FIRE RITUALS

Ancient cultures have recognized the power of FIRE with prayer and reverence. Fire has the power to destroy our homes and the life giving, usefulness to cook our food. It is a force of destruction, creation, and purification. In Sanskrit, Fire, or Agni , is one of the five basic elements of creation and is the dominant element of the Ayruveda Pitta dosha. Pitta dosha is composed of a mind and body that are made up of the two elements, fire and water. An out of balance, or out of control fire element, leads to mental and emotional issues such as anger, aggression, and rage. In balance, Agni or FIRE presents as enthusiasm and joy.

Fire is a controversial force in the world and humans. A team of researchers analyzed the history and possible future of our ever-changing relationship with fire in an article published in the Journal of Biogeography. The article is entitled, “The Human Dimension of Fire Regimes on Earth.”

Wherever humans have gone in the world, they have carried fire with them and humans evolved to eat cooked food. I found this article about the history of humans and fire interesting and thought provoking. Essentially, cooking with heat outsourced some of the body’s work of digestion so that more energy is obtained from food and less energy is used in processing food. Cooking breaks down collagen and the connective tissue in meat and releases starch and fat of plants. Cooking freed up time, which allowed the prioritization of the development and the evolution of our intellect.

When early humans discovered how to build fires, life became much easier as they huddled around fire for warmth, light, and protection. They used it to cook, which afforded them more calories than eating raw foods that were hard to chew and digest. They could socialize into the night, which possibly gave rise to storytelling and other cultural traditions.

In the Choctaw language the month of September translates to Haponi Hashi – Cooking Month.  Cooking outside on an open fire is a present and historical tribal tradition.  Haponi Hashi traditionally marks the final summer harvest of the three sisters ~ corn, beans and squash.  Here family and community gather to prepare food stores (traditionally hanging to dry) for the cold season where cooking and eating together ensues.  It typically also marks the time of the year in which the weather has cooled such that cooking outside over an open fire becomes practical and enjoyable again!

Fire Loves Rituals

Fire can enhance our spiritual rituals and support us by purifying and setting intentions in our own lives. For generations, fire rituals are based on ancient ceremonies passed down over the ages. Today, it still has meaning and plays a positive role in our lives to enrich our relationships with our families, ourselves, and the divine in whatever form we hold as believers and practitioners. Examples of fire rituals across several cultures include:

The Hindu fire ceremony, Yajna, translates to “sacrifice, devotion, worship, and offering”. Yajna is any ritual performed in front of a sacred fire, often supplemented by songs or mantras. This ancient Hindu practice helps to heal trauma and connect its practitioners to the spiritual realm.

In ancient India, the vibrations that are produced during a traditional Vedic fire ceremony are thought to represent the most powerful presence of the Divine on Earth. The upward motion of fire is said to be similar to the divine kundalini energy. In the Vedic scriptures, Agni, or Fire, is the messenger between the people and their gods. Vedic Fire Ceremonies are performed for all types of occasions: to let go of patterns and obstacles in our lives, to express gratitude, for healing, purification of the environment and ourselves, or to pray for success with a particular venture. Fire rituals can connect us with the Divine and allow us to express gratitude for this life and all our gifts.

Kontaiji Temple Goma Houyou

Japanese Buddhism practices Goma as a fire ritual performed outside under the sky. Some types of ritual fire offerings include: A Peaceful Ritual Fire Offering is performed to clear away the results of unhealthy actions or to clear away obstacles. Peaceful and Increasing Ritual Fire Offerings are practiced for both one’s own and other’s benefit. A Subduing Ritual Fire Offering may be performed to distinguish harmful forces. 

Smoke rising from burning sage

In Native American traditions, a smoke offering in prayer is at the core of many traditional ceremonies. A pipe ceremony combines the powerful elements of fire to symbolize the balance of life. The pipe ceremony is a sacred ritual for connecting the physical and spiritual worlds. The stem of the pipe represents the masculine, the bowl represents the feminine, the tobacco is an earth offering, and the breath drawn in smoking is the air. Fire unifies the ceremony with a purifying force as it is drawn over the tobacco/herbs through the bowl and stem, creating smoke that rises and delivers prayers to the spirit world.

