A long, long time ago - so long it seems time wasn't even real - I read a darkly dystopian book called The Road (I was told not to read it, and of course I did not listen, and perhaps I should have, for it is well written and very haunting - let that be your warning).
The novel is set in a post-apocalyptic world, and tells the story of a father and son trying to make their way across a desolate landscape, a decade after societal collapse. They follow a road aiming to get to the coast, trying to avoid other people that not only have lost all sense of decency, but turned towards cruelty, brutality and cannibalism. While The Road is largely a story about the love between a father and his son, it also carries within kernels of truth about our human species. Granted, some of those kernels we'd rather not think about, but there's one phrase that pops up throughout the novel, that in my opinion eclipses the narrative of love between father-son: carrying the fire.
"Carrying the fire" is repeated by the father throughout the book, symbolic of holding on to, and protecting, the best of what makes us human - love, decency and compassion, even in times of unimaginable horror and trials.
You might be wondering how I've come to write about this in a blog about tarot, astrology, and other occult adventures, and I admit my journey is taking me to some wild places of late, if only metaphorically speaking.
Yet here I was early in the week, eager with the zeal of a pagan neophyte, crafting my candle magic as a beginning into my journey working with the fire elementals, or Salamanders. This happens to be my focus for the next three months, by the way, unless I fail to harness and contain the fiery energy that's already being felt around my home (more about that in a later post, perhaps).
And as I sat and consecrated my candle for its intended purpose, I couldn't help but think about that phrase, "carrying the fire". And the more I thought about it, the more apt it seemed for the times that we find ourselves in - though perhaps, just perhaps, if we take into account the whole totality of human history on this tired old earth, from the Black Death, the witch trials, the Holodomor, the gulags, world wars and despot tyrant leaders, the times we find ourselves in are no more or less as bad as any other times.
And perhaps - just like with any other time in history - we are each called to carry within and carefully tend to that inner fire of our humanity, especially when things appear - as they certainly do now - to fray at the seams, no matter where one is in the world.
I do admit though, that I am seeing this from a western perspective - one that has been shaped by being witness to a few decades of abnormal abundance and excess, a small aberration in the context of our long tumultuous history. That such abundance is now starting to slowly disappear, is only cause of anxiety for those who were a part of the middle and upper consumer class and to whom it became a normalised part of their culture (and conversely, gave rise to the counterculture of minimalism and slow living).
For those still eking a living at subsistence levels (which is still a large part of the world, by the way), the current tectonic changes felt by western nations are not even a part of their consciousness, let alone constitute a source of anxiety. That the obscene affluence experienced in the western world was largely created by sucking out the resources of third world countries with impunity, leading to environmental destruction, impoverishment and the mass migration levels of the 20th century, is often conveniently overlooked, as is the role that dominant economies played in creating geo-political instability across large parts of the world. It seems so many chickens are coming home to roost, and history, doing what history does best, repeats itself, albeit with interesting variations.
Of course, it's not just "cost of living" concerns: social, political and environmental challenges abound. People seem a bit tenser, a bit judgier, less carefree - or is it that I'm getting older?! Hard to be objective these days, but I do think society is more divided, polarised even.
Whatever it is, carrying the flame has never seem so vital, for the changes are long overdue and much necessary to shift our perspectives from consumers to conscious creators. The challenge is, do we allow these outer influences to drive our actions and direct our life's direction out of fear (as witnessed by the proliferation of social media channels dedicated to collapse preparedness, to name one small example), or do we place our trust in a higher power (God/Great Spirit/The Source or any other name one wishes to give it)?
And perhaps in choosing the latter, we tend to the inner flame of our humanity that supports our collective unfolding towards the Aquarian vision of community and social equality, progressive reform and humanitarian pursuits that benefit our whole collective. At least that's my intent, and one that I'll be nurturing as I do my best to keep sane in these times of turmoil, as I practice natural magic and light my candles to foster a relationship with the fire elementals.
Until next time,
Comments