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January 27th, 2010

jarandhel: (Default)
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 09:43 pm
I'm not sure if I've just learned something, or merely been reminded: Fire is the doorway. [For the gods/spirits]

Please don't take this as a statement that fire is the only doorway. But somehow the formulation "the doorway" feels more accurate/appropriate than "a doorway" in this context. It is how the phrase came to mind, while doing some ritual work which involved fire a few minutes ago.

A quick search for variations on the phrase leads me in interesting directions. "[...] sacrificial fire is the door to Re, or perhaps Re's fire is the doorway to immortality."1

"Sacrificial Fire is the gate through which we feed the goddesses and gods. To sacrifice is to make sacred (in Latin sacri fere). Fire releases the essence of the foods we give to the deities, brings it to their world and sanctifies our relationship with them. It is the vessel of hospitality that cements friendship and entitles us to ask for a return gift. Fire creates a crossroad, a meeting place where we can show respect, good manners, and trade for what we need."2

"From the fire, from the center, the holy ones enter the world. Although we may call to them facing east, it is through the center that they come. We call to them in the direction of the rising of the macrocosmic fire (the sun), and they come to us through our mesocosmic fire, that in the center of our space. In ADF terms, the center fire is the Gateway. It opens both ways; through it the gods come to us, through it our offerings go to the gods."3