosened the strings of her beaded pouch and gazed for a moment at the contents. Then, struggling to maintain her balance, she gravely turned the pouch upside down and emptied the remainder of the sacred herb into the vessel. She shook the pouch and inspected it to make sure it was empty.

The fire flared up briefly. A few sparks floated off before the herb settled down into a slow burn. Smoke billowed in earnest from the pot. She received her chanuga from the slender Kokopelli and staggered to her cushion.

Shrinking

The clouds contracted further, falling closer to earth, shrinking downward and away, leaving the Kokopelli resting precariously on thin air.  The loss of their cloud flooring appeared not to daunt them. Even the buffeting of the violent wind was but an easy breeze to them, exhilarating.

Meredith felt unsteady. The wind was overwhelming. Within moments the clouds beneath her would be gone.  Hastily, she tied up her chanuga and beaded pouch in the white deerskin wrappings. Tucking the medicine bundle under her arm, she rose and bent into the wind as she stumbled unsteadily away from the band of smokers, who appeared not to see her go. She was weak from the excess smoke she had inhaled.