Posted by AlOmega on July 05, 2004 at 08:01:21:
She liked the smell of ozone in the air after a thunderstorm. It lent a clean aroma to an otherwise dusty landscape – especially with the glistening remnants of the showers that would soon soak into the soil. Lucky for her, this was summer rather than winter when snows would clothe the mountains in winter glory. If she had been in the Valley of the Sun, the harsh rays of Sol would have sent ripples of heat though everything. Even the water – what there was of it - seemed to boil.
She had managed to hitch a ride from a middle-aged trucker that she had met in Phoenix. That saved on the cost of purchasing a bus ticket. She was grateful that her search for knowledge forced her to travel north to this place where skin wouldn’t age quicker than the sands of time. It was one reason she liked the coasts. Moisture always smoothed out the wrinkles of maturity - though anyone would have thought she was in her late twenties. It wasn’t a glamour she put on herself but the age nature had chosen for her. No one would have thought she was nearing her two hundred and tenth birthday. Her teacher was nearing her fourteen hundredth year of life while her teacher’s teacher was a tad over three thousand. Age didn’t seem to matter to witches it seems.
The trucker had though that he needed some recompense for his troubles. Knowing this when she accepted the ride – or any ride for that matter, she had prepared a small perfume that – although pleasing – acted on male hormones in such a way that for a time they had no interest in pursuing their initial desires. Whether that also aided her when accompanied by a pet, she never knew. But then Tooth had taken the shape of a toy poodle for the moment – a toy poodle with glistening green eyes that could change to red in a moment.
Tooth whined once more.
“Not now. First we need to take the bus. I know you hate playing the lap dog role; however, its best if you do. As soon as we arrive at the Reservation, you can change but not before.”
Another whine accompanied by a few wags.
“We have the time, so yes, we’ll get some pizza before we leave.”
Another series of wags and a quick bark as Tooth knelt down on his forepaws.
“Ok. Sausage and peppers and onions. No pineapple though. For some reason it gives you gas and I don’t think the bus driver nor the passengers would want to smell that – especially since the last time you burned a hole in the seat.
“We’ve been lucky so far. I’ll need to get more ingredients soon but I have enough for now.” - this last to herself as an afterthought.
It didn’t take long to purchase the ticket, make a phone call, and spend a few minutes with the smiling bus driver - enough minutes for her to persuade the driver to let Tooth ride sitting on her lap. There were several passengers but not as many as there would later in the summer. Most were oldsters though there was a young couple with an eight-year-old girl. She came right up to Mystique and asked very politely if she could pet Tooth. Mystique lifted her left eyebrow quizzically asking permission and received another tail wag. Apparently it was ok this time – probably because the girl posed no threat.
The trip was uneventful. No one wanted to make any conversation except among themselves and that was ok by her. A few hours later found her stepping from the bus into a cool, dry breeze. The sun had just set.
“Are you Mystique?”
Looking to her left, she espied a Navaho woman who appeared to be in her late teens. Although dressed in native costume (for tourists apparently), she had the air of a college student taking the summer off.
“Yes, I am,” she replied.
“I thought you might be her. Sam told me you’d phoned and asked that I provide a ride. I’m Naomi – Naomi Hunting Cloud. Sam mentioned you had a dog,” she added scratching Tooth behind the ears. “However, I though he’d be bigger.”
Mystique smiled. “You’re seeing him in one of his better moods,” she said putting Tooth down so she could handle both suitcases. Naomi picked up a third at the same time raising her eyebrows, Mystique added with a sly smile, “You’ll see when we see Sam. How is he, by the way?”
“Oh, you know,” Naomi said, leading them to an old Ford extended bed pickup. “getting older and wiser and more mysterious.” Mystique gathered Tooth in her arms before placing him in the back of the four-door.
Naomi wasn’t sure that was the right thing to do. “Wouldn’t he be better up front with us? The road to Sam’s is rough in places.”
Mystique smiled, “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about him. He’ll do alright.”
They had gone perhaps three miles before Naomi asked the question that had been burning her mind since she’d first heard that Sam had called Mystique. It wasn’t as if he discussed Navaho ways with whites and apparently this was something he was taking seriously.
“Uh, if you don’t mind my asking, why did Sam call you?”
Mystique thought for a moment before responding. “Did Sam tell you anything? I mean did he mention anything about the actions of ‘someone’ special?”
