Fire of Love

Recently I was asked to be the firetender for a native american style sweat lodge ceremony (if you have the opportunity to do one, I highly recommend it). I was told to express my lover energy as I tended and cared for the fire. Now, for a sweat lodge, one places rocks in a fire pit so the rocks can be heated. After heating in the fire, the rocks are transferred into the lodge where water is poured on them to generate steam. I thought the idea of holding lover energy a bit silly at first. I mean, criminy, we're just heating some rocks in a fire.

But as I watched the rocks, which had been placed on a cradle of wood, I noticed how they produced a black dross on the upper surface as they were heated. Eventually, that was burned off and the rocks became red hot - first on the bottom and then throughout. And then it hit me, I needed to love the fire for many reasons - ancient, ancestral ones related to survival and modern ones related to gifting people with a purification ceremony. And others related to keeping the surrounding woods safe by not letting the fire get out of control. And still others related to the powerful symbology and energy of fire, that fire is the stored light in the wood being liberated.

But the most powerful aspect of the experience was the realization that I am like the rocks and the fire is like love. When the fire of love starts to come in, it brings the dross and shadow to the surface - the stuff that does not serve me. Because if I'm going to become a pure light and love, that stuff has gotta go. It's pretty ugly sometimes. But as the light comes in and begins to transform me, I become warmer, I begin to glow just like the rocks. And then I can become very useful - just like the heated rocks became useful to others.

But it is a scary process, because the ego-self is identifed with a lot of the dross. I imagined what if the rocks were alive. What would they think of the rising fire? They would think they're going to die, of course. But the reality is they didn't change much at all, they just got purified, filled with light, and made useful. Their essential nature didn't change. It is the same process with our souls - so embrace the light!