The Mystical Power of the Sacred Fire

We couldn't light the fire. We had created the sacred circle for SpiritQuest, but the land was parched and there was fire ban in place. For eleven years we have maintained a sacred fire for 24 hours a day at Quest and this was the first year we weren't able to strike the match.

I stood looking at the spot—the same exact location where the fire had burned last year. I was in shock. Even during the driest of years, just prior to Quest the land was usually doused with a good rain, as if to get the land ready for our six day fire. Not this year. For some reason, we were going to be holding our Quest without a fire.

So, I prayed about it and was shown a vision of an altar to create. With the help of my ceremonial right hand person, we created this altar, complete with the elements usually offered to the sacred fire. We began our week of ceremony and to my surprise everyone in attendance suggested we tend this sacred space 24 hours per day, the same way we did when tending the sacred fire. Our head fire tender got out the schedule and the community signed up, tending our virtual fire from the wee hours of the morning into the chilly nights.

At one point, my husband was on fire duty between 12:00 midnight and 3:00 in the morning. He crawled into bed with me after his shift smelling like smoke. The next day, I asked people in camp if they had noticed themselves smelling like smoke after tending our virtual sacred fire, and many nodded their heads, amused as I was at the power of our mystical fire.

We tended our virtual fire with great love, learning through the process how to more deeply connect with the sacred fire burning within ourselves. We became intensely aware that we were the heartbeat of the sacred fire we were creating within our community. And we willingly held space day and night at the sacred fire, as our elderhood quester journeyed to other realms and back again to discover her three lifetime commitments.

With that much awareness on the sacred fire burning within ourselves, the camp was humming and crackling like a fire. We healed each other, rested, laughed and played together, meditated, sang, and prayed with all of the softness, warmth, passion, and vigor of a fire. Our virtual fire was teaching us how the mystical power of the sacred fire lives and breathes within each one of us.

Unexpected Blessing

One of the great delights of SpiritQuest is the unexpected blessing that may come from one or more of the animals in attendance. And yes, I do mean "in attendance." They are as much a part of the ceremonial week as we human participants.

At this year's quest we had several profound visits from a local doe who adopted us as hers to watch over, and even bless. As though building up to her significant moments with us, the doe was spotted frequently grazing just outside the perimeter of our sacred fire circle. She was also seen just outside the tent of our elder, who was questing for her elderhood initiation.

Toward the end of the week, the elders gathered at the sacred fire circle with our new elder initiate. During the initiation of this elder, the doe surprised us all by standing some feet directly behind the initiate. Several times, she raised her head and snorted while looking directly at the initiate. Up and down, she poised her head with what seemed to be clear intention. When she finished, she bowed her head and grazed.

Later that evening, as the women gathered for the Women's Water Ceremony initiations, we heard the doe once again just outside the circle, blessing us with this interesting snorting behavior. We all paused to listen and receive, what we experienced as a blessing from her.

As if to punctuate the sacred nature of this relationship, one of the participant's dogs was with us at the sacred fire circle. Through various encounters throughout the week, we witnessed this her as being very spiritually sensitive. During one of the ceremonies at the sacred fire circle, this beautiful dog was with us when the doe came to the outer edges of the circle. As if sensing the sacred moment, our canine companion did not make a sound when the doe approached.

This is the magic of SpiritQuest, where we are living in harmony with all living beings, as we believe, it was intended to be. Our willingness to live in harmony is often rewarded, as it was this year, with sweet blessing and acknowledgment from those creatures we consider to be our brothers and sisters.

To be seen, recognized and blessed by one of these good creatures, I can assure you, is a profound moment. The doe who blessed our elder and who blessed the women in the camp has inspired many of us to live each day in sacred harmony with all of Spirit's beloved beings.

Cherokee and the Sacred Fire

As SpiritQuest draws near, I thought some of you might appreciate knowing more about the sacred fire and how it has come to be such an important part of the lives of those who attend SpiritQuest. Whether you will be joining us for Quest or not, the sacred fire calls to many of us and enlightens our spirits, whether standing at the fire in person, meditating with a candle as we do for New Moon Fire Ceremony, or honoring the sacred fire within our own hearts.

This blog, came to be as a result of heart-felt experiences people at SpiritQuest wanted to share. And the heart beat of SpiritQuest is the sacred fire. So it seems appropriate to share with all of you the history of sacred fire at the center of this ceremony.