“Well, he did say something about a trickster and that he had gotten something he shouldn’t have.”
“If I mentioned Loki, would that help?”
“Not-t-t r-r-r-really,” Naomi said as they hit another series of bumps.
“Are you familiar with the Norse Gods?”
“No. I’m a Physics Major, not history or anything.”
“Then I think explanations will have to wait until we see Sam.”
Nearly thirty minutes had elapsed before the heavy black truck came to a halt in front of an old double house trailer. In front of it sat a man of about eighty whittling a stick as if he hadn’t a care in the world. On seeing the truck, he stood spryly not showing the years his wrinkled skin and white hair had placed on him. To Naomi’s surprise, he almost ran to Mystique and hugged her hard and long. He still was holding her shoulders as he looked her up and down.
“You look as beautiful as ever. I don’t think anything could change you.”
Mystique smiled, “Only time, old friend. Only time. And there’s never enough of that.”
“True, true. Anyway I’m glad you could make it.”
“I’d come from the ends of the earth for you, dear Sam.” She looked back at Naomi who was still struck by their greetings. “She your granddaughter?”
“Nope. Great-granddaughter. She only knows of me as Gramps though. Managed to hide that much of what I am. But it’s getting to me these days.”
Naomi was clearly puzzled.
“Granddaughter, get Mystique’s bags. She’s gonna stay with us for a while.”
Interrupting her protests, he added, “No. Won’t hear anything more about it. You’re needed and you’re staying. It costs a bunch for those things you need most. I’ve got some but not enough. Besides you’ll have to stay here to really learn what I’m gonna have to teach and you gotta know. Naomi too. She needs more learning of the Old Ways. You know some; she knows more. Gonna need everything I can teach ‘fore we do what we gotta do.”
Naomi was digesting this information as she opened the back door of the truck. To her surprise a large black and dark-brown German Shepard jumped out. She looked inside for the poodle but it was as if the large dog had eaten the smaller. She looked back at the two and saw Mystique’s smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
“I told you he’d do well in the back seat.”
“Is he safe?” asked Naomi as Tooth curled up next to the small electric stove where she was in the process of preparing hot water for herbal teas.
Mystique laughed. “He’s housebroken, if that’s what you mean. We might have to call for pizza though. He seems to like Italian and Mexican for some reason though he’ll also tolerate Chinese. I think it’s the peppers, quite frankly.”
“Charlie Two Trees will like that”, chimed in Sam, looking back at his granddaughter. “He’s got a thing for Naomi so would make the deliveries himself. Think he’d deliver even if he had to go to Phoenix,” he added with a chuckle.
“Aw, Gramps,” Naomi said obviously embarrassed.
“Now don’t go going ‘Aw, Gramps’ to me. He’s a good catch in my opinion. Pure Navaho. Oh, I don’t think anything of you hanging out with those Apache bucks that go to Arizona or whites either. Fact is, you’re gonna choose what YOU want in a husband or anything else, I’m thinking, no matter what your mom and dad want.”
“Chamomile, if you please, Naomi,” Mystique ventured adding “Thank you” when Naomi passed her the cup.
“Now, Sam. Let’s get down to business. You didn’t say much in your letter except to mention that Coyote had gotten ‘something’ he shouldn’t have.”
“Yes. I’m not sure what that ‘something’ is either. But it has power it does.”
Naomi was puzzled.
“Just what are you two talking about?”
“Uh, Sam, how much does she know?”
“Very little of this. I’ve only told you and a few others like you. There are so few around these days of your kind and even less of mine. One reason I called for you. I’ve got to move on and the youngsters gotta think I went in the natural way.”
“I understand. I never did approve your living reservation style. Staying in one spot for too long always begets problems. Is it ok to speak in front of her?”
“Hey!! I’m HERE. Don’t talk around me as if I wasn’t.”
“Sorry, Naomi. Mystique’s right. You need teaching and that’s another reason I wanted her here. It’s something you should have learned a few years ago – before you went to college. You’ll graduate in a few months and that’ll help.”
“Is she one, Sam?”
“Yes,” he sighed. “I’ve known it almost from when she was born. It’s part of what we are. We recognize each other even if we’re not of the same background or race.”
“This goes back to when we first discovered who we were, Sam.”
