Summer: Fire Season
How the energy of Fire looks in nature, how it reflects in our bodies, and how it impacts our relationships and behaviors
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After the frenzied visionary growth of the spring, summer arrives, bringing with it the challenge of consistent applied action balanced with self awareness and restraint. While Wood energy relates to our audaciousness to reach for an imagined future, Fire speaks to the breadth and scope of our touch; it determines the space we occupy through our intention and the connections we nurture within our own heart and the hearts of others. Wood energy is the seeds we plant, and Fire energy is the work that we do in our everyday lives to tend those seeds to maturity - it is the momentum that allows us to follow through on projects and bring what we start to completion. Fire energy is the peak potency of our personal power - it is unafraid to be seen, to be admired, or to take up space as it expands to bring flower and fruit to the branches provided by Wood in the previous season. To make ourselves small is in direct opposition to the spirit of Fire, which is far better suited to spread.
Possessing the unapologetic expression of the full self, Fire energy is our inner light; the candle we hold for ourselves in honor of the most vibrant aspects of our being. It draws us upwards and invites us to take up more space, to fill in the empty places without asking permission or forgiveness. It is the part of us that is ignited when we are touched by love or moved by passion, connection, and inspiration, and it is found in our willingness and readiness to be generous with our time, attention, and resources and in the thoughtful awareness that gives depth and meaning to our life and relationships. Fire energy is captivating and contagious with the potential to consume our thinking minds through emotional sentiment, attributes which are able to inspire cohesive action, cooperation, and collaboration towards a common goal or dream with heartfelt propulsion.
In nature, Fire can take many forms. It is the crash of energy that gave birth to the cosmos, expanding with nearly inconceivable momentum to create matter and life through its explosive force. Without careful tending it can be scathing, scorching, raging, combustable, destructive, or violent. Conversely, it can grow dim, and in the resulting cold and darkness can close us off from expressing ourselves and forming healthy or meaningful connections, leading to isolation and disassociation. Left untended long enough, it runs the risk of burning out and extinguishing completely.
A certain considerate applied action is required to hold a light that warms and illuminates without burning or becoming overbearing. Though the raging destruction of a wildfire, the sudden and random violence of a lightning strike, and a small but mighty spark created through friction all hold the energy of Fire, the most perfect expression of this energy is held by the sun, the steady warmth and light of which is mimicked in our homes through carefully tended hearth. Predictable and constant, the sun touches all of life and all that it touches depends on it for survival. Yet, the sun itself does nothing more than hold steady, burning with an unwavering intensity that can hold all of existence in the heat and glow that it radiates. Sovereign in its orbit, the movement of all else in the solar system is in service to the sun, in the same way that all organs and body systems rely on the Heart to continue to beat.
In balance, the energy of Fire is calming and restorative, like laying in the sun on a warm summer day. It is what moves us to dance by ourselves in the kitchen, to paint a sunset so beautiful we don’t just see it but feel it, and to find comfort for the smell of our child’s hair or lover’s skin. It can be hypnotic and mesmerizing at times, embodying the joy of the human experience, the marvel of beauty and wonder.
Relating to all major emotional experiences and the healthy expressions of each, Fire reminds us that too much of any good thing can get out of control and become dangerous or destructive. Too much joy turns to mania, love can become obsession, excessive pride gives way to narcissism, overindulgent serenity brings about complacency or laziness, and exaggerated gratitude can lead to subservience or codependency. The positive and negative value of emotions are in actuality determined not by their essence, but by the manner in which they are embodied and expressed.
Perhaps unexpectedly, Fire holds the virtue of courtesy which can be understood as the active force behind compassionate awareness. In this context, courtesy speaks to more than just manners; to truly be courteous is to be aware of the impact our behaviors and actions have on our own wellbeing, the people in our lives, and the world around us - it is an understanding and applied consideration of the ways in which we are all connected and a respect for the experiences of others. In alignment with the spirit of Fire, courteousness is more than passively not disturbing ones surroundings. Rather, it means to actively enhance the integrity of our points of connection with outside world by being mindful of feelings and needs of others. Being able to listen fully, adjust our behavior to better accommodate those around us, to notice the contributions and efforts of the people in our lives, and candidly speak from the heart to express our gratitude are all virtues of Fire energy.
The medicine of Fire is momentum; a kinetic kind of energy created through action and activity, reflected in the way electricity yearns to spread. Powerful in its own right, even its most destructive tendencies are profoundly regenerative. Though a wildfire destroys all that previously was, it is also an important and natural aspect of the forest. Releasing fire activated seeds, returning nutrients to the soil, and clearing the forrest floor for new growth, the diversity of plant and animal communities are in many ways supported by this type of fire over the course of time.
Purification by fire is as perfect as it is painful, and opening to this energy can feel extraordinarily vulnerable. Fire burns away illusion and illuminates all that has lingered in the shadows, perhaps left there on purpose to protect ourselves from the intensity of the emotional experience they ignite. Though uncomfortable, this is a testament to our endurance and capability to hold steady in the face of the truth about ourselves, our relationships, and the world.
Fire energy is a climax - the most potent expression of our fully embodied human experience - it is cohesive action, cooperation, and collaboration towards a common goal or dream and it is the wildness within us that can neither be taken away nor lived without.
