Re-Storying the World: The Magic of Fire

 

Re-Storying the World: The Magic Of Fire

 

 

While Spring Equinox is dedicated to the East and to the element Air – and therefore Wind and sound – it takes place in the sign of Aries, the cardinal FIRE sign that signifies primal fire! It is the original spark of the divine that finds itself in human form – and searches for its IDENTITY.  Fire helps us to see!

All the elements – Air, Fire, Water, Earth – are channels for communicating with Spirit. Fire, though, symbolizes the life-giving and vital force of life within us. It is our kundalini energy within our bodies as well as our connection to Spirit.

Fire is dynamic, both creative and destructive, transformative and energetic. Fire can burn down forests or cook a meal, soften metal to be forged or light our way in the dark. Fire can hurt us or heal us, inspire us or fuel our anger.

Ancient peoples knew that fire was magical, and although we have alternative methods to warm ourselves and cook our food and light our way, we still are easily captivated by the magic of an open fire, where we can see visions in the flames.

 

 

 

There are many gods and goddesses of Fire, but for now, let’s work with four archetypal patterns of this Primal Fire Energy.

1. Pele – Original fire She who shapes the Sacred Land

2. Prometheus – gave fire to humans. Consciousness

3. Hestia – the communal hearth fire. Community

4. Brigit – Creative Fire. Creativity

These four archetypal patterns are found throughout the world, because they are part of Mother Earth’s cosmic laws of life. These archetypal patterns appear to us as gods or goddesses, symbolic representations of energies that we can relate to.

While archetypes are collective energies that shape life, each of us can connect with them on an inner level and ask them for help. As Caroline Casey says “Co-operators are standing by.”

So let’s take a quick look at our four archetypal patterns of Fire.

PELE: She Who Shapes The Land

Pele (pronounced peh-leh) is the goddess of fire, lightning, wind, dance and volcanoes. Otherwise known as ka wahine ai honua, the woman who devours the land, Pele’s home is believed to be Halemaumau crater at the summit of Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. Her fires devour the land with her lava flows which then become new land. Out of her destructive energies comes new life.

According to many of her legends, any volcanic eruption in Hawaii is attributed to Pele’s longing to be with her true love. Pele was known for her many lovers and violent breakups with them. So she’s still looking for that true love. 

 

 

Pele is the daughter of the Earth goddess Haimea and Kane Milohai (creator of the sky, earth and heavens), and was born in Honua-Mea in Tahiti. Pele was sent away by her father because of her difficult temper and for seducing her sister, Namakaokahai’s, husband. Pele’s older brother Kamohoalii (the king of sharks) provided Pele with a large canoe which she and her brothers took and paddled across the Pacific Ocean, eventually coming to Hawai’i.

After many battles with her siblings all along the island chain, Pele finally arrive on the island of Hawai’i and settled on Kilauea’s fiery mountain. 

 

 

Pele is known to be a wanderer and is often sighted around the islands, either as a beautiful young woman or as an old crone. If she comes to you as a crone, it is a test of your generosity. So watch for her.

So why would you invoke Pele? Her fires and lava streams destroy what’s grown on the land, but then they provide us with new land. When you want your fires to create something concrete, turn to Pele for help. If you want land to create your vision upon, call on Pele. Just watch your step with her – she is known for her violent passions. This is the intense passion of love that can bring the greatest joy and the darkest emotional devastation. This is a primal and often violent energy of fire, coming up from the depths of the Earth. Handle with Care!

As with all archetypal energies, you’ll need to bargain with Pele for her help. Energy exchange is always a two-way street.

Prometheus: Gifter of the Fire of Self-Awareness

Prometheus (forethought) was the Titan god of Fire in Greek mythology. He was the god who realized there was no creature yet on earth who could house the Spirit and in turn work to create something more in life. He was a trickster and crafty, and knew that the seed form of consciousness was within all of life, so he took some clay, moistened it with river water and shaped it into the image of the gods. Then he took both good and evil from the animals and put them into his creation’s heart. His friend, the goddess Athena, breathed the divine breath into this creature and brought it to consciousness. Humanity was now aware of itself. And Prometheus became their guide and protector.

