|
Wellness and Healing
at the Alchemical Fire Circle
We are not healed by others -
we work to bring and
maintain a state of wellness.
Others may guide us in discovering a path
or
perspective which enables this,
but we are the ones who do the work.
We are all responsible for our
own experiences. As adult individuals, we take response-ability
for our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual selves. In the Sacred
Fire Circle, we're mindful of people's personal space, and do our
best to respect other's boundaries. We honor the skills and gifts
that each one of us brings, and our shared goal is to honor and empower
each other to become our highest, healthiest visions.
Alchemy, Dark and Light
The Alchemical Fire Circle is a process based on ancient and modern
principles of personal transformation. Many of the metaphors we use
at our Fire Circles are related to Alchemy and the tools with which
we transform lead into gold.
Metaphorically, lead can be compared to emotional and
physical heaviness, endarkenment, ignorance and self-absorption. When
we talk about "lead", we're referring to the issues that
drag us down, our fears, doubts, insecurities, self-deception, the
pain that keeps us from opening our hearts, creative blocks, difficult
decisions, childhood hurts that didn't get healed, etc.
Gold corresponds with enlightenment, illumination,
self-awareness and sovereignty. When we talk about "gold",
we're referring to the open heart, unfettered creativity, healthy
connection to others and to Spirit, skillful expression, clarity,
honesty, artistry, loving communication, presence, authenticity, wholeness,
and deep integration of body and mind.
The Alchemical Fire Circle as a Personal Wellness
Practice
The Fire Circle is a microcosm for the macrocosm of our existence,
and, therefore, any core issue or challenge we encounter in our daily
life will inevitably be activated and echoed within the vessel of
the Alchemical Circle. As we encounter and sometimes collide with
these issues or challenges at the Fire, it is our ability to negotiate
the situation inside the Circle, while remaining engaged in the process,
which affords us the prospect and probability of returning to a daily
life where these matters no longer activate us. The magic we co-create
in the sacred container, through sustained engagement, ripples out
exponentially into the rest of our lives, for the highest good. Though
it can be challenging to stay fully committed to the creative process
from midnight, or earlier, until after sunrise, it is specifically
this kind of initiatory, inventive ordeal, virtually unheard of in
our culture, that furnishes us with the utmost opportunity for personal
and collective growth
How Best to Remain Engaged, Even in the Midst of
Emotional Challenges?
We've found that when inner resistance, creative blocks or difficult
thoughts and feelings arise, there are several ways to stay engaged.
We make it a point to keep moving in the planetary orbit appropriate
to the issue at hand. For example, if a person is working on moving
through a feeling or concern related to clear communication, they
might find it useful to move in the Mercury orbit, while speaking
out loud, to the Fire. Or, a person who wishes to move through a relationship
challenge might find it helpful to dance in the Venus orbit, using
the motion of their dance to pull pain from their heart and offer
it to the Fire. Or, a person seeking to know what their life purpose
is, could stand on the perimeter of the Mars orbit and focus their
attention on the dancers moving in the inner dance tracks, seeking
a sign or signal that would give them an idea of what direction to
take.
Another useful approach is to "take it to the fire.” Sometimes
it can be helpful to visualize where in our bodies we're feeling a
blockage, and to dance or move from that place. Many people have found
that emotion can be moved and released through vocalization, or making
sound without words. Another useful tool is to write about whatever
is going on, and then burn the paper in the Fire. Also, sometimes
people will burn objects in the Fire which are symbolic or representative
of what they want to release.
Serving Others at the Fire
At our Fire Circles, every one of us is on the "Wellness Team,"
and we are all empowered to be healers for ourselves and those around
us. We give care to each other, responding authentically as we are
guided to in the moment, trusting the process of alchemical transmutation.
Although the journey may be uncomfortable at times, the Work is effective.
Sometimes, a simple hug or just being present with someone while they
move through their process is enough.
