Using Fire to Empower Resolutions & Goals

Well, here we are in a new year with a new strain of covid. Not what any of us were hoping for. What this says to me is that we still haven't figured out how to deal with this situation. You can call it a problem if you like dealing with problems or you can just see it as a situation human beings have created and now must learn to properly handle. We can look at our lives this way also. It is up to each individual to choose if their life will be filled with problems they need to fix or simply situations that are providing an opportunity for soul growth. It is your choice. I have a thing about words. This is a good opportunity to feel into the energy of words. Would you like to have a problem or would you like a situation. Which do you prefer? Which energy do you want to align yourself with? It's not a trick question. And it really is that simple. Mind is a tool if you learn to use it to create what you want. Otherwise it will use you and when the tool provided for your use is using you, suffering is sure to follow. 

Let's talk about resolutions and this practice 45% of Americans have of making them. Ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make news years resolutions over 4000 years ago. Their celebrations took place during a 12 day religious festival when crops were planted in mid March. Romans took this idea and established January 1 as the beginning of the new year in honor of their god Janus. These first celebrations all had religious roots in which promises were made to the gods. Things have changed quite a bit since then and now instead of making promises to the gods, we are making promises to ourselves about self improvement. And it’s not working that well with only 8% of people accomplishing their goals. 

I didn’t make any resolutions this year. I did write down on paper a couple of things I was done with so I could then burn the paper in a ceremony. I think most of us are drawn to fires in some way. I have a fire pit in my backyard so I can enjoy them as often as I like. I often have fire ceremonies around the full or new moon loosely modeled after many that I’ve attended. A guru I’ve followed for many years has conducted a huge 10 day  fire ceremony for the last 6 years at her center just south of Atlanta, GA. And I’ve gone to every single one for at least a few days. They are well designed by her to meet the ancient requirements to access the most light energy and healing for the planet and humans. This is the first year since she began doing these ceremonies that they were cancelled. She brings in powerful priests from India to conduct the ceremonies under her guidance. Her name is Karunamayi or Amma. Amma means mother. She is said to be the embodiment of Saraswati who is the goddess of knowledge and said to be the author of the vedas which are the most ancient writings on the planet that we know about. So she teaches us how to properly conduct pujas, yajnas, and homas or fire ceremonies which are the most sacred ceremonies in the vedas. Before she started doing the 10 day ceremonies, she would offer homas in different cities on her US tour which she has been doing for almost 30 years. She explains the homa as follows: Forms of the Divine are invoked through the power of mantra and profound spiritual intention. Special offerings cast into the fire  while sanskrit mantras are chanted and the combined energy or the fire, offerings and mantra generates powerful spiritual vibrations  that bless and purify everyone present spreading peace and healing through the world.” Sounds pretty spectacular doesn’t it? It is just incredible.I was hooked from the very first one I attended more than 10 years ago. They are elaborate ceremonies with more flowers than you can imagine. And every kind of food offering specified in the texts, that will create the most blessings. She also brings many medicines so their healing energies can be released into the atmosphere which along with the smoke has a purifying and healing effect. There is no way to properly convey the magnificence of these experiences and the beautiful  and auspicious things that seem to happen around them! There are strict guidelines that must be followed for the maximum benefit of both the participants and the world. One of these is that Women must wear a sari and men a dhoti. It didn’t start out that way but in the last three years she has asked that this rule be followed. It has taken a while, but finally while traveling with this same teacher in Sri Lanka a few years ago, I really learned to wrap a sari. We are talking about 9 yards of fabric ladies!!  And there’s nothing easy about it! I remember the first time I wore one and immediately one of the indian ladies just took me in the back and got out her safety pins and helped me out. Slowly but surely I stopped looking like I had a sack of some kind around me! I  do love the elegant way some women wear them. And there is meaning in wearing them for the ceremony. Around the bottom edge of saris is usually a border of some kind. It is often gold. This border and the wrapping of the sari keeps the energy generated by the ceremony close to you so you can absorb more of it! It definitely holds the heat in as well. And we know how warm it can be in Atlanta Georgia in June! Another one of the rules is that  if you are on your menstrual cycle, you are not allowed to attend. Also you are not supposed to leave once the ceremony has started. There are many more that you learn either from her discourse or from your fellow participants. Most of the ladies are extremely knowledgeable and if you are sincere, they will teach and show you many things. You can also learn just by observing. They will tell you if you do something wrong, don’t worry. But most of them are lovely and kind. I remember the first homa I attended with Karunamayi. It was on the same property she has now developed into much more. It was quite small in comparison. During one part of the ceremony she took a big wooden spoon and stirred this enormous pot of honey. Then the spoon was passed around for you to hold up and take a drip from and eat. This was to create sweet words in your mouth to say to others. I thought that was just so amazing! I never tasted honey quite like that before or since. I remember feeling so high afterwards and wondering how I could hold on to how I felt, how I could keep it going. It definitely encouraged me to experiment with my own ceremonies which I still enjoy very much. She teaches us how to use everyday ingredients that everyone has like grass for simple ceremonies.  I made a point to teach most of my yoga training students about ceremonies and chanting sanskrit mantras. I’ll talk more about my yoga teacher certification experiences in another blog so stay tuned.

