A Matter of Love • Sacred Fire

CHAPTER FIVE
Sacred Fire

Everything in the world has come out of one Divine Being, the sacred
fire. The sages are the direct manifestation of that fire. Sages do not
belong to any culture, religion, caste, or creed. They belong to God
. . . Their religion is the religion of love.
—Swami Rama

THE BLUISH-VIOLET FLAME OF THE SACRED fire was spectacular
against the black velvet of the night sky that seemed to blanket our
ceremony. The shamans were chanting as they slowly circled the
fire. As the shamans made their offerings to the fire, the rest of us
followed the shamans’ lead and made our offerings. Here we were
on the side of a mountain just before the summer solstice intending
peace for our planet and for our individual lives.

We were offering up our lives to be healed in the heat and splendor
of the dancing flames. The ancient spiritual tradition of
Eckankar tells us that God, the Divine, is light and sound. The light
and sound of the fire and of the shamans’ chanting exercised a hypnotic
effect on us all. We were joined in a group trance.

The concept of the sacred fire is found in other spiritual traditions
as evidenced in the quote above. For those of us educated in
the intellectual tradition of American universities, we have a tendency
to look at the fire as symbolic. Although there is some truth
to the fire as a symbol pointing beyond itself, the shamans were
sure to help us realize the living reality of the sacred fire. . . . The
healing energy swirled around us while the flames of the fire
danced before us. Warm waves of love surged through us all as the
heat of the fire seemed to penetrate our hearts on this cool night.
Caught up in the rhythm of the ceremony, our individual hearts
merged into one heart. . . .