Create Your Own Fire Ceremony

There are many simple ways you can take inspiration from these ancient practices and bring the power of the fire element into your life. You can make physical or emotional offerings for the fire to consume. Write down the things things you are grateful for, the things you want to let go of, and the things you want to set intention for. Light a candle or build a fire, contemplate these things, and hold these thoughts in your heart and your mind. Let the flicker of the flame mesmerize you and you may even make an offering of sage or cedar to the fire. Be creative and make it personal and understand that there have been many generations of ancestors who spent sacred time around fire. Reflect on the fire in a sacred way and create your own ceremony. Let the fire enchant and mesmerize you, purify you, and empower you.

Blooming Lotus

The Lotus Flower or Lotus Plant is a freshwater aquatic plant. Most Lotus Plants are native to the warm climates of Southern Asia and Australia. A Lotus Flower’s roots bury deep in the mud of a still body of water such as a lake, pond, or backyard water garden. A long stem or stalk grows from the roots that remains in the muddy water. The plant’s leaves and bud grow from atop the long stalk. The leaves usually stay under the surface of the water with only the flower bud seen above the water’s surface. As the bud opens, its petals are exposed as they open one by one. Once the petals are all opened, the flower is in full bloom, which corresponds to the fire element- the life cycle of full expression. The Lotus Flower rests until the sun begins to set at which point the Lotus Flower begins to close its petals until it is completely in a “bud” formation and the Lotus Flower sinks back down into the muddy water. Each day, the Lotus Flower repeats this action of rising, basking, and sinking. It is this nature of the plant that inspires so many religions and cultures with meaning. Buddhists believe the Lotus Flower is representative of rebirth.

Here at Alberta Orchard Wellness, we were recently gifted a lotus garden which serves as our new bee watering station! We are excitedly awaiting the lotus bloom, which will look like this one.

The plant has become the symbol of multiple life lessons and ideals such as fertility, honesty, grace, prosperity, knowledge, and serenity. The lotus flower (Nelumbo nucifera) is associated with purity and beauty in the Buddhism and Hinduism.

Just like the Lotus, we too have the ability to rise

from the darkness and radiate into the world.”     

-Unknown-

As gratitude is enhanced by a fire ceremony, the Flowering Lotus yoga pose is an excellent posture for meditation because it calms the mind and creates a sense of peace. The flowering lotus pose is an intermediate seated, hip-opener, and balancing posture that prepares the body for deeper stretching poses. From the butterfly pose with the heels touching, the arms reach over the thighs and under the calves. The yogi then rocks back until balanced on the sit bones, and the hands take gyan mudra (thumb and forefinger touching). A variation of the foundational lotus pose, flowering lotus pose is also called blooming lotus pose. In Sanskrit, it is known as vikasitakamalasana.

The pose is known to ease anxiety and stress; stabilizes the body; improve focus and concentration; stretch the ankles, hips, hamstrings, and knees; stimulates reproductive organs; tones the abdominal muscles; boosts immunity; and improves kidney, bladder, and urinary functions.

Watch for our (Part 2) where we will highlight a Blooming Lotus gratitude practice with a demonstration video and offer step by step instructions for creating your own lotus container garden!

THE SEPARATOR OF PURE FROM IMPURE

            As most of the planet is enduring and even setting heat records during the peak of the fiery summer season, in the Southern U.S., we are experiencing an unseasonably cool period this week.  Here we continue with our seasonal theme of the fire element and the elemental organ system. The element of fire embodies the bright, light, energetic essence of yang. However, fire without the grounding influence of Earth easily flares out of control.  The 2nd century dictionary Shuowen jiezi defines the heart as an Earth element, predating the concept of Heart as Fire in the modern Five Element construct.  Anxiety, from the perspective of heart, is most effectively remedied with a counterbalance of downward energy and therapy to settle, calm, stabilize and return to its original nature of yin. Think ‘talking some one down off the cliff’, down time’, and even coming back ‘down to earth’.  The earth provides a multiplicity of glorious medicines for supporting our hearts like

HIBISCUS AND HAWTHORN

Click the link above to learn how modern research supports the use of these traditional plants in cardiovascular health by Dr Tori Hudson, ND

Take a couple of minutes and watch this video from Bennett Nurseries in Huntsville, Alabama about growing native hibiscus in Alabama! 

