Can you dance with fire?
Fire is a powerful element, and one that I have been pondering since I had my star chart read last year, and boy do I have some fire in me! If you’ve ever met me, you could’ve probably guessed. It’s that particular kind of energy that smolders deep within, the embers that I keep burning so that I may ignite them when called to. .
I sat with fire for two nights in a row last weekend at Burning Man. Everyone talks about burning THE MAN, but you rarely hear about The Temple Burn outside of the culture of Black Rock City. This was my second burn, and one that could be described as a gentle, healing, and cleansing kind of fire. My first burn felt chaotic and destructive, but also part of that coyote, trickster energy that really stirs the pot.
The two nights of fire in Black Rock City are meant to cultivate different kinds of fire energy. The man burn is the biggest party I’ve ever seen. It spans 1 mile in diameter and 70,000 people all adorned in blinking lights, fabulous furry coats, wild outfits meant to confuse, seduce, and celebrate. This party is wild with every art car pumping out music creating a cacophony of sound (or “tune soup” as the neurodivergent among us call it) when not positioned properly. It is sexual, playful, mischievous. It gives permission to be WILD and UNTAMED. People dance around the fire naked, howl, scream, laugh, dance, and some even fuck. And, it begs the question … Why do this?
Inside the temple, people from all over the world bring artifacts, photos, poems, and other items to create altars to loved ones who have passed away. It is the largest outpouring of love I’ve ever witnessed and been a part of. Because we all share that in common. We have all lost loved ones. And so, at the burning of the temple, which happens on the night following the man burn, tens of thousands of people all surround and sit in silence as the burning of the temple begins with a big explosion, then rages, consuming all of the grief and sorrow into a massive physical manifestation of LOVE. As the structure collapses, and the embers smolder into ash, there is no choice but to let go. It burns until nothing is left.
In the temple I left a simple note of something I wanted to let go of. Just a small gesture, as part of thousands of small gestures as we heaved a collective, cleansing sigh that night. From chaos to peace… that is the power of fire.
And over the years, I’ve learned to love this fire in me, although I’ve certainly been burned by it and have burned others along the way. It takes some special skills to get close to it, to harness it, to even dance with it, to love it. My dangerous side also contains peace. This is a new wisdom for me - that embodied sense of knowing that comes with experience and failure.
The kind of release - allowing your wildness, your passion, and your emotions to be expressed is part of the process. When it gets suppressed over and over again, eventually it will start leaking out of the seams. So, we must dance. We must shake. We must scream and howl. We must do these things in order to find peace. It is the most beautiful dance, so that we can find balance.
If reading this sounds intriguing, but you’re thinking, “I could never…” then I have an invitation for you. What if you gave yourself permission to be curious? Maybe even a little … flirtatious. I see you, and I’m going to invite you to set up a free discovery call with me, and let’s dance!
