Discover The Symbolic Meaning Of Fire

When men discovered fire, the entire human kind stepped into a new evolutionary stage, such a huge shift that it transformed social life altogether.

Fire marked the passing from the tribal hunter-gatherer lifestyle to the more refined blueprint of the agrarian society.

A whole new set of tools made existence a lot easier, but more than this it established man as the most evolved among all beings living on this planet.

The humans became the master of the domain, the king that all animals feared, for having the fire was equivalent of having the powers of a god.

Thus, fire represented a boost of self-confidence which, in return, brought a leap of consciousness,

as man became aware of its own importance in the overall scheme of life, of its powers and responsibility, of its own creative ability.

Of course the taming of fire was setting the grounds for a future of warfare,

because along with all sorts of useful tools for agriculture and manufacturing,

people also developed more and more exquisite instruments for fighting.

We can resume that fire ignited certain essential human aspects that we now consider symbolic but which are practically connected to this element and reflected evidently in our material lives:

• Fire is a symbol of the divine light that shines in each of us – before men learned how to use fire, they all believed this dangerous force could only be used by gods, therefore the discovery of how to use fire, was in fact the discovery of the god within each human being.
• Fire was employed to forge new instruments and with this a new lifestyle – it proved the power of creation, which explains why the element of fire is connected to creativity
• The playfulness of this element is what relates it to the outburst of passions
• The force of destruction and the fact that the use of fire to develop weapons – shows the responsibility that we have to manage our fury, our destructive impulses
• Working with fire is an endeavour that demands courage, peace of mind, motivation, control – all the characteristics that are cultivated through the inner work with the element of fire within ourselves

 

How can we work with fire to improve our psychological and emotional state of being:

• The fire within is a measure of our lust for life, of our vitality. If we let the fire burn out, this will be felt as exhaustion, leading to a slower metabolism and illness – that is why we have to nourish our passions, engage every day in an activity that brings us pleasure and activates our inner force
• Too much fire can also deplete our forces – fire has to be balanced, and this can be achieved by working on our grounding (the element of earth) and tempered by slowing down the blowing of the air element through breathing exercises
• Meditation and Yoga type of breathing exercises are necessary to bring the fire of our mental and emotional torments to a steady rhythm – mindfulness exercises are recommended for the same purpose
• Fire is a solar element that is connected to our will and personal power – just as lion is the king of the animals, man became king of all earthly creatures by the use of fire. These traits have to be nourished and respected, as well as tamed such as not to burn out in an inflated ego or in self-destruction.
• Learn from the destructive force of fire and don’t let the burning emotions consume your stamina, neither anger nor over-enthusiasm
• Learn as well from fire’s power of purification and burn your old ill patterns of perspectives on life that encage you and impede your evolution – this will promote your spiritual awakening

What is the easiest way you have found to work with your inner fire?

What’s your best fire control tip?