- Rumi
For the first half of this month, the sun is in Leo in the fifth house.
Yesterday, we started breaking that down into individual parts, by diving into Fixed sign and what they mean. In doing so, we can better synthesize their meaning more deeply Having a better understanding of each component allows an even greater understanding and ability to align our life's rhythms with the natural energies of the universe.
As we learned yesterday, fixed signs occur in the middle of the season. It is concentrating, consolidating, crystalizing energy that allows us to sustain, maintain and improve the quality of their elemental influence in our lives.
Since we are looking at Fire today, we will begin to understand how we can concentrate the fire energy, consolidate it and crystalize it and improve the quality of fire's influence in our lives. By following the cyclic patterns of the universe, we will come to understand when and where to use the elemental energy of fire in our lives.
What comes to mind when you think of fire?
The heat of the sun
The flickering of a candle
The Lapping flames of campfire
The angry flames of a raging forest fire
The spark of a match
The spark of an idea
Passion
Lust
Fire suggests many things, heat, light, warmth, energy, smoke, vapor, flame
What are some of the adjectives we can use to describe fire?
Active, energetic, enthusiastic, creative, expressive, impulsive, opportunistic, spontaneous, adventurous
Fire is the universal radiant energy of the sun. It implies primal emanation of radiant energy; it implies a source of power.
How do you define your personal power?
Spend some time reflecting on that question before you read on.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is the light that scares, not our darkness that frightens us most"
- Mariann Williamson
Fire is associated with spirit, passion, creative expression, temperament, sexuality
Often, due to circumstances beyond our control, our culture conditions us to fear our own power. Many of us are so afraid of our personal power that we use all of it to contain, restrain, repress, or extinguish it.
Take a few moments to consider now, how you try to sabotage your own power
Why?
Perhaps it is the impulsive, opportunistic, spontaneity of power we fear most? Perhaps we fear our passions burning out of control
Fire can be impulsive and destructive in search of its expression, burning and destroying everything in its path.
In its lower nature fire can represent our animal nature, animal desires when uncontrolled have the potential to run amuck with potency. Uncontrolled emotions and unchecked passion without a proper creative outlet can be expansive and unpredictable, with volatile, combustible, consuming potential.
Fire can represent the spark of intuition, a direct cognition of inner knowing that comes through a felt sense rather than thought into existence.
The infernal love of Spirit comes through divine inspiration. Wisdom is not always imparted through words but through visions, images, symbols and a knowingness that comes from beyond. Intuition is a gut feeling.
Agni s a Sanskrit word that can be translated as primal fire - considered to come from the Mouth of the Gods/Goddesses. Offerings are given to the gods in hopes of the attainment of spiritual liberation and personal freedom.
Fire can liberate us from the chains of our own making
Hindu myth teaches about three distinct types of Agni, all of which can represent transformation
1. The Fire of Anger which requires transformation by forgiveness and release
2. The Fire of passion which is transformed through detaching and letting go or expressed through creativity
Passion comes in many forms, in the heart, fire can be a messenger lighting the way to the essence of our true nature and inspiring us to evolve. The heart is where we form the courage to stand up for what we believe in.
Passionate enthusiasm can be seen in the eyes of someone lit up by their undertakings. Their magnetic enthusiasm is often palpable and infectious, they draw us into their excitement. They brighten and color the world with their light and enthusiasm
This is a form of love, a love of life and creative expression. Pouring ourselves into a passionate pursuit, unending energy and the ability to pour our entire being into something is Love expressed in creative pursuit
Speaking of love and the heart, Fire is the light in our eyes when we spend time with someone who puts the light in our eyes. Passionate love can be seen in someone's swagger.
Passion can also be described as spirit moving through an artist in creative expression. These artists talk of inspiration flowing through them, where they are the tool for the creative expression of spirit. This is fire's creative spark
All of creation seeks to expand and express itself. Fire becomes the functions of intuition, illumination, inspiration, conflagration of ideas, perception, initiation, the point of elaboration.
Passion can also become the mechanism for love and spontaneous childlike joy, the true essence of our nature. Enthusiasm, excitement, unbridled joy, these are all fire as well. Connecting to our creative passions in this way is Dharma and provides meaning and purpose to our lives. Fire is the spirit or vital spark of life that moves through each of us.
3. The fire of digestion is transformed through digestion, assimilation and elimination
Digestive acids and enzymes (Digestive fires) break down the food we eat into pure nutrients for use by the body. They are distributed to the cells of the body via the bloodstream and the unused parts are eliminated as solid or liquid and excreted. Thus, our food has been transformed to nutrients and waste by the digestive fires in the abdomen.
