Calling the Element of Fire: A Ritual

Fire flare, rising in the sky your fearsome glow,
Deep down, from Pele’s womb, pushing from below,
Toast me, burn me, consume me, the catalyst
For Phoenix flight, light the night, let your power grow.

from Calling the Elements, by Carole McWilliams, on our album Crow Magic

This post is the third in my series on the elements. This time, we turn to the element of fire, the element of the south. It is the heat of the summer sun. That can mean relaxing on a sunny beach. It can mean heat-parched crops. It is passion, which can be directed to good or bad ends. It is the loving warmth of hearth and home. It also is catastrophic destruction. All of the elements can be beautiful and life giving, or mercilessly destructive. These are examples of the duality of fire.

Goddesses of fire bring to mind Pele, and also Kali. We’ve used Kali in rituals to send away aspects of our lives that are no longer wanted or needed. “In the fire, in the fire, gonna burn my burdens in the fire…Give it up to Kali, give it up…” That’s In The Fire, from our first album, Crow Goddess. We’ve written about using it in several previous blog posts, which you can find on the In the Fire page here on our website. The Crow Women’s own Goddess of Fire is Horash Siparee, depicted in the header photo of this post on our website.

The third verse of my song Calling the Elements draws on Pele to bring up the fire aspect of power from the Earth. As with giving it up to Kali, there is the aspect of burning away what is no longer wanted or needed, so that it can be replaced with something positive. The Phoenix self-incinerates into a pile of ashes and then is reborn.

A ritual for connecting with the fire element

Select a place and time.

For this ritual, you’ll need to get out your cauldron or use a commercial fire pit or a fire ring. Yes, this will probably be outside, in a place safe from catching anything else on fire. The fire will be more visible if you can schedule this for after dark. If doing this ritual outdoors isn’t possible, you could use an indoor fireplace, a smaller cauldron with a fire in it, or even one or more candles.

Prepare for the ritual.

Think about how a fire ritual could help you. What is it you want to burn away? Are you clinging to a bad relationship? A destructive habit? Procrastinating on doing what needs to be done? You know what it is. If there are several things, I’d say pick one and give it your full focus. Once you know what to burn away, you might choose a particular deity to call upon in your ritual. This website has an extensive list of gods and goddesses of fire. Research the deity you’ll call on in your ritual.

Dress for the ritual. 

It’s fun to dress up like flames. Choose your brightest clothes in red, orange and yellow. If you’re feeling crafty, you could make a headdress or skirt out of strips of fire-colored cloth or ribbons, that will flow around you when you move. A flame-colored scarf is fun to wear and dance with. If you like using scent, try something spicy like cinnamon.

Gather your materials. 

Get together the means you have chosen to create a fire. Don’t forget to bring a way to keep it safe and to put it out at the end. Water and/or sand are useful for this.

Cast your circle. 

Go to your chosen place, and set up your fire, whether it be some candles in a wind-defying glass container or an actual fire in a ring. It will add extra fieriness if you can set up tiki torches at the quarters. You could draw your magic circle with a lit candle, a torch, or an Independence Day sparkler.

Call quarters.

Since this is a ritual dedicated to fire, you might call all the directions in term of fire. For east and air, you might call upon the phoenix or sparks flying up from a bonfire as fire of air. In the south, you could call on fire of fire, perhaps conflagrations or the fire of passion. For the west, fire of water could be steam or geysers, and in the north fire of earth is a good place for volcanic imagery, like magma and lava. Use your creativity!

Call in Deity.

Now it’s time to call in the deity you have researched. This should be a force that fits with the magical action you have planned (see below). Use the fire you have lit to draw the deity to you and ask her or him to help you in your magic.

Focus on your intent.

I would be honored if you begin to activate your magic by using the fire verse from Calling the Elements: Fire flare, rising in the sky your fearsome glow deep down, from Pele’s womb, pushing from below. Toast me, burn me, consume me, the catalyst for Phoenix flight. Light the night. Let your power grow. You can hear it in this YouTube video. It’s the third verse:

Meditate.

