Saturday, February 21, 2015

The Practicals: The Element of Fire

After being picked up in the cyclone of the Air Elemental and before that, being welcomed into the womb of the Earth, I can't lie and say that the Elementals don't fascinate me.  I am fairly certain I am hooked on discovering their mysteries.  However, Earth and Air were easy.  The sheer nature of Fire is all consuming and, that being the case, what will it do to me?  The guys are less willing to search after fire, but I suspect that since we have begun this journey, nothing is going to stop it from coming to its conclusion.

So, in much the same way as before, I wait for the guys to be ready for this.  I have been spending my nights alone and in meditation, contemplating the spirits of the two elements.  Tonight I am in my back yard, fire in my fancy DIY fire bowl.  As I add more wood to the bowl, I'm waiting for something but I'm not sure what it is.

As I gaze into the fire, my vision blurs.  The flames meld together in a warm, red dance, contained only by the shadowed edge of the bowl.  I feel myself falling and suddenly I am on the inside of the bowl, the warm edge at my back.  Sitting atop the bundle of fresh wood is a dragon, but it is of the flames.  The dragon looks at me as its tongue snakes slowly out of its mouth.  In a lewd manner, it licks the unburned wood, spreading the flames.  "We consssume everything," it says in a hiss.  

I smile.  "You aren't consuming me," I reply.

The dragon makes a sizzling sound.  I'm pretty certain it is supposed to be a laugh.  "You are consssumed daily by ussss.  Your creativity.  Your convictsssion.  Your need to fuck." Its tongue again slithers out of its mouth in a lewd manner.  "We are the drive for all of your needssss."

I watch the tongue of this flaming dragon rake across the wood toward me.  I refuse to back away from it, knowing that my own refusal is what it needs.  The tongue of the fire-beast trails up my leg, across my belly and up to my chin.  So far, I haven't caught fire. The flame is warm, but not overly so.  It tickles my chin before the dragon pulls back with another sizzling sound.  "We devour your defiancccce.  You have much fire within you."

"I am here to learn your mysteries," I reply, doing my best not to get caught up in this Elemental's lewdness.

"Do you know the ssstory of the Jewisssh brotherssss who were not consssumed by flame?"

Hesitating, I have to think back to Sunday school lessons.  The dragon sizzles again, laughing at my lack of knowledge, just as it all comes back. "Yes!  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego!  They were saved from the flames by an angel!"

"No," the dragon replies.  "They knew one of the myssssteriessss of fire.  They knew how to feed the flamessss without being devoured by usssss.  You mussst temper your need with patienccccce.  You musssst temper your passssionssss with peaccccce.  You mussst know when to feed the flamessss and when to let them die.  That is the myssssstery of fire."

The dragon moves toward me, tongue, again, wagging lewdly.  It wraps its tail around my shoulders and pulls me close to its body.  Licking my cheek warmly it whispers, "Only one thing can quell your passssionsss now.  Finissssh what you ssstarted.  Give yourssssself the ssssatisssfaction of completion."

I shake myself and blink several times.  "Did that just happen?"  I ask myself aloud.  The dying fire sizzles and I swear that I near that dragon laughing.  I have now experienced the mystery of Fire.

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You know that saying about fire and getting burned and all that?  Well, it's true, if you don't respect and acknowledge fire's nature.  Fire, physically and spiritually is all consuming.  Spiritually speaking, that may not be a bad thing.  Much in the same way that a forest fire consumes all of the dead, dying, and decaying in the forest, it can sweep through ones life and do the same.  Also in the same way a forest fire consumes everything, it clears the way for new growth.  There are seeds out there that can only sprout after they have been consumed by the flames of a forest fire.  This is also true for the seeds in our lives.

As an element, fire is most commonly seated in the southern quarter of the circle.  It represents the height of summer, virility, passion, and growth.  However, fire also governs burnout.  When one is growing and changing, spiritually speaking, one wants to constantly grow, but steady growth is unattainable without rest.  Much like winter is the opposite of summer, one can not keep growing indefinitely without resting.

The Fire element is all about doing.  It is running, leaping, teaching and learning.  It is exploring and needing.  If there is an action for it, fire governs it.  It is the person in the prime of life.  Where Air represents springtime, Fire represents high summer. Fire is potential recognized.  Fire is potential that has dared to take a specific direction.  It is that bud on a tree that he chosen to become a leaf.

Have you ever journeyed to speak to the Fire Drakes?  Or maybe the People of the Flame?  Have you ever explored that fire low in your belly?  What about one that sits in the head?  We live in such a dynamic world, with electronics and play dates for the kids, that sometimes we forget to acknowledge that it is fire that keeps us going.  Does this sound like an imbalance?  Maybe.  What does an imbalance of fire look like?

Would apathy be a lack of fire?  Or maybe too much?  What about that person who approaches a subject with zeal?  Would you classify zealots as having too much fire?  What about that overly sexual person?  Is it just low self esteem, too much fire, or both?  Would a need for acceptance be associated with fire?  What about that control freak we all know (or maybe are)?

How does one fix an imbalance?  Well, for too much fire, I do my best to be creative.  If I can get the fire to burn brightly enough that it burns itself out, then I have accomplished something, at least for a time.  If I need more fire, I move and do something a little more dynamic than just sitting.  I cook spicy food.  I sing until I am hoarse.  Go out in nature and ground myself.

Fire can be a fun element to work with.  It can also be exhausting.  Kurt Cobain said, "It's better to burn out than to fade away."  But, is it?  How do you balance your fire?

Brightest blessings friends!!