“Feeding our Fires in a Time of Need”

Fire is an analogy of course, it’s a symbol. A great symbol for many things. This year we are calling on this powerful symbol as we explore our times of need. At the most basic, Fire gives man warmth and light. Fire keeps us from suffering from cold, and helps our fear of the dark. It scares away predators, and cooks our food, boils water to purify it, and makes a soothing cup of tea (helps release qualities into water). Warmth can also help our muscles release tension, and I could go on….

Fire has needs as well, it needs air and heat and fuel. We need to support it, “feed it” to get the benefits we want from it. As I said, it’s a marvelous symbol for many things, and this year we’ll probably use many.
We are also going to be looking closely at the word need. I’ll admit my first connection when I thought of Need was from the Rolling Stones song “You can’t always get what you want…” which reminds us that what we need and want are not the same thing. I then moved on to Mazlow’s hierarchy of needs, which is a reminder that we can easily forget what we need, and which needs are more important. Often it is the things we take most for granted which we need the most such as air, safety, love, or esteem; it’s often the lack of what we need that shows us that we need it.
This year we’ll be opening ourselves to learn what we truly need and how we can support ourselves and others before needs become acute. This is why we feed our fires.

Not everyone camps, but if you do, you know the frustration of when the campfire goes out, and you have to start it all over again. The same is true of a fire in a woodstove, (or keeping a furnace fed). It’s better to maintain a balance in health, in finances, in almost every aspect of life rather than to have to start over. Another analogy might teach us that no amount of watering a plant will bring it back once it’s dead. We must feed all our fires: physical, emotional, spiritual. If we are in a time of need, if imbalance has reached the point that we are aware that something we took for granted needs help,
Whether you need information you can’t get through normal channels, whether you need healing, whether you need connection to the gods or to community, we will be exploring ways for all of us to feed our inner fires, and satisfy all of our needs.