Fire is compelling. Try meditating while staring into the fire. As you gaze, imagine yourself on a journey into the realm of fire, seeking guidance for your designated purpose.

Do a little magic. 

• There are many ways fire can support a magical working. One common ritual is to write what you want to burn away on a piece of paper. Hold it in your hands to send your determination into it, then place it in the fire. Visualize the thing flying away with the smoke into the universe. Our song In the Fire, mentioned earlier, is perfect for this.
• You might do a Hestia ritual celebrating hearth and home, maybe around Thanksgiving, conveniently halfway between Samhain and Yule. Ask for the gentler aspects of fire to bring wamth into your home. This is a good choice if you do the ritual inside. If outside, bring some of the ashes from the fire home with you to bring Hestia into your space.
• Fire also has the ability to energize you. South is the direction of will and action. As you add fuel to your fire, state the ways you are fueling your intention: resources you’ll gather, steps you’ll take, allies you’ll involve. As you add each element to the fire, vizualize yourself moving successfully toward your goal.
• A fire ritual is also a good way to release magical items that no longer serve you. If a relationship has ended, you could gently burn your handfasting ribbons or other significant object, as a way to unbind that magic. We have a song for that, too.

Raise energy.

Now that you’ve completed your magical action–energize it! Dance like a flame around your fire. If you know how to spin fire this would be the perfect time to do so, either with LED poi or actual flaming poi. You can sing or play a recording of a fire chant. The fire verse from Calling the Elements (the one we’ve been working with so far) is a great choice, of course. There seem to be a lot of fire chants out there. You can choose one you like, or sing several. As you sing and dance, imagine the fire of your intention building up, then, when your energy peaks, send it out into the universe to bring what you desire.

Ground the energy.

Let’s cool down now. You could place your hands on the earth and visualize the fire energy draining back to the hot core of the planet from whence it came.

Food and drink is always a good way to ground. Your “cakes and ale” could be hot or spicy. Fudge laced with chili peppers, a cinnamon roll, curried nuts, mullled cider, and chai tea are all good choices. You’ll want to keep the fire of your magic within, but you don’t want to go away from ritual so fiery that you can’t settle down and sleep later.

Release the circle. 

Thank the deity and the elements and bid them farewell. Walk around the circle of your sacred space, imagining the fire of the magical circle burning down to embers and then to cool ashes. Once you finish the ritual, make sure the fire is totally out before you leave it.

Following through

There’s a caveat here from our dear friends Azrael K and Amber K. who run Ardantane, a pagan learning center in New Mexico. They teach that a ritual like these should be followed by what they call acting in accord – the work on your part to achieve the change you want.

If you burned something away, consider this. What follows using fire to burn away what is not needed? After whatever interval seems appropriate, such as the next dark of the moon, you might want to do an air ritual for new beginnings.

Fire in the Wheel of the Year

Fire is an essential part of the Crows’ Yule ritual. It includes decorating a stove-sized log with things like (non-synthetic) ribbons, pine cones, and sprigs of cedar, and then burning it in a fireplace, wood stove, or outside fire pit. Some of the cold ashes are gathered and saved until the next Yule.

Our Imbolc ritual has an altar in red and white, glowing with white taper candles that each of us lights as we give our dedication for the coming year. It’s beautiful.

Fire is also an essential part of the Beltane festival that some of us attend in New Mexico. Leaping (or stepping over) the Balefire is a central part of the Saturday night ritual after the Maypole has been wrapped in mid-day. Then there’s the drum circle and dancing around the fire that goes late into the night.

In fact, fire almost always lends atmosphere to our rituals. Where would we be without it? How do you, dear reader, use fire in your rituals? Is it part of your Sabbats, too? Do you have other ways that you work magically with fire? I hope you’ll share your own experiences in the comments section below.