Respecting Fire: Power, Practice, and Community Rituals Across Cultures

Fire can burn a forest—or ignite a life. We explore how to partner with this element as a teacher and gatekeeper, harnessing its power for clarity, creativity, and compassionate strength without courting harm. From the first safety rule to the last spark of inspiration, we ground big ideas in simple, repeatable practices you can start today.

We trace living fire traditions across cultures: African ceremonies that attune through dance and chant; North American peace pipe rituals that convert the power to fight into the choice to reconcile; Celtic shapeshifting and the transformative hearth; South American song circles that turn voices into a circuit of energy over coals; Australian Dreaming work entered through didgeridoo trance; and Siberian sweat lodges where drumming opens the spirit world. Rather than imitation, the lesson is reverence—honor lineage, seek guidance when needed, and build an ethical, personal relationship with flame.

Practical tools fill the second half. Learn candle gazing to sync breath and attention with a safe flame. Try fire scrying with a clear intention and a respectful offering, then read symbols with your own intuition. Use full-moon burn rituals to release what’s complete, and new-moon fire ceremonies to call in what you’re ready to create. Offer your art—sketches, songs, dances—to invite momentum into your work, and carry the metaphor into daily life by remembering that every small spark mirrors the one in you.

If this conversation gave you a new way to think about fire—safer, deeper, more creative—tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a spark, and leave a quick review so more listeners can find these practices. What will you release or ignite this week?

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Safety With Fire
• 2:04 What Fire Teaches Humans
• 4:13 Fuel, Propulsion, and Creative Spark
• 5:17 Global Fire Rituals: Africa
• 8:17 Practical Attunement: Candle Gazing
• 11:26 Dancing With Fire, Not Pushing
• 12:12 Fire Scrying for Symbols
• 15:13 North American Traditions & Peace Pipe
• 18:45 Celtic Shape-Shifting & the Hearth
• 21:31 South American Song Circles
• 23:29 Australian Dreaming & Didgeridoo
• 26:00 Siberian Sweat Lodges & Journeying
• 27:12 Build Your Personal Fire Practice
• 29:00 Full Moon Release, New Moon Draw
• 31:00 Creative Offerings to Fire
• 33:18 Everyday Sparks, Next Week Preview
• 35:05 Gratitude & Review Request

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:20

Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to Rainbows Rising, where we ascend together. I'm your host, Rainbow Raja, Shamanic bodywork therapist and life coach. Thank you so much for joining us today. We are going to be diving a little deeper this week into working with the fire element. So, fire is one of those elements. It is the most powerful and yet also the most dangerous, challenging element to work with. There is a higher risk of unpredictability as well as possible harm. So, as a disclaimer when working with the fire element, please never leave any flames or bonfires or candles unattended. Please be sure that if you decide to work with the fire element, that you do so with your own discernment and that you're very careful about working with this elemental spirit, it deserves a lot of respect because fire, fire is powerful, but it also can burn down a house. So please be very, very mindful and very very careful when working with the spirit of fire. You can do so safely, and you can do so without even having to light a fire. But working with fire can bring so much into your life. The element of fire helps teach humans all about death and rebirth, transmutation, being able to transform and transfigure yourself and other objects into new forms. It's about shape shifting, it's about warmth, protection, providing community connection about your passion, about your drive, about tempering your extremes, tempering your anger with your compassion for others, as well as fire can really put some pep in your step to get things done. It can help you learn focus, it can help you learn drive. Fire is the fuel for all creative projects. Whenever we are creating something, whether it's art or music, whether it's acting, even if it's just a craft that you're doing on a Sunday afternoon, fire is always behind that craft, that creation. Because fire, once again, is the teacher of death and rebirth, but fire is also the gatekeeper for the information and the ideas that come from the ether, from the void, from the beyond, from the unseen, and allows it to enter into our reality and become manifest. Fire is that gatekeeper, which is also why fire, when we work with it, it is so important to have so much respect and reverence for this element. Fire has been misunderstood. It is usually considered to be this destructive force that takes fire, it takes out homes, it takes out forests, that I'm so afraid of fire because I might get burned. Why do you think people associate fear and power and war all behind this element? It is because this element does hold so much ability to launch you forward or to completely decimate the progress that you've made. Fire is what fuels our weapons in this day and age. Fire is what fuels