Once the other gods became aware of humanity, they demanded sacrifices from them. To protect humanity, Prometheus tricked Zeus into choosing a sacrifice of bones and fat instead of ones with meat, which then became humanity’s portion. Zeus in his anger at being tricked, took away fire from humanity.

But Prometheus took his fire and gave it back to humans. And he was punished for it by being chained to a rock on a volcanic mountain, where Zeus’ eagle ate his liver each day – and it would grow back each night. The Greeks believed the liver was the seat of emotions, so it indicates that Zeus was trying to cure him of his kindness and emotional attachment to humanity.

At some point in his punishment, Chiron the great teacher, who was wounded by a poisoned arrow but could not die because he was immortal, offered to take his place.

Prometheus is seen as the bringer of fire and civilization to mortals but also their preserver, giving them all the arts and sciences as well as the means of survival.

So in many ways, Prometheus symbolizes humanity’s self-awareness, our ability to strive and grow and become like the gods.

If you pick Prometheus to connect with, acknowledge his suffering as your own to become a more conscious human being.

Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth Fire

This is part of the Homeric hymn to Hestia:

Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and men who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honor: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you mortals hold no banquet, —where one does not duly pour sweet wine in offering to Hestia both first and last.

Hestia was one of the oldest matriarchal goddess, and was the Greek goddess of the Hearth. She had no temple nor image except for the fire itself. She was the communal fire in a home or community and she symbolized the home place – where we belong and are nurtured. Pythagoras said that the fire of Hestia was the center of the world, the navel of the world wherever it was found.

She was the fire that glowed at the center of a home or community, and she received the richest parts of sacrifices and was honored before all the other gods. She was the primal fire of creation.

 

 

All prayers and offerings began and ended with her since she is the guardian of the innermost center of ourselves.

If you choose to connect with Hestia, you are seeking the connection of community and a sense of your own place in the web of life. Honor her with reverence for the warmth, light and presence she brings to you.

Brigit: Celtic Goddess of the Creative Fires

 

Brigid was a goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann. She was a daughter of the chief of the gods, The Dagda, and was known as a goddess of healers, poets, smiths, childbirth and inspiration. Her name means "exalted one". Her connection to fire also connects her to the Sun.

She was another Goddess of Fire and the Hearth and was a patron of warfare or Briga. Her soldiers were called Brigands, who were later called outlaws by Christians, such as Robin Hood’s merry men.

Brigit, as the Celtic goddess of Fire, was a triple goddess who ruled with her sisters the arts of healing and smith craft as well as poetry. She was such a popular goddess that the Catholics had to turn her into a saint when people refused to stop worshiping her.

 

 

She is the goddess who is celebrated at the cross-quarter holiday of Imbolc on February 1^st the old Celtic first day of Spring. There was an ancient ‘college’ or shrine at Kildare, where her 19 priestesses kept an eternal sacred flame burning. She always was more than a Catholic saint, constantly re-emerging as the Great Goddess of fertility in both people and animals.

Once again, we have a deity who uses fire for creation and to help humanity. As patron of smiths, she helped men turn raw metals into tools and weapons. As the patron of poetry, she inspired poets to write stories, and she supported the bards who were the memory keepers of the Celtic people. As patron of healing, her healing springs were venerated by the people who received miraculous healings from them.

 

 

If you decide to call on Brigit with help for your creative vision, make an offering to the fire and look for a vision. And in return, offer to be a brigand/outlaw who stands by the people in their need.

Fire is such a powerful element of life. With all the gifts it bestows, we need to honor all that it does for us and for life itself.

While Aries is the Primal Fire of Creation, if we look at the houses in our natal charts, we find that they each belong to the elementals.

