Each day, I sing a song of welcoming to the sun. I sing my gratitude to the sacred fire of the sun for its life giving rays of light. I sing to wake up the sacred fire burning inside of each of us. I invite the sacred fire within all of life to be a guiding light of compassion and love for everyone.
I became inspired to live this daily practice after realizing a man I deeply respected made this ritual a part of his gift to the earth and the people of the earth. His name was Dawn Singer and he rose each morning at dawn to greet the sun. His relationship to the sacredness of fire was so profound that when he visited me in the dream time, he came as a gentle, loving flame of fire. His awareness of the sacred fire within him was so secure, he was known to pick up searingly hot sweat lodge stones in his bare hands.
Though I only got to spend time with him on a few occasions, this incredible man touched my life profoundly. My understanding of, and my love and respect for the sacred essence of fire in all living things deepens because I witnessed him allowing himself to actually embody this nature of the Divine. When I wonder how he became such a profound expression of the sacred nature of fire I find myself reflecting on the many hours I have tended our sacred fire during the week of SpiritQuest ceremonies, and the reflections of others who have tended these fires.
There is something awe inspiring that happens when we become still with the flame of a fire. There is a comfort with and a passion for life that stirs within us when we sit quietly and meditate with fire. Our minds become quiet, our hearts open wide, and our deepest dreams seem imminently doable. We become present in the precious moment of now, and we know ourselves as part of a great mystery unfolding itself through us.
Dawn Singer's influence continues, beyond his death nearly a year ago, and reaches out to each of us at Earth Ceremonies. I hope you will accept our invitation to light a candle, and then join the sacred fire of your heart with ours, and with the heart of Dawn Singer and other spirits of the fire on this New Moon, as together we honor the healing nature of the sacred fire and its guiding light of compassion that lives within us.