our jets and our cars. It is propulsion. It is the spark that gets us moving forward. Fire has so much to offer us. And if you learn how to tap into fire, it can actually lend you its wisdom, its gifts, its ambition, and its inspiration. Fire has been used all across the world in many, many shamanic cultures. In the African shamanic culture, they being the different African shamanic tribes, they have these big fire ceremonies, these big fire rituals where the entire community gathers around a large bonfire and they dance and they chant and they sing. And the shaman will dance with the flames in order to get attuned to the fire. They become one with the fire. And once they are attuned to the fire, they can sit in the center of the bonfire without being burned, without being harmed, without being charred. They will connect with the spirit of fire and get the initiation, get the honor, get the privilege of being welcomed by fire. Fire will then accept them and bless them with, you know, not harming them. There are other traditions where instead of taking on the attributes of fire and not being harmed by fire by attuning themselves, they might want to extract power from fire. So during that ritual where everyone is chanting and singing, they might ask fire, please, fire, bless me with a gift. Please give me the power to do amazing things. And they will enter in a static state through dancing, through chanting, through singing. And in this time, fire will be funneling this power into the shaman to the point where they will be seen levitating, where they will be seen to be able to manipulate the flames themselves and control the fire itself, to be able to predict the different wisps of the flame. This is obviously a very, very high level of attunement and honoring of fire. And this, I'm sure, has been passed down for many, many, many generations in their culture. So I don't recommend that you go and commune with your fire in the backyard and decide to sit on it. Please use your own discernment and be very careful. If you decide to explore that, I highly recommend that you go and find a practitioner from that background and you learn from them and that you actually have someone who can guide you through the specific process you would need to be welcomed by the fire. If you are interested in doing that kind of deep fire work, some smaller practices that you can try would be candle gazing, where you have a candle, you light this candle and you set it in front of you. And your goal is to breathe with the flame. Not breathe on the flame. You want to put the candle far enough away where your breath won't be affecting its flame, but you breathe. And your goal is to get as close to that flame, to like become the flame, to to envision yourself as you are in that flame. You are that flame. You are breathing with that flame. You're clearing your mind completely. There is no push. You are just being as you are breathing with the flame. Eventually, that candle will start to mirror your breathing. It will expand, it will get taller and skinnier, it will get small and fat. It will get tall and skinnier and small and fat. With each and every single breath, you're becoming more attuned to the flame. And over time, you can start, you know, as you have become attuned, you can start to manipulate that flame by using your energy to pull at the flame or to move it back and forth, to make it small, to make it big, to play around with that little tiny flame. And the more that you work with fire and you're very gentle and you're loving, remember, fire, it is coming from this very, very powerful, you know, forward movement. So when you are working with fire, it's not a push. You really want to allow the fire to have the power in the dynamic. You allow fire to lead, and then you become a mirror or a reflection of fire, an extension of fire. And when you're able to respect fire in that way, um, it is a lot more accommodating to work with you because it doesn't feel that there is a power dynamic issue, it doesn't feel disrespected, it recognizes that you understand that it is the more powerful of the two of you and that you are honoring its power and its ability to do things. So if you're interested in learning how to work with fire where you won't get burned, start with a candle. Don't leave that candle unattended. But you can start with a candle and use your breath and your energy to play with the flame, to make it small and tall and get it, you know, thin and tall or small and fat, and allow it to mirror your breath work, or even you can dance next to the candle very slow, like you are fire. And over time, as long as you are really pushing your not pushing, but you're allowing your energy to connect with fire, and you are just meeting fire where it is, and you're not pushing onto it, or you're trying, don't have a push energy with fire. You want to just reflect and be be on the same playing field with fire. Fire will then start to dance with you. You can have a dance back and forth with fire. If you have a bonfire outside, you can do this too. Fire scrying is also a very good way of connecting with fire. First, you would offer something to the fire, and you would out loud tell it what you'd like to receive scrying for, what you'd like to receive visions