In the 1960's, when Dr. Carl Rogers was reflecting on the encounter
groups he had created as an alternative to traditional psychotherapy,
he said that he was most impressed by the extraordinary healing abilities
of ordinary people. Presented with honest expression and given the
opportunity to be helpful, people will often rise to the occasion,
empathizing and providing skillful intuitive support for the emotional
and psychological needs of others. Rogers believed that we are each
our own best experts and that we are naturally predisposed to strive
towards greater wellness.
Special Situations and Personal Support
Please respect personal space boundaries. We refrain from touching,
or speaking to a person deep in their process, unless she or he explicitly
invites it.
At our events, there are trained, licensed medical professionals on
site at all times. These nurses and/or doctors have the authority
to make any and all medical decisions regarding the health and safety
of all gathering participants. There is always at least one medical
professional accessible by cell phone or walkie talkie at all times.
We request that all participants familiarize themselves with the medical
professional on-duty and are informed about emergency procedures.
Please bring any personal medical or first-aid supplies you may need,
such as band-aids, ibuprofen, sunscreen, etc, and remember to drink
plenty of water.
Further Thoughts on Wellness
The Alchemical Fire Circle is a melting pot of all the world's magickal
traditions. It is our vision to create a container that can embrace
and encompass diverse spiritual traditions and paths. The Alchemical
Fire Circle model is a personal growth modality, focused on transformational
evolution, looking honestly at our issues, seeing what our lead is
and turning it into gold.
We achieve this transformation by staying engaged in
a creative ordeal, stretching past boundaries and limitations by taking
risks through creative expression, witnessed and supported by a compassionate
community. Anyone who wishes to engage in the alchemical process of
transforming their own personal lead to gold is welcome.
We are all healers; we are all healing. We are all
dancers, singers, drummers and servers too. At the Alchemical Fire
Circle, we're moving away from old paradigm healing metaphors of "healer"
and "patient." We are moving toward a self- and spirit-empowered
state in which we are all transmuting our lead to gold, with the insight
and encouragement of trusted friends. In the Alchemical Fire Circle,
we are all response-able for our own experience, and witnessed in
a compassionate, loving community. Our gatherings are designed and
based around Alchemical language, symbols and metaphors. It is our
intention to bring our vision for community wellness into alignment
with these symbols and metaphors.
One understanding of Alchemy is that it is a personal
practice in which one works with one's "lead" and endeavors
to turn it to "gold." Whether the "lead" being
referred to is one's personal past, relationship issues, creative
process or spiritual goals, the focus is one in which the individual
IS the practitioner. In the Alchemical Fire Circle, we're working
with our own specific language and symbol set. The biggest difference
is that alchemy is not done to you by someone else. The Alchemical
Fire Circle is a place where we can each come and work our own unique
personal magicks AND be in collaborative creation together.
"Popping and dropping" is old terminology
that came out of an old lexicon related to experiences at past fires.
This mode of expression, where a person dances themselves into a place
where they can no longer control their body, drops to the ground,
and is carried away and tended to by one or more "healers,"
also leads to designated "healer/facilitators" getting burned
out or overworked, by taking on other people's response-ability. We
want to encourage the use of less explosive terminology than "popping,"
such as "opening," (as in heart or soul opening) or "releasing,"
(real -ease). These are gentle terms that do not predispose a celebrant
to exploding or throwing themselves on the ground and rolling in the
dirt.
As the Alchemical Fire Circle continues to evolve,
there is an increased focus on wellness, artful offerings, refined
musical inspiration and heart connections.
Does this mean we do not embrace tears and fears, shaking
and screams of personal darkness? No! There are many ways to "work
your personal lead" at the Alchemical Fire Circle. You do not
need to be, or pretend to be "golden" or "in your gold"
all the time. We actively encourage celebrants to transmute their
lead, to calcinate, go into their dark places, their nigredo, and
embrace the shadow... and to do their own work and to do so at their
own pace.
We honor our human ability to heal and assist others
to heal. We are happy to support others' good intentions and healing
abilities, but not at the risk of our personal and legal liability.