SpiritQuest actually began with a Cherokee ceremony that was brought to me to revive, called Song Quest. (Later we expanded it to add even more quests and rites of passage ceremonies—becoming SpiritQuest.) In the vision about Song Quest, I was shown that a sacred fire would be kept burning 24 hours per day for the questers who were out alone on the Mother, seeking their sacred songs. Those of us in camp, lovingly tended the sacred fire with our prayers for their well-being and revelations. I can assure you, with only four of us to tend fire that first year, we spent a lot of time in prayerful meditation at the fire. Now, so many of us attend Quest that sometimes we have more fire tenders than we need, spreading out our precious time at the fire.

In addition to tending the fire, while we are in camp we also eat and drink for our questers who are fasting. This ends up being great fun, since you can eat all you want and not gain weight. We eat and drink as prayer, keeping our quester in mind. When the quester comes down from their quest, we get to hear all the stories about how they were thirsty, said a prayer asking us to drink, and felt their thirst go away. We also get to hear them describe the food we ate, or the reverse. We describe what we ate and they affirm which of those foods they tasted. It is a simple and meaningful way to discover how truly connected we are to each other.

Ah yes, back to the fire. On the Cherokee reservation in Oklahoma, the tribe has constructed a village for tourists that replicates life for the Cherokee when only the Native Americans lived on this continent. At the center of a Cherokee village, there was a 7 sided council house and in the center of the council house a sacred fire was kept burning 24 hours per day, 7 days a week, throughout the year. At the beginning of each year, the old fire was extinguished. At that time, all debts and individuals being punished for an offense were forgiven. The entire village (and tribe) started anew.

Then a new sacred fire was lit. Every home in the village received an ember from the sacred fire with which to start their home fire. In this way, the entire community was connected through the heart beat of the central sacred fire. The sacred fire was tended by specially trained fire tenders. I'm sure you can imagine what a responsibility and privilege that would have been. Can you also imagine the unity of heart they created in community as the central sacred fire was tended with love and honor? They were all connected through that single sacred and on-going act of service.

At SpiritQuest, we recreate this custom for one week. Many of us are called to tend the fire, something requiring years of training in the traditional way, and yet we are privileged to get to tend this fire with only cursory training. It is an incredible responsibility, and yet each year, we watch people step up to it with full and sincere hearts. What they learn about themselves, their connection to the community, and even greater connections to Mother Earth become insights that linger with us for life.

If you are joining us at SpiritQuest in person, welcome to a wonderful opportunity to discover more about the sacred fire within your own heart as you are welcomed to the sacred fire at Quest. If you cannot join us in person, please light a candle or get up to watch the sun rise during the week of June 15th-21st, and be there with us in spirit. We simply hold ourselves in loving presence at the fire. We do not put or send energy into the fire. We simply witness it in love and learn from it, knowing that our love co-mingled with the spirit of the sacred fire is all that we or our questers need to find spiritual nourishment. Then observe how the fire responds to your love, and the insights that come to you in its presence.

Through the sacred fire, you join with us in a community based in honor, love and gratitude for all that Spirit has given us.

In my heart and songs,
Reverend Misa

Attracting Your Family

Recently, we have been creating our Volunteer page for the New Dream Foundation's new web presence. When I made a list of all our wonderful volunteers and reflected on what they had done for the benefit of the New Dream Family, I just had to cry a little—in joy!

As a Communications Consultant, I spent many hours interviewing people for my clients to find just the right person to fill a position. What I knew then and now, is that when you find the right people and bring them together doing something they believe in—magic happens. The businesses I consulted for consistently prospered when the right people came into their circle of service.

With the Foundation volunteers there is yet another bit of magic happening. They are finding us. We extend the invitation, but there are no ads in newspapers and professional journals; no resumes or lengthy interview process.

We simply offer prayers before the sacred fire that the right people will find the Foundation if it will serve them. We simply warm-heartedly welcome community members to take advantage of every gift the Foundation can offer them to fulfill their deepest desires and dreams. We simply trust the right people will come together to create their magic—and they do.

Each volunteer gives their time and talent freely for something they believe in, and hopefully the Foundation is giving them what they need in return. Isn't that an extraordinary way to live?

As we meditate and pray with the sacred nature of fire, we are learning what it means to become a compelling presence. Just think about a fire. Isn't it easy to be drawn to anyplace that a fire is burning, like a campfire, a candle glowing at a restaurant table, a home with a cozy fire burning in its fire place? We can't help ourselves. Fires have a way of drawing us near, drawing us together.

We tap into this natural power to draw people together, as we meditate and pray with the sacred nature of fire. That will be the focus of our Fire Meditation in May. So please join us, as we support you in attracting right people into your personal and business life.

