Rainbow in the Dark
Dr. Pfister lights a fire.
Wow! Have we not had some incredible weather over the last four or five weekends? I mean, if we keep this up, Northern Ohio could re-establish itself as a vacation destination spot…
As I’ve been telling you over the last year, there are a lot of potential “happy places” less than a tank of gas away. And if you just slow down and take another look, you may be standing on an under-used happy place… your own home!
Over the last four weekends, my wife and I have hosted more relative get-togethers than ever before (due to the passing of my mother-in-law in May). I have speculated that there are several possible reasons for this. Our home is centrally located in the state, I’m a great cook, my endearing personality (lol), swimming in our lake, the list is endless. Over the Fourth of July weekend, we had three cookouts; and one activity request kept coming up more than any other (these requests spanned the ages from our 77-year-old uncle, all the way down to his very insistent 8-year-old grandson)…
“Uncle Chuck, when can we build a fire?!”
This captivating intrigue with fire by my family got me to pondering my next blog. Does my family have a monopoly on this interest? Where does it stem from? Could the basis of this intrigue go deeper than just the great taste of s’mores?
I’ll ask my readers to sit back, clear your minds, relax, and let’s delve deeper into the fascination with fire!
In Greek philosophy, fire is one of the four classical elements on this planet, along with air, water, and earth. And, according to Aristotle, these elements were a combination of hot, dry, wet, or cold and could be transformed into one another. According to Tom Siegfried of Science News, the Greeks felt fire was the strongest source of power of the four elements and contained the most energy because it is the embodiment of the gods, the sun, and the light. Because of this, fire is the only one of the four elements that cannot be polluted or tainted by human activity.
Mr. Siegfried went on to say that Greeks produced “Greek Fire” from pine resin, sulfur, and lit it with quicklime. Being able to float on water, it burned all of the attacking enemy ships and saved the Byzantine Empire. Quite interesting, if I do say so myself.
As we move ahead in the timeline of life, we find the Aztecs totally enthralled with fire, as they felt it was the first thing created by the gods even before the sun itself! Mark Cartwright, in the World History Encyclopedia, states that every 52 years the Aztec “New Fire Celebration,” or Toxhiuhnalpilia, was the most important event in their entire religious calendar. If they could not spark a flame with their fire drill within a certain time period, the ceremony would fail and the Aztec civilization would end. My readers have to admit, that is taking fire pretty seriously!
Throughout history, whether a flickering candle in a church or an oil lamp in a synagogue, fire has been accepted as a holy power that enlightens, purifies, transforms, and even dispels evil.
In many religious myths and spiritual concepts, fire has been used as the link between the spiritual world and those of us grounded on earth. None have expressed this more meaningfully in their customs and traditions than our own Native Americans.
Christopher Roos, professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University of Texas, did extensive studies of the late 16th and early 17th century Lakota Indian tribe of the upper Mississippi Region and their classic usage of fire in their day-to-day life. The Lakotas used fire to burn the dead prairie grasses to improve the grazing of their livestock and attract the free ranging bison (which they utilized for food, clothing, and housing).
Interestingly and very creatively, I might add, by burning the rough dead grasses, new medicinal plants opportunistically sprung up that had been suppressed by the density of the grasses. These medicinal plants were used to enhance the quality of the Lakota’s present physical life on earth and, just as important to them, were used in their indigenous Sacred Fire Ceremony to cleanse their souls and communicate with the Spirit realm.
One of the chief elders was designated as the Firekeeper. Only he could add or subtract material from the fire and was obligated to remain vigilant, never letting the fire burn out for the entire ceremony. It was through the Sacred Fire Ceremony, according to Roos, that the Lakota participants felt free and open to speak, were more grounded and connected to each other on earth, and used the fire and smoke as a stairway to heaven and the afterlife, helping them stay connected to their departed relatives and ancestors. They called it their Rainbow in the Dark. (I can hear some of my readers chuckling that there may have been some mushrooms and interesting weed in those medicinal plants they burned.)
I found it interesting that in the case of almost every culture you can study, from the early Greeks to the natives in the Amazon, even to the Eskimos of the frozen tundra… when it comes to settling down and relaxing with a group of kindred spirits in one form or another, it’s in a circle and it’s around a fire!
There is a hard-to-put-into-words feeling that comes over you as you watch the flickering release of the sun’s energy, combined with the nutrients of the soil as the wood is consumed. Think about it my friends, within that smoke are the years that the tree was growing, flourishing, and providing us with a source of shade and clean air. As the fire recycles the wood and returns the tree back to its basic elements, maybe those of us sitting around the fire are also returned to our basic, simple feelings of love, joy, and contentment when our stress and anxiety with life, at least for a moment, wafts upward with the smoke.
Make sure your four-legged friends have entertainment too!
So this weekend, I challenge you to get off the couch and make a fire with a few friends. Two- and four-legged friends welcome and, who knows, you might be visited by an astral projection of a passed relative! Don’t bank on it; I’ve been making fires my whole life and have yet to be visited. All my relatives drive!
Don’t have any wood? You’re not going to believe this, but Speedway has a bundle of kiln dried wood for eight bucks that will last an evening and it really burns well. Get some cheese and crackers from your favorite deli, slice up some apples with caramel dipping sauce, or order your favorite pizza and beverage.
Can you say… Portal to Relaxation?
As I send you into your weekend with positive vibes, do yourself a favor — get together with loved ones and spark a rainbow in the dark.
Here’s to lighting your fire,
Dr. Pfister