Mystique turned her chair so that she faced both Sam and Naomi. “I’ll need some help in this, Sam, so you provide the background when necessary.”
“Well?” Naomi asked exasperated.
“To put it bluntly, Naomi, you’re a witch.”
“A what?”
“More of a shaman actually,” added Mystique. “You see, Sam and I met quite a few years ago. It was….”
“It was back around 1868, wasn’t it, Mystique?”
“July actually,” she added with a longing smile for days long past. “He was about twelve when we met.”
“That would make you….”
“…a hundred and fifty-eight next August, Naomi. It’s the reason I called you my great-granddaughter. You’re more than that actually. I’m in my third transformation.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Your ‘great-grandfather is more or less similar to the Phoenix. That is, he’s about to die and be reborn. You’ll have to help in this as well since he needs an excuse. How’re you going to do this, by the way?”
“I’ll do what oldsters did in the old days – walk into the desert and die so as not to be a burden to the lodge. It still happens even now but it is becoming a rarity. We’ve got a good excuse in journeying into the wilds. And that also we must prepare for.
“When we go, we will all need protection from Coyote if I’ve read the sands correctly.”
Naomi was obviously confused.
Mystique interrupted, “This goes back a long way, Naomi. Back to when I met Sam the first time. You have learned the old ways – at least what I’ve found out from Sam. However what you believe and what you’ve learned aren’t necessarily the same thing.
“I grew up in the east near a small town in Maryland. That was where I first discovered I was a potential witch. My first instructor was Samson, a freed black man. His real name is unpronounceable but that doesn’t matter. What he did was to help in my beginning instructions. You see, where he came from, Samson was what whites would call a ‘witch doctor’. There is more to that though than what whites back then (and even now, I suppose) understood about shaman. Most think of witches, warlocks, druids, and the like as Nature lovers or tree huggers. Others think of witches as wiccas which we decidedly are not. We’re not magicians either – that is someone who holds a wand or staff and shouts magic-sounding words - though we do use magic. And there are not many of around even now.”
“Don’t think they’ll be taking a census of us soon,” chuckled Sam.
Mystique smiled before continuing. “In one aspect, however, we do seem more than human. That is because almost all of us retain some semblance of our youth - around twenty to forty years of age. In all instances, when a new witch or wizard develops, there is generally one of us nearby. I don’t think I’ve ever known it to be otherwise. That’s not to say we can’t be killed or die violently. It’s just that diseases and normal human foibles don’t seem to apply to us.
“At any rate, I was heading for what is now San Diego when I chanced upon Sam. Right away I knew he was one of us. As you grow a bit, you’ll find this out. I can’t explain it. But when one of us is near, you’ll know it. Anyway that’s when I first met Sam. He was on a Spirit Journey and had decided to set up a camp when I road up. And just like I knew him, he knew me. I’m not sure where we were at the time….”
“…near El Huerfano Mesa which we call Dzil Na'oodilii. Dzil Na'oodilii is one of the sacred mountains suspended from the sky with sunbeams. This is where Changing Woman, who we call Asdzaa Nadleehe, gave birth to her warrior twins and lived in the first hogan. As you know Dzil Na'oodilii is the home of Yódí'ashkii, and Yódí’at’ééd, and one of the homes of 'Altsé Hastiin, and 'Altsé 'Asdzáá who we also know as First Man and First Woman. In the beginning DzilNa'oodilii was decorated with pollen, rugs, hides, cloth, and Male Rain for the coming of Asdzaa Nadleehe.”
“That was when we first entered the dream state. To my surprise, he and I shared the same dream in which he met and talked with Asdzaa Nadleehe. She in turn showed him Coyote. However, since I was also in the dream, Coyote would not speak but ran away. I am not sure why that was. Sam probably knows.
“Anyway, she acknowledged my presence after a time after discerning I was more than simply white. After all I had my own Gods and they weren’t Navajo. But then my Gods had left the Earth long ago leaving only a few of the Lesser Beings. I suspect that is because Europe has become so ‘modern’ – perhaps godless. At least that is what other witches and wizards have suggested. Perhaps they will return some day.
“And that is how we first met. I have sense spoken with the local gods infrequently such as the Hopi, Kachinas, who are more like Lesser Beings rather than gods; or, with Nokomis, also known also as ‘Grandmother’ or ‘Sacred Earth Mother’ by the Algonquin which is so near to the ‘Mother Goddess’ of my own ancestors that I recognize the linkage.
