2017: Year of Fire

What does the element of fire represent?

Fire is creativity, enthusiasm, motivation and inspiration.  Fire is the spark that gets us going.  It is our desires and passions.  Fire lights the way and keeps us warm.  

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2017:  Light-en Up

On New Year's Day, I spoke with a friend about her experience on New Year's Eve, and as I did was relating it to my own.  Things didn't quite turn out the way she had wanted, and my evening wasn't without its hurdles.  At first I thought, this better not be some omen about what to expect this year.  But as I thought about it more, the words that popped into my head were "Light-en Up".  

Lighten up!  Be the light, bring the light, look for the light, allow the light.  Allow yourself to move towards ease and away from struggle.  Drop the baggage.  Drop how hard or unfair you felt 2016 was.  Just let it go.  Lighten up!  This is the beginning of a new year and of a new cycle and we are bringing fire - the light!

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This year, 2017, is a "1" year in numerology.  This means 2016 was a 9 year and thus closed out a cycle, and 2017 is a new beginning.  It is an initiation.  Fire is also the element of initiation.  Astrologically 2017 has a predominant fire vibe with a lot of planetary activity occurring in signs that are the fire element.  In Chinese astrology, 2017 is the year of the "Fire Rooster".  Again the element of fire is being highlighted.  

This year's gonna be a scorcher!  All of this fire is truly powerful, but we must handle with care.

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Egyptian Goddess Bast/Bastet

Right after that conversation on New Year's Day with my friend, I was driving and saw a black cat sitting on the side of the road that I had never seen before, and the Egyptian cat-goddess Bast/Bastet immediately came to mind.

​Bast is a goddess of music and dance, joy and sensuality.  She is also a goddess of protection. 

Not only were cats revered and kept in homes in ancient Egypt as protection from mice and snakes (cats being their natural predators kept populations down and lowered the risk of disease), but this goddess was also linked with fire protection supposedly because of an ancient Egyptian belief that if a cat ran through a burning household she would draw the flames out behind her.

So on the first day of this year of fire, I am reminded of this ancient goddess who is not only a patron of the creative arts and living lightly and in joy, but who is also a goddess of protection, and more specifically fire protection!

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Fire Safety

And so in order to harness this fire energy we must work with it consciously.  

​Fire needs a container.  If a fire is allowed to burn out of control, it will exhaust its resources quickly and may also cause destruction.  

If the energy of fire is harnessed, it is very useful to us.  It is an energy source that gives us light and warmth; we even use it to cook food and nourish ourselves.

Harnessing this energy to gain the most from it will involve boundaries and structure to contain the fire.  The creativity must be balanced by responsibility. Having light and heat and warm food doesn't serve us if we burn our house down.  

​If we get a great idea and run with it and don't take time to eat or sleep, we will soon burn through our body's resources.  

​Write down the ideas and structure them with an action plan so that you may bring them into being without them, or you, burning out.

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Wands are the suit of fire in the Tarot.

Ace of Wands, Shadowscapes Tarot

"Wands represent the element of fire.  They are masculine energy.  The themes of wands/fire include action, optimism, sexual desire, adventure, forcefulness and competition."  

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"The suit of wands (fire) represents our ideas and inspirations.  It's where we feel passion, display amazing creativity, and set our dreams into motion.  This element corresponds to our career, art, adventure, risk-taking, and self-development.  Fire can also represent any of our passions. "

"It is the possibility of creativity, excitement, adventure; a challenge to step forward with courage and confidence.  Plant the wand firmly in the ground and see it blaze forth with crimson light.  Like a response of flint striking tinder, inspiration blooms from that illumination. The spirits and sylphs are drawn forth from their dwellings. In ordinary light they hide, indistinquishable from leaf and twig and stone and sky, but in this glow they slip out and stretch their wings.  They sense that something is beginning. A spark has been lit.  A challnege has been whispered.  An invitation has been extended in this dawn hour.  Once lit, fire is unpredictable and difficult to control.  Uncontained energy can flare into a raging wildfire.  Seize this wild opportunity, and glory in the blaze.  They are beings of fire and the guardians for the wands:  foxes, cats, lions.  They flash with the sparks of intellect and wit, with fleet bodies that dart through the world, and with the burning flame of a fierce and strong spirit." ~Shadowscapes Tarot

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While the Ace of Wands in the Tarot is the initial spark, the King represents the mastery of the suit - the mastery of the element of fire.  

And so as the excitement of a firey 2017 sets in, remember to wield the creative power of fire with mastery and grace.  Give it a container - a structure within which to burn - and tend to it, ensuring it burns evenly, neither being smothered nor burning through all of its resources too quickly.

Harness the power of this wild and beautiful fire of dreams for 2017!