Fire, fire… Warm desire… Change me, form me till I’m higher…
Fire is passion and creativity. Fire is the longing that burns brightly in our hearts. Fire is synergy and change and the rebirth of today out of the ashes of yesterday. Fire is our sexuality, our motivations and our aspirations.
When: New Moon
Dress: Wear something red
Items required:
Milk & Honey, mixed together
Stones for fire ring or top to BBQ grill, inverted, with grill rack inserted
Four largish stones to mark the quarters
Appropriate color quarter candles (shielded), to place on each stone
Lighter fluid
Wood, small and large pieces, dry (Squirt lightly with lighter fluid before ritual)
A small fire starter log
Wooden matches
A powdered incense that makes you feel aligned with the element of fire
Salt Peter
Lightweight writing paper and a pen
Your athame or wand
What to do:
Place the quarter stones in a nice size circle (about 9’). Using your athame or wand, draw a circle in the earth the size of your fire ring or BBQ lid, in the area just in front of the South stone. Allow a little walking space between the circle and the stone. Set up several large stones in a 2’ fire ring along the circle or place the BBQ lid, inverted onto the circle.
Begin the fire by lighting the fire starter log. Carefully use a tiny bit of lighter fluid if needed to help the log catch. Once the log is burning well, add some of the small, then a couple of the larger pieces of wood onto the fire.
Beginning in the West, light the candle, pour a little of the milk and honey mixture onto each stone and spend a moment in each quarter, asking for the energy of that quarter as you perform this homage. Ending in the South, light the candle, pour the milk and honey mixture onto the south stone, leaving some in the dispenser for later.
Sit in front of the fire and feel its warmth. Toss some of the powdered incense into the flames. What colors do you see? Commune with the fire for a few minutes.
Invite the Ancient Ones of the South to lend their energies to your ritual. What do you feel when they come in? Invite the Salamanders, the little elementals of the South, to join your circle. What do you feel when they come in?
Close your eyes and feel the heat of the fire on your face and body. Feel it warm and comfort you. Meditate on the blessing that fire is to humans. See it take its many forms of solar heat, electricity, flame. Think of how it cooks our food, purifies our fields and forests for future growth, warms our bodies and our bathing water. Think of all the things that fire in its many forms does for you personally.
See our ancestors using wood and coal to keep themselves warm and to cook their food. See them using kerosene lamps for light.
Now think of the destruction that fire can bring when it is not properly respected. Think of electric chairs, huge brush fires, burning homes, nuclear weapons. Think of the way fire can wipe out entire city blocks. See fire burning on an oil slick in the ocean. Learn to respect fire and treat it with care. Use your power with it, not over it or beneath it.
Look into the flames before you. See how they dance with color. Watch the fire burn. Look for visions in the fire. Pay attention to what you see with your third eye while you watch the flames. Think of the flames of passion, both sexual and motivational. Think of something that you really wanted to do with your life and never followed through on.
Try to feel the passion you felt for that choice or activity. What is it in your life at this time that you feel a “passion” to accomplish? What burns at you, inside you heart that is your secret desire, your special wish? Meditate on that. What do you want to accomplish more than anything? When you have this firmly in mind, use the lightweight paper and pen and write a request to the fire element that you be shown how to accomplish this in your lifetime and that it be brought to you. Be certain that it is not a request that would bend someone’s free will, such as bringing a particular person to you. Next to your signature or sigil at the bottom of the page, apply some of your saliva with your right thumb. Place a little of the saltpeter on the paper and fold into a square. Toss the paper square into the fire and watch it burn. After it has burned away, spend a few more moments with the fire energies.
When you have finished, thank the Ancient Ones of the South and the Salamanders for their attendance at this ritual. Ask the Salamanders to return, harming none on their way. Pinch our the South candle. Go to the remaining quarters, extinguishing the candles and thanking the energies.
When your circle is lifted, smother the fire with Earth. Do not leave the fire burning.
Wait fifteen minutes, then write what you experienced in your Book of Shadows.