So if Aries is in your 1^st, 5^th and 9^th houses, you get a double dose of Fire. You have energy and vitality to spare. You want to create something, do something, journey somewhere where you’ll finally find your Self.

Aries Fire in an Earth house – the 2^nd, 6^th and 10^th houses – creates pottery and useful tools and crafts. These are the houses where you can use your fire to create something that is tangible and which lasts.

Aries Fire in an Air House – the 3^rd, 7^th, & 11^th houses – helps you spread your ideas and creative vision as well as your enthusiasm abroad. Communicate, teach, network, find your tribe.

Aries Fire in a Water House – the 4^th, 8^th, & 12^th houses – will fire up your passions. Putting your intention toward the inner dimensions of life, you will ignite your imagination. Become someone who is ‘imagining’ the new story into being. Don’t be the actor, but rather the creator of the New Story.

May the power of Fire

Inspire you to

Create community

Discover your passions

And welcome you back home!

Re-Storying the World: The Wind Calls My Name

 

The Wind Call My Name

Osiris teaches us how to think like a river, how to think like an ecosystem of interconnection. We need to make decisions from the standpoint of relationships, rather than the fictional idea of isolated species. As we think differently, pray differently, we might just be able to hear differently, too. Suddenly, one day, the river overflows, and the fields explode in laughter.

(Sophie Strand, Osiris: The Original Green Man)

                                                                        Cooper Hawk

The Wind calls my name today. 

 Looking up, I see a graceful arc of Wing, dancing with my Wind.

 He’s hooked me now!

 I see wings outstretched on a downdraft to the green field in front of me.

 In the cloudy light, I see Blue under wings. And think.  

Perhaps it’s a seagull. 

Then my eyes remember to look up, and I see his hawk wings circling, circling, preparing himself to descend in a quick strike. 

He falls through the wind, coming up in an inverse arc, with a little mouse in his claws. 

With an exultant cry, he wings away to the North. 

On his River of Wind. 

 

Another thing we have to remember about AIR and WIND is that 1) we need air to survive -- our breath of life.  And 2) air carries SOUNDS.  

It is the very air that speaks our name. 

Re-Storying the World: The Power of Wind

 

Re-Storying the World: The Power of Wind. 

 

Wind Gods

 

As we come out of our Covid isolation, this Spring Equinox will bring with it the Winds of Change. Hugging, getting together, traveling, going to church or concerts – all the things we’ve missed out on in this past year are going to be our top priorities. And yet, we are different than we were last year at this time.

The Winds of Change are blowing strongly now. Will we try to ‘go back’ to an old way of living, or have we begun to see life differently?

If so, we’ll need the Wind at our backs to help us set our new course.

Spring Equinox is associated with the East and with the power of Air. I began to feel the power of Air once again in the winds blowing this week here in Rhode Island. The tree tops sway and the cold air gets down my neck and makes me shiver, moving me like the trees with an invisible dance partner. The only way we can see the invisible Wind is by how it affects things like birds’ flight or trees or sails or blowing hair and seed pods. 

 

 

I also experienced the power of the Wind when I lived out West and the winds would blow off the mountain overlooking our home. I would stand in the wind and then move side to side to discover how wide a particular gust was. The wind came at me in streams, both wide and narrow. Sometimes the wind would create little twisters, twirling dust and leaves, following me as I walked.

I think I made friends with the wind when I was a child. I loved to stand out in the wind as we waited for hurricanes to arrive. There was something so invigorating about letting the wind pummel me like a great massage. Or I would imagine the winds under my arms lifting me into the air so I could fly.

Wind is the movement of Air around the planet. All life here on Earth begins and ends with Wind and Breath. The wind keeps the air cool and clean. The wind brings us the clouds that give us the rains Mother Earth needs to thrive. The wind moves the waters to keep them fresh and sweet.

If there were no winds, the planet would heat up, scum would cover rivers, lakes and oceans, fish would die, crops would fail and so people would starve.

There is a Hopi legend about their Wind God, Yaponcha. It is a story about the dangers of trying to control or stop the winds.

