Our arc for this year: Finding Strength
Wednesday: Nourishment
We come to this mountain for many individual reasons, yet we find ourselves part of a shared sacred space that we have been called to join. Our hunger for connection with the indescribable sacred, with each other, and with our paths of music, motion, voice, Seva, and the mysteries has called us here. We endeavor to experience the nectar – the rasa, or spiritual essence of our shared days and nights on the mountain. Let this night fill you as you need, knowing you are in the company of beings who offer you a safe, sacred, and inspirational space in which to nourish yourself, and offer your gifts in ways that return that gift to others.
Thursday: Choice
The world calls to us, presenting many thresholds, many doorways to walk through. To open one door is to pass the others. To select one path is to trust each other to choose other directions. Keys are unique – we each have specific gifts we bring that commit us to the doors we open. Which door do you choose at this time? Are you holding more keys than you need? Please feel welcome to bring unused/blank keys you do not need to have returned to you.
Friday: Dreaming
Our dreams come to us in many forms: Recurring dreams attempting to process themes within our subconscious, Nightmares that draw from our fear and anxieties, Lucid dreams where we hold greater awareness and influence over the very content of our dreams, as well as Daydreams where our minds explore hopes and fantasies, and can help lead us to the actions we choose when awake. Some traditions recognize dreams as the language of the divine; a direct portal for gods, ancestors, or collective consciousness to deliver prophecy, comfort, or warnings to the dreamer. Others believe that the reality we walk in has emerged from the dreaming of the divine or is a continuous process we are all part of.
Tonight, we will endeavor to explore our own part in shaping that dreaming, and to cultivate a space in which we can explore the subconscious. Sacred sounds such as didgeridoo, singing bowls, and chimes will be encouraged to nurture a diverse soundscape. Dreams can speak to us through the forms of symbols, creatures, and beings. On this night we invite participants to invite these entities and energies into the circle through costume, animal masks, or sacred objects. Often the words of another will impact or interrupt another’s internal process, so on this night we will let go of our spoken and sung language for some time.
Saturday: Interconnection
We enter into this space together, a community made up of beings with deep roots in the past and strong branches reaching toward the future. We take tonight to offer thanks, to contemplate our path and see how those who came before us helped to shape it. We embody the knowledge that one day we ourselves will be the ancestors, and our actions now will ripple in the dreams and hopes of those yet to come. The threads we weave are not new ones – it is simply our turn to work the loom and to shape the tapestry of life. “Walking, I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly, all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.” (Linda Hogan)
You are invited (but not in any way obligated!) to wear black, white, or red (or a combination of the 3) for tonight’s ritual. These colors are deeply rooted archetypal colors of the Fates in ancient mythology and spiritual symbolism. Together, they represent the complete cycle of human existence.
Each night at SpiritFire, we offer a different focus – a ritual map, of sorts – as an offering to those who engage as a community at the fire circle. The intentions for each fire is developed over the weeks leading to the gathering, usually finalized in the couple weeks before the first night. As they are solidified, we’ll post information here. (Generally fire descriptions are finalized right before the festival starts.) You may see descriptions encouraging things like wearing certain colors, or bringing a mask, or an object that will be used as part of the fire lighting (or in another way during the night.) It’s not a requirement at all, so don’t be shy or worried if you don’t have something we recommend, or if you’d just prefer to not engage in that way. The most important part of these fires is you being there!
As always, the fires are oriented as an invitation to draw you in deeper; to inspire you, encourage you – and sometimes to challenge you – to be fully, wholly present. But there is no requirement regarding how you engage. The program will have more information on timing, where to gather, etc.