 The first year Karunamayi did the 10 day ceremony I asked a new, young, curious and sincere student if she wanted to go. We left at 4am to make the 5 hour drive to the ceremony. It was one of the most intense things I have ever done. And I know she wondered what the hell she got herself into by the time the 4.5-5 ceremony ended. It was detailed and the visual beauty was breathtaking. Karunamayi told everyone that mountains and mountains of karma would be moved by the fire and that you need not do anything but be present. There was a massive jade carved murti or statue of Rudra with 5 faces. Rudra is sometimes called the storm God and is a fierce  avatar of Shiva. It was mesmerizing. I’ve never seen or felt anything like it except the Durga murti that is also installed at her center there in Georgia. Many liquids were poured over this murti for hours. Then a big sheet was held up by the pujaris for some time. When the sheet was removed the dark green murti was now red with kumkum which is a sacred powder. And it was elaborately adorned with incredible flowers and a wide range of colors and objects. It captivated me fully and when we were allowed to, I went up to look more closely at how they had changed the whole appearance of the murti. The energy was just over the top but I couldn’t leave. I just kept hanging around it. The girl who had attended the ceremony with me looked exhausted. I didn’t know what had happened during the ceremony but I knew whatever it was was BIG.

All of Karunmayi’s ceremonies are intense and transformational. There is no way to do them justice talking about them here. A huge, open but covered structure has been built that is obviously ventilated so the smoke doesn’t accumulate inside. Each year, different offerings are made per the ancient texts or astrology or both. Vedic astrology is different from western astrology and there is an emphasis on how to navigate challenging aspects or influences. Ceremony is certainly one of the prescribed ways. One year, we were offering 1008 sweets in honor of Ganesha, the elephant head God you may have seen before. Karunamayi sits at a large fire with a number of sponsors and makes very specific offerings, things that you wouldn’t normally throw into a fire like yogurt and bananas and other wet ingredients. Then she throws ghee on whatever she has put into the fire and it blazes away. It’s important that everything burns and that you allow the fire to burn out naturally. As all these sweets were put into the fire the entire building filled with smoke. I’m talking about thick smoke you couldn’t see through. It was wild. I never felt afraid and no one really panicked and it cleared fairly quickly. It was quite an experience! And I’ve had many more with this incredible being. She is truly extraordinary. One of my most favorite things about her is her laugh. She laughs like a child and I would do most anything to hear that laugh and I’m sure I’m not the only one. She is also absolutely adorable with the longest braid I’ve ever seen down to her ankles. And she always looks so beautiful. I went to her ashram in south India for a three week silent meditation retreat a number of years ago. It was a pivotal experience on my journey so far and I’ll never forget how I felt while I was there. 

Of all the elements, fire is often considered the most important as it is the most transformational.  Think about it. Anything that comes in contact with the fire is forever changed instantly. This isn’t true for water or wind or earth at least not instantly. Fire ceremonies are one of the core rituals in many medicine traditions. For Mayans, fire ceremonies could easily be considered to be the heart of their spiritual practice. The Aztec god of fire was thought to be the creator of life. Virtually every culture has a relationship with fire. Maybe fire and the sacred are the missing ingredients in our resolutions practice. Certainly with only an 8% accomplishment rate there is a call for some kind of adjustment to this ancient practice. Combining the transformational energy of fire with reverence for the creation and creator might give our resolutions more staying power. And theres no doubt that rebuilding our relationship with creation and the creator is always time well spent.