Some of us are more susceptible to other people’s energy than most. I happen to be one of those people. I’m a Pisces and seem to have a natural tendency to be in tune with the people around me on both an emotion and causal groove. I guess in short, I tend to think of myself as being an empath. Even as a child it was difficult for me to be in a room where people were experiencing pain, distress, or even drinking because I could not separate what I was feeling from what was happening with the other’s emotional states. For me, when I’m in a position for any length of time with people that process differently from me, it can throw not only my routines into a tailspin, but also my emotional balance because I will tend to hang on to energy long after the influences have left the room. This always make me feel askew. Additionally, there are some people that do not make their own light. They may be caught in a downward spiral of negativity of self-propagation. When they are around, they may tend to literally drain the life off of others. I find often they are not bad people, but lost to the calling of their higher selves and usually they are not even aware.
Alcohol-based lamps in the past were lit in surgical rooms to assist in removing particulate from the air and therefore reducing infections. Medical practices have included fire for sterilization long before our current electrical devices were introduced. Even my mother would heat a needle to white hot before using it to retrieve a thorn under my skin. The knowledge of fire being utilized for cleansing is a well-accepted aspect of the element of fire.
Through meditation we can use our mind’s eye to paint a portrait of our own reality, at least for a little while. That experience may be more dynamic and impactful than any spectator activity like television because our own creative light is engaged in the process. Given that people can impact our energy and that fire is a sterilizing force in our lives, we can call on the fire energy of the south to cleanse and reinvigorate us when we are feeling depleted. Burning candles, incense and sage are used by many religions as means of cleansing the air of negativity and previous energy. Many people will smudge themselves, their possessions and their homes after going through turmoil to remove any residual energies left behind by previous visitors or events. This can be a vital way for spiritualists to revitalize their own light or reset their space between visitors.
There are many ways to do a fire meditation such as this. Below, I offer a suggestion as to how this might look in a meditation. This should in no way be the only way to achieve respite and should not prevent you from creating your own.
I would sit facing south. If I’m on the floor, I like to put a small pillow under my spinal column to assist me with my posture, and I prefer at least a single candle. I will use red if I have a choice as I like to associate this with fire although yellow or orange would be just as nice. I take a moment to center myself and then I claim the space around me. I envision being enveloped in a sphere. I acknowledge it below, beside, and above me. I then take a few slow deep breaths and attempt to stretch my lungs wider on each, holding the air in and then releasing. On the final inhale, I imagine that I’m actually rising up off the ground and on the strong exhale, I release all my energy and imagine that as I slam to the ground the force of it causes all the grime and negativity to bounce up and suspend there frozen. In my mind I imagine brushing the filth out and away from me so that nothing from the space can influence my meditation. I open my eyes and light the candle. I recognize the element of fire as it is generated and ask it to join me in my mind. When I close my eyes, I continue to see the flame although still bright and strong, it does not burn me. I now visualize all of the energy of the day that has collected on me and accept that it is not all mine. In my practice I will imagine an enormous cleansing flame emitting from my core as I exhale. As that flame ignites within me, I extend my arms to be the circle of the fire which is radiating to remove any energy that does not belong. To begin, I pull my palms together at my heart and exhaling, I imagine the flame being struck. I make a downward and outwards circular motion with my hands and the motion continues up until they are above me. I then put my palms back together and as I draw a breath in, I slowly pull them back down to my heart chakra and I imagine the inner breath calming the fire back to a small flame. This may be repeated a couple of times until I feel like I am no longer harboring clinging energy. I then thank the element of fire, resolve my space, and prepare to resume my life.
Meditation is different for everyone and this may not be the best visual for you. Perhaps you need to consider your spirit a candle that needs to be lit to burn off the unwanted aspects, or a match that needs to be struck. Perhaps your concept for the element of fire is more directly related to the sun itself and a visual of flying through its sphere of while all of the unwanted aspects are burned away. Whatever it is, make your meditation your own. For it to have true and changing use in your practice, it needs to gel with you at a core level.
Namaste.
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