for. You set an intention. Here is some pretty flowers I found in my garden, some tobacco, some sage, some rosemary from my kitchen, cupboard, wherever you got it from. I would like to give you this offering to keep your fire burning hot and to connect with you. I ask that you help me see visions of my future business, visions of my future love. Help me receive the information I need to know what steps to take this week at work. Help me understand what steps I need to take when dealing with this difficult problem with my children or in my life. Help me, help me understand how to break through our artist block, writer's block. Give me some, give me some inspiration, please and thank you, blah, blah, blah. And you toss your offering into the fire, and then you sit and you gaze into the flames. And when you see something that looks like a symbol or it looks like a person or an object or a scene, you take note of it. You don't immediately dismiss it because it only was there for two seconds. No, you take note of it. You go, look, there's a guy holding a spear and it's gone. And then it's gone. And it's like, okay, well, what next? Guy holding a spear. That looks like kind of a moon over a lake. Okay. I don't know what that means yet. Okay, guy holding a spear, moon over a lake. That looked like an elephant. All right. So we've got elephant, guy holding a spear, and moon over the lake. What that actually might mean is this week you really have to be aggressive with your approach to your job or with your approach with this person, or maybe, well, that person that I was asking my question about, they don't mean you well because they've got the spear. They're coming at you, right? You have to go with your own instincts, your own intuition. If you need clarification, you can ask fire to clarify through more symbols and scrying. That's just a good, easy beginner's practice to start playing with fire and to start building a rapport with fire so that you guys can have a healthy, beneficial mutual relationship. So, besides African culture and their fire dancing, Native American cultures all across the North American continent, they all actually utilize fire a lot in different ways. One of the ways that they utilize and respect fire is through the peace pipe, being able to take in the power of fire as, and then still choosing to resolve conflict, that is seen as a large strength. So a peace pipe is usually smoked with the either someone that the tribe is trying to reconcile with, create a treaty with, do a trade deal with, they would offer the peace pipe to this other tribe or to the people in the area that they want to trade with. And it opens up a space of even though we have the power to fight you, even though, you know, we might be able to take you, you know, by force, we are choosing to take in that power and to choose peace and connection and compassion. Because once again, fire does teach compassion, understanding, love, and connection. And I believe that the Native American people really saw that taking in fire through the peace pipe is also a really complimentary way of saying, you know, we are connecting through this element. We are connecting. Our breath is bringing in this flame and that we are, we are resolving our differences through peace by sharing this flame together. Another way that the Native American cultures celebrated fire is, of course, they'd have big bonfires like the African culture does, and they would dance and they would cook their meals that they had just hunted on their hunting parties over the fire, and they would dance and they would play music, and it would be very community-based. Once again, fire brings in this community, this connection, this network of bringing people together into a warm space. So I believe that the fire circles they would have, where they would dance and sing, helped once again bring in this energy and distribute it among the tribe. Some other ways that Native American cultures would utilize the spirit of fire is through different artistic practices, such as carving. Carving is considered connected to fire because you are creating, because you are taking a piece of wood, and like fire would do, you are completely transforming it. And as the creator, where you are carving and you are the one changing the shape of the wood, that you are essentially becoming the fire in this creation that you are you are transmuting it. And once again, fire is connected with creativity. Another way Native American tribes connect with the element of fire is they have their sweat lodges, which is a place for healing, purging, and going into the dark to get inspiration and wisdom and power and come out reborn, reborn. Just like fire is rebirth. You are going into this dark hut, you are having to face your fears, you are having to face your challenges, and then you have to come out reborn fresh and new. So those are the ways that I feel best represent the way Native Americans across the nation work with the spirit of fire. So the Celtic shamans, they worked with fire as well. They would work with fire with doing spell work such as shape-shifting practices. From what I've read on shape-shifting practices in the Celtic shamanic culture and the druid culture, it would be they would create a large fire. They would