At Alberta Orchard Wellness, we have successfully grown Red Thai Rosella (Hibiscus sabdariffa)  last summer and Gongura (Hibiscus cannabinus) this summer in our hugelkulture mound. Both are edible and showy plants, requiring little water. From our gardens, we save and replant their seeds yearly as these Hibiscus varieties are annuals in our climate . These flowers may look familiar to you as they are in the mallow (Malvaceae) family, like okra and cotton, and thrive in similar climates. So if you already grow okra, also plant Hibiscus next time!

Supplemental HAWTHORNE is available online at fullscript, our electronic pharmacy, that delivers professional grade supplements directly to your doors (free shipping $50+). It just takes just a minute to create a new account or log into your existing account:

My favorite Hawthorne supplement is Wise Woman’s solid extract 

Small Intestine Meridian

The small intestine meridian is the yang meridian paired with the heart yin meridian.  Like the heart, the small intestine is also associated with the emotions of joy or agitation. The heart is responsible for almost all mental functions, including emotions, thoughts, consciousness, and sleep patterns. These mental and emotional activities rely on our ability to make sound judgments, which is controlled by the small intestine. The small intestine is where most of the physical nutrition of our food gets absorbed into our body.  Likewise, the small intestine asks you to be aware of what is surrounding you. What you are absorbing? What company do you keep? What nourishes you mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?

Much like references to the heart as an emotional organ, the small intestines are also referenced similarly, such as the common expressions of “having a gut feeling” or “butterflies in the stomach”, which indicate a mental and emotional connection.

The Small Intestine Meridian starts from the tip of the little finger and crosses the wrist. It runs up along the back side of the forearm up to the back of shoulder, traversing our “wings” or scapula then crossing the neck and cheek as it reaches the outer corner of the eye, finally ending at the ear.

Image Sourced from Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation

Examples of acupuncture/acupressure for the small intestine include:

SI17 – Tianrong – Tinnitus, deafness, sore throat, swelling and pain of the neck

SI16 – Sore throat, sudden loss of voice, pain and stiffness of the neck, tinnitus, deafness

SI15 – Jianzhongshu – Cough, asthma, shoulder and back pain

SI13 – Quyuan – Shoulder and scapular pain

SI12 – Bingfeng – Shoulder and scapular pain as well as aching and numbness in the upper extremities

Separator of the Pure from the Impure

As the small intestine is responsible for separating clear from turbid on a physiological level, it also governs the mental ability to separate what is right and wrong on a mental level.  Physiologically speaking, the small intestine

• Receives bile from the gallbladder, fluid from the pancreas which includes enzymes and enzyme precursors: anylase, nucleases and enzyme precursors, trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen
• Breaks down and digests carbohydrates and proteins
• Converts fats to fatty acids
• Orders secretions from gall bladder and pancreas
• Kills microbes via lymph follicles
• Absorbs nutrients, vitamins and minerals, and water
• Moves digested food by peristalsis obtaining rhythm commands from the migrating motor complex and mediated by the Vegas nerve during parasympathy (rest and digest)

The small intestine sorts the pure from the impure

When the small intestine is injured with food poisonings or is compromised with low acid,  pharmaceutical acid blockers, weak sphincters, or chronic constipation, parasites may set up housekeeping and we become sick (SIBO). In other instances, the small intestine loses its ability to absorb when the microvilli fingers are flattened as in celiac disease.  Damage or decreased tone of the vagal nerve intervention of the small intestine can manifest as depression, PTSD (gut-brain axis mechanism), as well as inflammatory bowel disease. Hyper reactivity, increased histamine, and food allergies occur when intestinal permeability is present, increasing exposure and response to foreign particles during the digestion process. In my clinical practice, I find small intestine disease very often overlooked and under diagnosed as a culprit of digestive based physical, mental, and emotional symptoms.  So much so that I have categorized these as “mystery diseases” ~ patients still suffer after having been to loads of doctors and yet received no definitive diagnosis or successful treatments.