In yogic tradition, Samana Vayu s a balancing air though to exist in the abdomen, responsible for digestion and purification; the force of energy that processes, digests, purifies, transforms, assimilates and eliminates what we consume.
Not only are these fires responsible for transforming the foods we eat, but also the thoughts, feelings and emotions we consume and what we take in with our physical senses
Fire is also responsible the maintenance of our biological systems through the provision of heat, hunger and thirst
In traditional medical astrology and ayurveda, the fire element is called pitta and is located in the heart, liver, spleen, duodenum (stomach), sweat, chyle and blood. It is also associated with the navel and skin
Its temperament is choleric (Hot and Dry) and its humor is bile.
When we don't digest something properly it builds up and clogs up the system
This can be present physically when we don't digest our food properly and appears as bile, heart burn, indigestion, constipation and acid stomach.
Think about how this can apply to our undigested emotions on the energetic level
Anger is one of the most problematic imbalances of fire on the emotional level. Left unchecked it has the propensity to burn out of control and destroy relationships
Someone who is not in touch with their emotions and lacks a creative outlet for their expression is emotionally constipated. Left to fester, it has potential for passive aggressive behavior and emotional outbursts
Internalized anger depletes the yin life force responsible for our emotions and creativity. What a vicious cycle of emotional constipation, followed by vomiting, heart burn and diarrhea.
This causes physical inflammation (fire) and heat. Our vital fluids begin to dry out and evaporate.
As an extreme example of internalized anger, we can see it manifested as an auto-immune disease, when the body's immune system starts attacking itself.
Improperly digested emotions have potential to be nagging pain in the body, mind or heart.
headaches, heartburn, stomach-ache, these are all examples of somatic manifestations of the fire element improperly processed by our energetic system.
headaches, heartburn, stomach-ache, these are all examples of somatic manifestations of the fire element improperly processed by our energetic system.
If you have a strong purpose in life, you don't have to be pushed.
Your passion will drive you there
- Roy T Bennett
Vedic philosophy teaches that our primary focus during the first 20-25 years of life is the pursuit, attainment and completion of our dharma. Dharma can be considered as your soul contract, spiritual mission or life purpose.
It first requires us to develop specific skills and attain knowledge specific to our personal path. This can come through life lessons; we are required to master before moving forward. We use our life lessons to create meaningful purpose filled life and to create something for the greater good of mankind.
Agni then can represent transformation by far and the transformative power of fire itself
Fire can be a teacher if we let it. A lighthouse beacon calling us to walk through our challenges with courage and face our fears for those fears and challenges light the way to passionate creative expression
Intellectually, fire can be associate with discernment, sharp intellect, zeal, courage and passion
Fire is associate with the Southeastern direction
The south can represent the way that a seed is nurtured into life
Do you nurture the seeds of your passion? Or do you neglect them? Or let them run you over?
Fire can also be purifying, once we courageously speak our truth (also fire) we transform raw emotional energy like anger with compassion, commitment, wisdom and understanding
Forgiveness is a nutrient that transforms fire. The pure cathartic waters of forgiveness are cleansing to the soul. When we liberate anger from its source it frees the heart to be filled with more truth, passion and love.
Fire is willpower (Emotional fire, aka courage) married to wisdom (Intellectual fire)
In Taoist astrology, fire is associated with action, reason, expression, happiness, leadership, spirituality, insight, dynamism, passion, heat, growth, warmth and light
Its yin expression is found in the heart and its yang expression is found in the intestines. Both are organs of digestion, when we consider the role of the heart in digesting and transforming anger into forgiveness and compassion
It represents the most intense growth of subjective self -awareness. It represents truth in identity through action
If we consider some of the associations, we have made with fire, how can you apply these principles to your own life? How is fire showing up for you right now?
How can you apply the concepts of fire to transform your life?
Reflect on the words you speak, how is fire showing up?
Placement of fire in our charts can indicate the way we apply our energy to our passions
What are you passionate about?
How can you apply more fire?
How can you use fire to inspire yourself to move more authentically, authoritatively and assertively?
How can fire fuel your passions? Energy? Enthusiasm?
Spend some time over the weekend reflecting on Fire, next week we will dive in a little deeper to the energies of Leo by diving into the sun, the sixth house and a final synthesis of Leo energy.
Until next time!
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