go and hunt for the animal that they would like to assume the form of. And people do rain dances for days, right? So dance is very, very, very connected with the element of fire. And how the uh shamanic, the Celtic shamans would then, they'd offer this animal to the fire, and the fire would then imbue them with the power as well as the form of the animal that they offered. So, in a way, the animal is like a homunculus, like a vessel that tells the fire what shape the shaman wants to assume. And through specific spells and chants, they would then assume that form. And it was fire that would bestow that gift on them. So I believe having this big hearth and this big cauldron and being able to brew these medicines in the in this wonderful vessel, that was also a way that Celtic shamans would connect with the spirit of fire. In South American shamanism, uh, South American people would once again gather around a fire as a large group, and they would dance and they'd sing and they'd all create music. They'd create music through through callbacks. So even if they didn't have instruments, they would use their voices to create this almost resonance chamber over the fire, and they're pouring their energy into the fire so that the fire can then recycle it back into the community. It is always used as a connection point, as a connection point. So in South American shaman cultures, they're always utilizing the fire as this place where they are dancing, where they are singing, where there's reverie and joy and sharing in a communal setting. Australian shamanic culture, they would utilize instruments such as the didgeridoo. The didri do is associated with fire because it is considered a masculine instrument. And in the Australian tradition, only males may utilize the didgeridoo. It is not, it is not tradition for women to use the didgeridoo. Even if they are medicine people, they are not allowed to use the didgeridoo. Um and the reason for that being is it is a large phallic object that is seen to be this like fire action oriented. And I I just believe that it is against their value system in their tradition to allow women to utilize the dejrido for trances and for shamanic work. So when you play the dejrido, you are you are actually creating um a trance-like state. And the shamans would then go into these little burrows after they've created their trance state. And they would come out of the burrow after a long spirit or vision quest. And their goal with working with the Didrijdo is actually to either reimagine the dream, and their version of the dream is what they perceive as reality. So whatever we are all co-creating together as reality, the Aboriginal Australian shamans consider reality as this dream that you can change based on how connected you are with the spirit world. So the Aboriginal shamans would utilize the didredo in order to create these trance states where they could enter the dream and make changes and adjustments to reality and to the world and to actually manifest things that they would hope to bring into the world. And last but not least, we have the Siberian shamans. And like I said, like with the the Native Americans, the Siberian shamans utilize sweat lodges, would go into this space and would enter trance states with drumming or rattles in a very small cave-like environment where they are then traversing the astral plane, the spirit realm, the dream world in order to manifest, to heal, to battle, to change their reality. And once they come out, they have done that transmutation, that transfiguration, the warrior work. So now that we kind of understand how different cultures have tapped into the power of fire and utilized the power of fire across many, many, many centuries, I would like to encourage you to build your own practice with the element of fire and to be able to tap into its gifts and its abilities and to see what you can do for yourself. What can you draw as power from fire? And also what can you cultivate with fire as a partner? So a good way to start with that is to first explore your relationship with fire. Shh, cute. First explore your relationship to fire. So you might recognize that maybe you're a little hesitant around fire, maybe you're afraid of fire, maybe you're a pyromaniac and you love fire and you love blowing things up. So really you have to sit with what is my relationship with fire? How do I feel when I see or interact with fire? What are my first impressions? So, do you see fire in a positive way and a negative way? Are you afraid of it? Are you neutral towards it? You haven't really dealt with it much. You know, it's really important to first analyze where do you currently stand with fire? Depending on your relationship with fire, you can enhance your relationship by doing certain practices like candle gazing or doing a fire ceremony. And that would look like if it's a full moon, you would be writing on a piece of paper all the things you would like to release. And you can do a bunch of different little pieces of paper, or you can just do one large sheet, and you would then uh talk to the spirit of fire, ask for its incredible ability to end things, to burn away the old, to be the catalyst for rebirth. And you would speak to the flames as if it's a friend, as if it's a colleague, as if