The Fire Within

It has been a while since I last posted. Drawing an oracle card and getting ready to write, I smiled seeing the message in front of me. It is exactly what I have been doing in the past few months!

The card shows a warm fireplace with a crackling fire. A pot dangles above the dancing flames with a wooden spoon ready to stir its delicious contents. Smoke swirls fill the air as it cooks, the shapes reminding me a little of dragons keeping watch to make sure it doesn’t boil over.

Just outside the fireplace, in a darker corner, sits a creature looking in. Perhaps he is longing to warm his toes by the fire and feast on the food. Or could he be foe rather than friend? The fire might be acting as protection from the outside world and anything that harms our peace.

This card is about tending to our own fire, creating a space where we feel warmth and protection from the outside world. This might be a physical spot where you can retreat in times of difficulty. Somewhere that feels safe. Perhaps a place to go when another person upsets or annoys you, or when having one of ‘those’ days.

But the fireplace could also represent the inner world. Making sure that we tend to ourselves by nurturing our mental, emotional and spiritual well being. This card asks us to think about how we might do that in ways that feel right to each of us individually.

On reflection, this is what I have been doing for the past few months without completely realising. Just like the fire burning brightly and keeping the cooking pot bubbling, we can only be there for others or offer a helping hand if our own inner world is replenished. We can only light a fire for others if we light a fire for ourselves.