“However, there is much more here than just meeting Sam once again.”
“Yes. Much more. We must cast the sands once again as I showed you once long ago. Did you bring the lapis as I asked?”
“It’s in the jar inside the gray cloth suitcase. I’ll get it.”
“No need right now. We must do the sand in the morning as the sun rises for everything to work. I would suggest that we spend a few hours in training Naomi for her part in this.”
“Excellent idea. I think I’ll need the rose candles and cinnabar tonight, however. I sense shifts in the Lines of Power are near. That might be what has drawn Coyote.”
“No. There is something more going on. You do what is needed tonight and I will do what needs to be done in the morning. That should be a start at least.”
So saying, Mystique gathered her materials and sat just inside of the entrance to the trailer. Tooth came up to her and sniffed at the cinnabar and with almost a sneer, returned to his place by the stove.
“Naomi, these candles must be placed within the blue chalk lines just so….” And Mystique continued with her instruction until midnight.
"You better stop going that way, or you'll meet a giant who kills everybody."
"Oh, giants don't frighten me," said Coyote (who had never met one). "I always kill them. I'll fight this one too, and make an end of him."
"He's bigger and closer than you think," said Old Woman.
"I don't care," said Coyote, deciding that a giant would be about as big as a bull moose and calculating that he could kill one easily. So Coyote said good-bye to Old Woman and went ahead, whistling a tune. On his way he saw a large fallen branch that looked like a club. Picking it up, he said to himself, "I'll hit the giant over the head with this. It's big enough and heavy enough to kill him." He walked on and came to a huge cave right in the middle of the path. Whistling merrily, he went in.
Suddenly Coyote met a woman who was crawling along on the ground.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I'm staaving," she said, "and too weak to walk. What are you doing with that stick?"
"I'm going to kill the giant with it," said Coyote, and he asked if she knew where he was hiding. Feeble as she was, the woman laughed.
"You're already in the giant's belly."
"How can I be in his belly?" asked Coyote. "I haven't even met him."
"You probably thought it was a cave when you walked into his mouth," the woman said, and sighed. "It's easy to walk in, but nobody ever walks out. This giant is so big you can't take him in with your eyes. His belly fills a whole valley."
Coyote threw his stick away and kept on walking. What else could he do?
Soon he came across some more people lying around half dead. "Are you sick?" he asked.
"No," they said, "just starving to death. We're trapped inside the giant."
"You're foolish," said Coyote. "If we're really inside this giant, then the cave walls must be the inside of his stomach. We can just cut some meat and fat from him."
"We never thought of that," they said.
"You're not as smart as I am," said Coyote.
Coyote took his hunting knife and started cutting chunks out of the cave walls. As he had guessed, they were indeed the giant's fat and meat, and he used it to feed the starving people. He even went back and gave some meat to the woman he had met first. Then all the people imprisoned in the giant's belly started to feel stronger and happier, but not completely happy.
"You've fed us," they said, "and thanks. But how are we going to get out of here?"
"Don't worry," said Coyote. "I'll kill the giant by stabbing him in the heart. Where is his heart? It must be around here someplace."
"look at the volcano puffmg and beating over there," someone said.
"Maybe it's the heart."
"So it is, friend," said Coyote, and began to cut at this mountain.
Then the giant spoke up. "Is that you, Coyote? I've heard of you. Stop this stabbing and cutting and let me alone. You can leave through my mouth; I'll open it for you."
"I'll leave, but not quite yet," said Coyote, hacking at the heart. He told the others to get ready. "As soon as I have him in his death throes, there will be an earthquake. He'll open his jaw to take a last breath, and then his mouth will close forever. So be ready to run out fast!"
Coyote cut a deep hole in the giant's heart, and lava started to flow out. It was the giant's blood. The giant groaned, and the ground under the people's feet trembled.
"Quick, now!" shouted Coyote. The giant's mouth opened and they all ran out. The last one was the wood tick. The giant's teeth were closing on him, but Coyote managed to pull him through at the last moment. However since the wood tick was so slow and the giant's teeth nearly shut, the wood tick became very thin. And that is why the wood tick is so thin to this day.
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Something Wicked is Already Here
There came a time when - but wait.....
Next time perhaps....
AlOmega