Ayurveda – Digestive Fire

In Ayurveda, the small intestine and stomach are ruled by the fire element ~ Pitta and is also known as the body’s digestive fire.  While it is the most well known ‘agni’, the digestive agni is just one of the 40 subtypes.  Angi is the divine intelligence present in each and every cell, every process in the body. Agni is any activity involving heat, light, transformation, transmutation, or conversion. Agni is the creative flame of intelligence. Agni is the spark of life, the sparkle in the eye, the light of the heart. The body’s ability to transform external items into fuel, energy and vitality depends on the health and balance of the digestive fire as it physically transforms the food into energy and power.

Keys to keeping your digestive fire healthy:

• Eat moderate amounts based on your constitution, mindfully
• Eat routinely with 90-240 minutes between meals to allow a complete cycle of the migrating motor complex 
• Eat fruit away from other foods
• Avoid cold drinks and minime water with meals to allow for best concentration of digestive enzymes and fluids
• Drink warm herbal teas like ginger, chamomile, peppermint, fennel tea to support digestion
• Eat in a relaxed state 
• Use digestive spices in cooking:  ginger, cardamom, cumin, fennel, cinnamon, turmeric and black pepper.
• Eat like a queen/king for breakfast, a prince/princess for lunch, and a pauper for dinner

Nauli Kriya – fire washing the intestines is an incredibly powerful practice to strengthen the digestive fire and release toxins and negative patterning to encourage unrestricted, natural movement of the internal organs. These videos break the exercise into basic steps that can be developed over time. Note:  not for use during pregnancy, with hernias or intestinal ulcers due to increased abdominal pressure. I have linked both a female and male example of the practice with slight variations that may work for you:

youtube.com/watch?v=wYYGj544mPEhow-to-do-nauli-kriya

youtube.com/watch?v=wYYGj544mPE

Three Levels of Sorting

The small intestine sorts on three levels: physically, mentally, and spiritually; 1) physically, it draws out the nutrients from the food we eat by separating the pure from the impure; 2) it mentally sorts the constant bombardment of our modern environment by eliminating aspects of life such as crime, violence, hatred, and aggression that cause our minds to be impure with negativity; 3) on a spiritual level, our small intestine sorts the deep and dark elements of life that overwhelm the essence of love and joy. The small intestine has the power to separate the goodness from the evil and nasty aspects of life.

FIRE OF THE HEART HEATS UP THE SMALL INTESTINES!

The Small Intestine is indirectly affected by emotions such as anger that causes Qi to stagnate. The fire of the heart heats up the small intestine and signs of excess heat in the small intestine include:

   Abdominal pain

   Small Intestine heat

   Tongue ulcers

   Scanty, dark, painful, or bloody urination

   Heated fluids

   Insomnia, mental restlessness, throat pain, thirst

   Sudden hearing loss

   Red tongue with a swollen red tip and a yellow coat

   Rapid pulse

SMALL INTESTINE DEFICIENCY AND COLD

   Abdominal Pain, relieved by warm and pressure

   Cold obstructing intestines

   Diarrhea

   Weak spleen yang

   Pale and scant urination

   Desire for warm liquids

   Pale tongue with a white coat

   Deep, slow, and weak pulse

SUPPORT YOUR Small Intestine BY TRYING BONE BROTH

Follow this link to a delicious bone broth recipe by Dr Allison Siebecker, ND

for her full text article about bone broth click here

Rich in nutrients, bone broth contains protein, cartilage (remove before cooking if SIBO), calcium and minerals. Our bodies easily digest bone broth, its yummy, and brings a calming and restorative energy to our homes and minds all while repairing our gut lining.

Try bone broth to support the small intestine