posted on Sep, 13 2016 @ 06:08 PM
He walks along the path in the forest. The breeze stirs branches, casting coins of light on the forest floor. In his hand are a bundle of sage, a
shell, a fan made of turkey feathers, and a bag made of buckskin. He reaches a spot that he has visited many times before, near a small creek. He
kneels down and places the shell, fan, and bag on a stump.
He lights the bundle of sage. Sweet smoke billows around him. He picks up the fan and waves it, stirring the smoke and making the bundle smolder more.
Satisfied, he fans smoke to the four directions, then the sky, then the earth, and then finally fans the cleansing smoke over himself. Once that is
done he sits the bundle of sage into the shell and lays the fan beside it on the stump.
He opens the bag and takes out a pipe. He assembles it, fitting the stem into the bowl. He fills the bowl of the pipe with four pinches of tobacco and
lights it. Then, holding the pipe in his left hand stem outward, he offers it to the four directions, the sky, the earth; much like he did with the
sage.
He kneels down and prays, puffing on the pipe, turning the stem in the direction the sun takes as it tracks across the sky. He prays for a long time,
hoping that he is heard. Once the tobacco is gone and his prayer has ended (aho) he makes a tobacco offering, sprinkling it onto the ground. He picks
his stuff up, making sure nothing has been left behind. He walks back down the path.