Quick note about Fire

The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness. ~Henry David Thoreau

As I previously blogged about spirituality and how I would like to pay more attention to it, it is funny that tonight when I opened my book on herbs, spirituality was mentioned in the chapter I happened to be reading.

I came upon an intersting anecdote I wanted to share from the book, (Plant Spirit Medicine by Eliot Cowan). The chapter I read was about the element fire and of course about spirituality.

Cowan discusses the role of fire in our lives. He says that fire is what gives us pleasure. This connection makes sense in relation to Thoreau's quote about fire being good for cheerfulness and it makes sense in relation to fire being commonly connected to the pleasure of sex among other passions in life.

Cowan goes on to mention that people look for hot stuff in life because our spirits are cold. His take on this void of spirituality and heat comes from a void of love. He says that the only thing that can truly warm us is love. This reflection is interesting to think about if one considers the person who is "looking for love in all the wrong places."

Cowan says that on top of our need for pleasure and heat, we live in a society that is cold-hearted. He explains, "We are spiritually frigid and so we have an infantile craving for pleasure. This craving is whipped into frenzy by purveyors of merchandise of every kind" (p.72). People fill their lives with all forms of pleasure but cannot seem to find happiness. Cowan suggests it is because these people have not found love in their lives.

He also mentions that the element of fire has the power to bring things to maturity. He says, "A mature human being is one whose spirit has been warmed by the fire of love" (p.72). This quote suggests that part of connecting to our spiritual selves and reaching maturity is in finding the ability to love from our hearts and in making space for receiving love in our lives.

Now to the juicy part which perhaps I have built up (I'm sorry). I'll leave it alone after I get this out. I promise.

Cowan includes an anecdote about an anthropologist that went to learn about the songs of the Hopi tribe. On the anthropologist's visit, he met an elder and had the elder sing the songs of the tribe. The anthropologist noticed that the elder kept singing songs about water. Slightly annoyed, the anthropologist asked if all of the songs were about water. The Hopi elder responded that yes, the songs were mostly about water because their need for water was so great in their community and that most of their songs reflected the greatest needs of their people.

The Hopi Elder then said, "I listen to a lot of American music. Seems like most American music is about love." He then asked the question, "Is that why? Is that because you don't have very much?" (73)