 

Yaponcha

 

Long again, the Hopis were troubled by strong winds. They planted seeds but the wind came and blew the seeds and soil away before the seeds could sprout.

The old men came together in their kivas and debated what to do. They finally decided to call on the Little Fellows – two of Spider Grandmother’s grandsons. So while the men prayed, the Little Fellows went to see their wise grandmother. They asked her to make them some cornmeal mush for a long journey. When they had it, they went back to the elders and gathered the offerings they had made.

They set out for the mountains, for all wind gods live on mountains in caves. Yaponcha blew through a crack in the mountains, so the Little Fellows covered the opening with the cornmeal mush. When it hardened, it sealed the Wind God’s door. Although he huffed and puffed, his wind could not get out. The Little Fellows laughed and went home.

But after awhile, the villagers became very hot. There were no breezes and no clouds. They thought they would suffocate. The heat was much worse then the winds. So they called on the Little Fellows again and told them to ask Yaponcha if they could have peace between them. They gave them prayer offerings to give to Yaponcha.

After traveling to the Wind God’s cave, the two Little Fellows decided to just make a small hole in the cornmeal so that he could breathe again. Immediately a nice cool breeze came out and a small cloud gathered in the sky.

When the Little Fellows reached the village, everyone was pleased. There was enough wind to make everyone happy but not enough to blow away the seeds.

Every March, when the winds blow, the Elders and Priests of the villages give prayer offerings to Yaponca, the Wind God, in thanks.

In so many of those wind legends, we find this human tendency to try to stop or control the wind. But once they do, the air gets hot, the water stagnates and it’s hard to breathe. In all these stories, the lesson is to learn the proper relationship to wind.

In the same way, we cannot stop life from changing. If we try to, life becomes sterile and dead. In this season of beginnings and change, do not try to stop the winds of change from blowing at your back.

The winds move and change things, and without them, life itself would die. The Winds respond to Mother Earth’s needs, not ours. Just as the winds of change come because it is TIME – our soul’s time to get moving.

Wind connects us to Life and to Spirit. In the Bible, God breathes upon the face of the waters to start the creation process. For the Hebrews, the word ruach means ‘breath & Spirit’. In many ancient belief systems, breath, soul and life are the same.

 

 

Air and its winds are as necessary to life here on Earth as is our breath. As a matter of fact, our breath is our personal wind. Just breathe in and feel the air coming into your body; then breathe out through your mouth and feel the wind of that breath. As we breathe out, we send our personal wind into the world to connect to the collective winds.

When my grandson was young, I would entertain him with the story of ‘The 3 Little Pigs’ – how the big, bad wolf would huff and puff and blow their houses down. My breaths created the wind in that story.

Most of us don’t know how to breathe right, do we? It was only through yoga and qi gong that I discovered the right way to breathe. If you’re a singer or musician, you already know. You breathe through your diaphragm. Your diaphragm draws the air into your lungs so they and your ribs expand and then as you release the diaphragm, your breath slowly or quickly moves out of your body.

Breathing brings oxygen into our bodies and cells, which we need to spark our energy. Without our ability to breathe, we die. Without the winds, the Earth dies.

Wind Gods and Goddesses

All ancient cultures saw the power of Spirit in Nature. There are wind gods and goddesses from all cultures just as there are many different types of winds.

 

Boreas, the North Wind
 

In ancient Greece, the Anemoi were the gods of the four cardinal winds--namely Boreas the North-Wind, Zephryos (Zephyrus) the West-Wind, Notos (Notus) the South-Wind, and Euros (Eurus) the East-Wind. Each of these winds was associated with a season--Boreas was the cold breath of winter, Zephyros was the god of spring breezes, Notos was the god of summer rain-storms and Euros was the god of autumn’s warm rainy weather.

