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Medicine
Wheel: Fire and the East
by
Judy “Singing Shaman” Winters
In Andean cosmology, Spring is allied with nina or fire element.
Ancient cultures marked Spring, not mid-winter, as the beginning
of a new year. So when Father Sun or Inti, the great fire in the
sky, rises in the East signaling a new day, it is a potent reminder
of Spring giving birth to a new year. Solar fire is the most powerful
energy available to us; therefore it is not surprising that the
Inkas believed the sun created the world. Because this made them
luminous beings, they called themselves Intiq Churikuna, meaning
“Children of the Sun.”
 On
the Andean medicine wheel or mesa, a burning white candle holds
space in the East representing the fiery heat of the Amazonian
jungles in eastern Peru. It is also linked with the “four-leggeds”
or mammals, whose blood is warm with the fire of life. Otorongo
Achachi (Grandfather Jaguar) and choqechinka (puma) are keepers
of the flame. Also on the East part of the mesa reside the Machukkuna
or ancestors of the Inka peoples.
Fire is the least obvious of the four elements. In our daily existence
we walk upon Earth, drink the Water of rivers and streams, breathe
the Air and feel the wind in our faces. But Fire is counter-intuitive;
it is magical and alchemical, believed by ancient peoples as originally
belonging only to the gods. Maybe this is why the Greeks told
the story of how Prometheus stole fire from the gods and gave
it to humankind, a crime for which he was subsequently punished.
In one etymology, the word “shaman” means “Master
of Fire.” As I began to work with fire element, I learned
that Fire is not so easily mastered. One bitterly cold week in
February several years back, Atlanta suffered through a memorable
ice storm. Electrical wires were downed everywhere and in my neighborhood
we were without heat for five days. My son and I carried in all
the logs from the wood pile outside, burning them sparingly in
the family room fireplace. We experimented with various ways of
stacking to efficiently sustain the most heat. If one of us was
not in continual attendance, the fire died out. We found a couple
of sharp implements to roast food and hung a fire-proof kettle
above the fire to boil water for hot drinks. As we lived and slept
near the fire, we became more familiar with its nuances. Some
parts of the fire were blue, while others were orange. Sometimes
it even had a white heat. Its crackling sounds alternately startled
and soothed us while its constant shifting of shape entertained
and instructed. I remembered that gazing into fire was one of
the earliest forms of inducing trance for divination purposes,
but as a city-dweller I had never before taken the time to allow
Fire to show me this magic means of Knowing.
Because Fire was a method of bringing light into dark places,
keeping dangerous animals at bay, staying warm, heating food and
drink, and melting metals, it was highly revered by early peoples
and soon became an important part of ceremony, as it still is
today. We light candles in church, place them on birthday cakes,
sing around campfires, perform fire and burning bowl ceremonies
to release what no longer serves, do firewalks. Because of its
alchemical nature, its ability to change wood into ash, metal
into utensils or weapons of war, Fire has been deemed a worthy
symbol of transformation. We also use fires of sage and incense
to burn away impurities around our persons and environments. Interestingly,
humans are the only creatures on the planet who have mastered
the power of fire.
Like all the other elements, Fire can be destructive as well as
helpful. When a client tells me about surviving a house fire where
everything was lost, I am immediately alerted to an energetic
imbalance. There have even been a couple of cases where both fire
and water disasters prevailed. It turned out to be the Universe's
punny way of identifying “firewater” or alcohol abuse.
We moderns, with our electric lights, microwave ovens and furnaces
secreted in basements or behind closet doors, are not as much
in touch with the meanings and power of Fire as were the Ancients
who experienced the elements as living, conscious Beings, waiting
for us to interact with them. And for this we are all of us urban-
and suburbanites out of balance. One way to reconnect is to welcome
the sun each morning, maybe in the form of a yogic sun salutation
or just a conscious joyful feeling in the body, silently acknowledging
the life El Sol brings to plants, animals and humans. In the dark
of winter, light a fire in the fireplace. Then shut off the TV,
put away the magazines and books and gaze into the flames. Or
turn off the lights and ignite a candle. And in it all, feel gratitude
for Fire, “the purest and most worthy Element” according
to seventeenth-century alchemist Michael Sandivoguis.
Judy
“Singing Shaman” Winters practices Peruvian-based urban shamanism.
To participate in an elemental workshop or to receive information about
private or group sessions, contact her at 770-391-0991 or singingshaman@aol.com.
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Shamanism