What we're moving toward:
1) *Individual and collective response-ability
2) *Every one of us is a healer
3) *The individual is empowered to be the source of their own transformation
4) *The circle provides a container of safe, supportive, and mindfully
responsive witnesses
What we are asking people to move away from:
1) *Any behavior that encourages someone to spin out
to such a degree that they could not remain responsible for their
own mental, emotional or physical state
2) *Uninvited laying on of hands
3) *Doing "extractions" (from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
the action of pulling or taking out forcibly) or "exorcisms"
(from the Merriam-Webster dictionary: the expulsion of an evil spirit
from a person or place) in the Alchemical Fire Circle
4) *Setting up architecture in or around the circle which formalizes
or validates any particular healing modality
The Caduceus
One of the primary symbol structures of the Western
Hermetic Tradition which permeates our Alchemical work is the Caduceus.
It also is one of the symbols associated with healing and the medical
profession. The caduceus is the staff of the Greek god Hermes, also
called Mercury. The link between Hermes and his caduceus and medicine
seems to have arisen through Hermes' links with alchemy. To learn
more about this connection, look at http://drblayney.com/Asclepius.html
By the end of the sixteenth century, the study of Alchemy included
not only medicine and pharmaceuticals but also chemistry, mining and
metallurgy. According to some, the caduceus was originally a tool
used to induce both healing and dreaming in the temples of ancient
Egypt. Throughout time, this symbol has been found in many other cultures.
The Caduceus is a symbol of balance and wellness. The staff represents
the spinal column and the ball at the top represents the brain. The
serpents represent the balance of opposing forces, similar to the
Yin-Yang symbol. The Caduceus emphasizes that the supreme state of
strength and self-control (and consequently of health) can be achieved
both on the lower plane of the instincts (symbolized by the serpents)
and on the higher level of the spirit (represented by the wings).
The wings on the Caduceus are symbolic of the liberation of consciousness
from the warp and weave of dual systems, once it moves up the staff
between the serpents and further, beyond their reach.
Esoterically, the Caduceus exists within every human being. Through
the conscious process of Alchemy, we explore our interior world by
activating and purifying our subtle energy centers. These centers,
called "chakras" in Eastern esoteric texts, are symbolized
in the Western Hermetic tradition as seven different metals. Each
of these has a correspondence to the seven visible planets in our
solar system, which also correspond to specific alchemical processes,
related to various issues or possibilities, which are explained in
detail in the Universal Fire Circle Alchemy article.
We can imagine that we have a caduceus inside of us. This "medical
staff," or magic wand, is a useful tool to guide us upon our
journey from endarkenment to enlightenment. The journey begins in
the lowest centers of the body, moving up through the different energy
centers, rising toward the crown. These different archetypes help
us express in words and in images our often-elusive inner states of
consciousness.
An example of how to use your internal Caduceus while engaged at the
Fire Circle would be to imagine the two serpents moving up through
the core of your body, entwining as they go, and looking out through
your eyes. What would you would see if you looked out through their
eyes; how might you perceive things differently? If you are feeling
blocked or tight in one area of your body, you might imagine the serpents
eating the blockage and moving up, assisting you in your journey.
You can experiment with breathing up from the ground or your root
chakra and into the serpents as they rise.
Paracelsus, the great physician and Alchemist said:
"The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician.
Therefore the physician must start from nature, with an open mind."
Abraham Maslow, psychologist and philosopher reminds us that one "can
feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only
in the present can we act. The ability to be in the present moment
is a major component of mental wellness." Finally, let us remember
that the concept of total wellness recognizes that our every thought,
word, and behavior affects our greater health and well-being. And
we, in turn, are affected not only emotionally but also physically
and spiritually. We are all on this journey of transformation together,
growing toward wellness as one. We are all here to help each other
in the journey, to guide and inspire, to teach and to learn. May we
continue to melt away the lead and dross that separates our hearts
from embracing the sacred in each other, and to grow in our magick
together.
Moment by moment, let our thoughts, words,
and deeds move us toward an optimum state of wellness as we become
our highest visions.
|