 

Euros -- East Wind

 

The ancient Mesopotamians believed in a central wind god that was also the highest god in the pantheon of the Sumerians. Enlil (Ellil) was considered the god of the atmosphere and his name itself meant ‘Lord Wind’. This wind deity was extremely powerful in Sumerian mythology and all facets of wind from gentle breezes to mighty hurricanes were attributed to his force. He was the supreme deity, who granted fates and kingships. He was the deity who administered all earthly laws, that outlined social structures and duties. 

 

While there are many diverse cultures and mythologies among the indigenous peoples of North America, a story of Gaoh,the wind god from the Iroquois Confederation has remained a legend to this day. 

 

 

Gaoh was considered the master of winds that were too powerful for Earth, so he summoned 4 creatures from earth to help him rule the earthly winds. Gaoh opened a door in each cardinal direction to summon the creatures of Earth to help him contain the winds. He chained an animal from each direction to keep them in his servitude. Yaogah was a bear from the north chosen for bringing in cold wind, snow and ice. The strong winds from the west were allocated to Dajoji the panther. Oyandone the moose was given dominion over the rain and mist from the east. Finally, the fawn Neoga brought in warmth, fragrance, peace and joy from the south.

 

 

The Aztec people believed in a god of air and wind to whom they dedicated many round pyramids. Ethecatl/Quetzalcoatl was personified by a great feathered serpent and his name itself means ‘4 winds’ referring to the 4 cardinal direction in the Nahuatl language. He was believed to have helped create humanity and the maguey plant (agave), which was an invaluable resource to the people of the time and is still in use today in parts of Mexico. 

 

 

The ancient Chinese believed in a Mistress of the Winds that was responsible for containing or releasing the winds from the sky. Feng Po Po, depicted as an old woman, was also known as Madame Wind and was believed to ride on a tiger through the clouds. Madame Wind carried the winds in a bag over her shoulder that she would release when they became too heavy to bear or she was in a foul mood.

In wind shaman Renee Baribeau’s book, Winds of Spirit, she talks about the 4 cardinal winds as well as how to work with the many gods and goddesses of the Winds.

The Wind of the East is the Wind of the Mind. Like the Sun that rises in the East, this wind is the source of new beginnings. This is the Wind we’ll be working with as we leave our shelters and emerge back into a changed world.

The East Wind is often symbolized by the Eagle, the totem of our connection to Spirit. The East Wind represents different qualities of the Mind – meaning both brains and heart mind, such as mental acuity or confusion, the ability to envision the future and make plans, as well as our perception and discernment.

This is the Wind of intention, our ability to focus on what we want to accomplish.

The Wind of the South is the Wind of the Emotions. Like the Sun at noon, this warm wind evokes hope, joy and harmony in us. The South represents youth, innocence, patience, forgiveness and self-exploration. The South Wind also brings up those emotions that bring us fear and pain and sooths them.

Since South Winds are often unpredictable, they are like adolescent winds, bringing in emotional storms that quickly pass.

This is the Wind of the emotional power that helps manifest your goals.

The Wind of the West is the Wind of the Body. Like the Sun at sunset and in the autumn, this wind evokes the need to let go, to release what no longer serves you as you wait for rebirth. The West Wind signifies the harvest, the end of a cycle, destruction as well as the physical body.

This is the Wind that points out how healthy we are, as well as how we’re handling our life.

This is the Wind of manifestation. We reap what we’ve sown.

The Wind of the North is the Wind of Spirit. Like the Sun at midnight and Winter, this wind is the wind of the Imagination, our connection to Spirit. The North Wind, in connecting us to Spirit, also calls on us to look at our Shadows and embrace them. As Carl Jung said, the shadow is 99% gold.

The North is the place of service to Spirit and to our communities.

This is the Wind of spiritual purpose.

The Winds are an important spiritual energy that, like breath itself, is necessary for Life. We modern people often forget that we are all connected to each other through the breath, through the winds.

So go outside and dance with the Winds of Change as they blow through your neighborhood and send your wishes and hopes along with them, so they scatter like seeds throughout the world.