Orphaned Children Who Head Households

Most orphans who become head of households lost their parents to genocide or HIV/AIDS. They watched their parents suffer and then in many cases buried them. The oldest (oldest being under the age of 18) of the children are left to care for the younger ones—often with four or five of them in a family.

Fifty percent of these children are between the age of 10-14 years old. They frequently encounter illnesses and their mortality rates are high. Many of them don't even get enough food to eat, let alone medical care, schooling or adult guidance. Many of the children resort to begging and the girls....well, you've already figured it out haven't you?.....They resort to prostitution. Many, too many of them, are not living with relatives. They are on their own—often living beneath tarps, in run-down buildings and even sewers.

After reading these statistics from Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd's well researched book, "AIDS Orphans Rising," I now find myself having a very different perspective about my own life. My problems look miniscule compared to what these children face. I find myself complaining less and instead, becoming very grateful for the blessed life I enjoy. Then I take my challenge and offer it as a prayer for a child who really does have serious challenges.

What is most touching about these children is their desire to stay together. They do so with great perseverance, commitment, creativity and I understand, even joy!

Imagine living with hope and laughter in circumstances you or I can barely comprehend.

These children deserve our support. If we want the best for them, they need to know we love them and have faith in their strengths. And that we can hold for them through our prayers and meditation. Please join us for the Fire Meditations during the next few months as we focus our attention and love on the children of our planet who need our love. Or find a quiet moment alone to offer a private prayer.

If you are really motivated, check out this web site and put your prayers into loving action: http://www.marshallulrich.com/fundraising.html

Sacred Fire Poetry by Richard Bienvenu

I thought you might be touched by this excerpt from a poem by Richard Bienvenu. He wrote it while tending a sacred fire at SpiritQuest. For those of us who have ever sat before a fire tending to it lovingly to keep it alive, I'm sure you will appreciate the calling and sacred space he describes. You can read the entire poem at http://www.spiritquest.info/poetry.html

By the fire
I sit soul in hand.
Sunlight scatters through the trees
Wind manipulates the branches.

This sacred place
sacred space
A time of no time
Where the world stops
And we are renewed.

Fire sings fire dances
Fire calls to me
"Begin again," it says
I will light the way
Call you to renew."

Call you again and again
Call you to the circle.

Helping Others Through Our Connection With Sacred Fire

A week or so ago, I was doing a special, private fire meditation with close friends of mine. As we reflected with the fire, we began seeing images of children in a small refugee camp in what we understood to be Rwanda. These children were orphans, whose parents had been killed or did not know where to find their children. Their clothing was worn, meals were meager and they only seemed to have two adults to watch after the 50-60 children in the camp.

We immediately began holding these children in our compassion and love, praying for their families to find them and praying for additional help to come to them. Whether or not what we were seeing was accurate, what is true is that there are over 1 million abandoned children in Rwanda as a result of the genocide in the 1990's.

Divine Grace brought them to our attention through our meditation, and it is our sincerest belief that their need for our prayers, love and action on their behalf is the reason they came into our consciousness as we sat in stillness with the sacred fire.

At SpiritQuest ceremonies, we learn how to eat and pray for our questers in such a way that the challenges of fasting and being alone in the woods are eased by our support. I find myself these days, eating my meal and energetically sharing my food with a starving child. I have seen such prayers in action help someone fasting on the hill. I find it acceptable to believe such prayer could help a child in need in another country.


And so I extend an invitation to you to add the children of Rwanda to your prayer list. Perhaps, you will even energetically want to share a meal. And then perhaps, find one of the many agencies providing aid to these children and help them out.

From my heart,
Misa

From Holiday Stress to Holiday Joy

During the past holiday week, I have been blessed to be sharing our home with some very dear friends. As I said goodbye to the last of our guests, I felt a peaceful, warm, fullness in my heart.

Holidays in my family of origin often produced a dichotomy of feelings for me. On the the one hand, I loved the magic and fun holidays seemed to produce; and at the same time I strained under the rude words expressed by stressed family members. Holidays were filled with an imbalance of high expectations and not nearly enough compassion.

Fortunately, eleven years with SpiritQuest has taught me that by reversing the order of focus — increasing compassion and becoming non-attached in regard to expectations — allows people to enjoy the beautiful result of living in joy, harmony and fulfillment with others.

By opening our home, with that focus in our hearts, my husband and I enjoyed a peaceful and fun holiday season with several beautiful people who were holding the same focus in their hearts. We found a wonderful rhythm together as we shared this house for nine days. I watched with delight as old wounds around stressful holidays slipped away to become a celebration of each other and the season.