it's someone you're asking for help from. And you would write all of the things you want to release during the full moon on a sheet of paper, and you would then cast it into the fire as an offering to the fire. And you say, Hey, fire, I give these burdens to you. Thank you so much for helping extinguish them from my life. And on the new moon, you would do the same practice, but instead you would do things that you want to draw into your life, the things you'd like to manifest for yourself. And in that ceremony, you'd want to talk to fire as if it's, you know, gifting you things. Like, thank you so much, fire, for all these wonderful gifts that you're going to help bring into my life, help me manifest. I'm so grateful. And you cast that paper or those papers into the fire on a new moon. Fire ceremonies are really, really cathartic because. You can write letters to people who have wronged you, and you can cast that letter and just ask that fire helps you cut any and all chords away from that person or from that situation. You can write several pages worth of a circumstance that you're in the middle of that you would like to no longer have the burdens of. You can ask fire to cut any and all ties to that circumstance, cut away your connection to those people, to that uh to the events that had occurred to help burn away any and all burdens. So these are some things that you can do to start building your relationship or to foster a deeper relationship with fire. When we are giving our deepest desires or our deepest fears to fire, you're essentially showing fire that you trust it. You are giving trust over to fire to help you take care of really big problems in your life. And as long as you're taking the time to show respect and that you understand what fire is doing for you, that you are able to, you know, respect that fire is trying to help you in this endeavor that you are asking it to help you with. Fire is going to be very supportive. That you gotta have that warmness and that gratitude, and you gotta make sure that you are coming from the heart. Don't use some generic, you know, script that you find online or through Chat GPT. I really encourage you to be very heartfelt and to connect with fire as you would a friend or a relative. Some other, some other practices I encourage you to try would be to dance with fire. So that would be like going out and like actually dancing beside the bonfire and like like really creating this this back and forth, this like, you know, we are partners in this beautiful sacred dance together. I would encourage you to start to utilize fire as a as an inspiration point for your creative endeavors. So before you go and, I don't know, write your book or before you work on your big canvas that you're going to paint and sell. Make a tribute to fire by actually drawing or painting or singing or playing an instrument, you know, like do the creative thing. It doesn't have to be like super de duper, you know, finalized, but do a creative thing just for fire. Draw a sketch for fire, sing a song to the fire, dance a specific dance just for fire. Make a creative offering to fire, and fire will then bless your creative pursuits moving forward because it's almost like it's like going on, so you think you got talent, and you're you're going to fire and you're like, hey, fire, what do you think of my talent? And then fire can be like, Oh, yeah, I think your town's super good. Here's a bunch of energy to complete your projects. And you know what? I know some friends across the world who also connect with me, fire. I know everyone. And I'm gonna send them all over to you. Fire's got connections. It literally is the element of connection. So I highly recommend you give fire some offerings. You can throw a sketch into the fire, you can dance, you can sing. If you're an actor, read your monologue to fire. Fire is not gonna give you any criticism. So these are some ways you can start to cultivate that healthier relationship with fire. Having candles in your home, or lighting incense, lighting sage. And every single time you do recognizing that anytime you light that little bic lighter, or you use matchbox, every time that you are igniting a flame, it is the same spirit that has always connected with you as fire. And that you have that same spark within you, that sometimes you just need that little spark, that little start, just like fire does. So these are just some things that you can consider doing in your practice. There are a lot of things that we're going to cover next week. I would love to cover some crystals and some animals and some specific practices, such as fire breathing, that will help you deepen your connection with fire and how you can utilize fire without actually needing a fire around. I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. I am so grateful for all of your support. If you haven't already, please follow the show and write a review if these practices help you, help guide you, help inspire you. You can find all of my social media connections in the description below or in the description wherever this is. And I really would love to connect with more of my listeners on a regular basis and be able to support you guys in your journey ascending together. I hope you guys have a wonderful day. Bye.