What can fire teach us? During my trip to South America, I met contemporary voyagers. That is, people whose task it is to keep the ritual fire alive. They were shamans chosen for this purpose year-round in Guatemala, in the Maya, or homestead graveyards, and in Varanasi burning the holy fire of corpses. Their dedication and attention to the fire always fascinated me, but I could not understand it. What’s so hypnotic about that? What can the Maya learn from fire knowledge? Why do they believe what the fire says? And what can we recall?
Mayans believe what the fire says and people who are ‘Fire Tongues’ decide how we should proceed and where to go next. For the Maya, fire is a source of knowledge. I could not understand it for years, but I trusted that there must be something deep within it. And yes, the answers came to me not at the other end of the world, but in those cold, first mornings of spring. When in their wilderness, taking hold in a Mazurian hut, I was firing and upholding a fire daily without their fire. It was the only source of heat, and I was alone and silent, having time and space to listen to what fire could teach me. It was only in this silence that I began to understand what the Mayans wanted to convey to me. What I began to discover had surpassed all my expectations. The fire holds great wisdom and I want to share it with you. Below I have listed some of the things that reminded me of fire and his patient support every day.
How to keep the fire and what is flowing from everyday life?
1. FIND IT IN YOUR CAR
The hardest thing is to light a fire. The hardest part is to find that spark that will cause the fire to begin, to burn. The bitter and damp pieces of wood are not conducive to such beginnings. Sometimes a spark can occur, you can see it, but what if nothing happens? These sparks igniting the fire is a lot, but only a few of them give you real fire, without nurturing these sparks of nothing!
2. BE PRESENT IN THIS AND NOW
Fire teaches attention and presence in here and now. I equate fire with passion and intensity of being. At the moment when I do what I truly love, there is no doubt in me, there is no hesitation, there is this moment that fills me completely when I feel I am living passion. And so it is when I keep the fire. I’m just filled up with this task at the moment. I’m not distracted, it mesmerizes me and makes me stop and think for a moment. It’s meditation. It cleans the mind and burns the unnecessary and now.
3. ALL CHANGE
When the fire is already burning, the tongue of fire speaks and repeats around one unchangeable thing: that everything changes. The fire is not constant, you have to look after him, and do what is necessary so he burns at all times. He digs old things to give room for new. This is the nature of fire, that is, what is hypnotic, it is explosive and it is in each of us. Take care of your inner fire!
4. DAY TO SPACE
When we have two pieces of wood it is best to set them so that there is space between them, then this space takes over the fire and thanks to this space becomes larger. It is the same between two people when they are too close, there may be sparks and heat, but in order to burst a strong vertical fire, space and some air is needed.
5. BE AMBIT
Fire likes to move upwards. It is the same with passion and development. When we focus, we do it in the form of a pyramid, rarely do we put the wood horizontally as the fire likes to flee. It must either slither on the bark of neighboring wood to become stronger and so one wood from the other, reflects the flames that allow them to grow upward.
6. BE PATIENT
When you try too hard and you want to light the fire too quickly, giving it too much air, you will put out a spark in it. You can thus extinguish what has already started to burn. In keeping fire I learned that you need to supply enough fresh air, so as many new things as you need for that moment, everything has its time, the wood must for a moment to become familiar with the fire, make friends with it, it lasts, does not become At once, be patient and persevere.
7. SEE NEW SOLUTIONS ALREADY
At first, the arrangement of the wood may not be ideal, the stumps may fall over or for example do not fit into the fireplace where you smoke, may be undersized or too large, but with time when they handle the fire, their volume will change and suddenly they will fit perfectly To create one strong pole of fire. In the process of smoking them you will be given the opportunity to put them differently, ask if you will see it and ask if you will do it?
8. BE AN ACTIVE OBSERVER
Keeping fire is a constant process of watching for change. On the one hand you look at them and analyze them, on the other hand you are working, you are constantly improving, you are always putting wood where it is missing, filling the gaps, you care about the whole. In a sense, it carries a lot of responsibility, because it depends on the shape of the fire, its power, but the whole process would make no sense if you did not make the effort to observe and interpret the reality. Fire teaches you to notice and that it all depends on your next move.
9. DO NOT COME BACK
Keeping fire is a responsible task, as it allows you to tackle the cycles of firing something new, sustaining something permanently and not letting it go completely away. And in the end, it’s about allowing yourself to catch the inspiration, go through these stages of great heat or new sparks, but not burn out to the end and whatever the fire looks like, smoldering or sometimes bursting, it’s important not to died.
10. LEARN TO EXPERIENCE OTHERS
It is easiest to keep the fire on the glowing old wood, which is already taken over, but it slowly fades away. It is an ignition for new woods that are only learning what the firepower is, only that fire is beginning to occupy. In the same way in life, people with great experience, older people or primitive cultures have the knowledge and experience they need in order to generate a strong, high pole of fire in successive generations.
That is the eternal circle, and this is the mantra of the ritual of sustaining fire, to preserve continuity and reap from eternal wisdom! Howgh!
