Cleansed by Fire

Fire. An epitome of the duality of nature. On one side, the warming flame that has helped man since the beginning of everything to stay alive. On the other, the burning, raging, destroying inferno that lays waste to our homes and our lands. Balanced in between, it is also cleansing and purifying…the fire of roses.


Since the beginning of our memories, fire has held a sort of sacred place in the legends of mankind. We tell of how the sun is like a great ball of life-giving fire, and fire is indeed almost life-giving. Fire, I am sure, protected early people from wild animals, and it is the basis of civilization, allowing us to cook, fire our tools, and many more things that, although maybe done in other ways now, fire was once essential to. It has a special place in our minds.

Legends involve fire in manifold ways. Fire was once one of the 4 or more elements in different cultures, along with water, stone/earth, and air/wind, at least standardly. It has been embodied and praised as a god or goddess. There are all kinds of stories told about how man acquired fire, how it’s been helpful to us, and more. Fire has also been a symbol of both destruction and purity, both darkness and light. Almost…paradoxical, in a way.

And yet, fire does destroy. Even as we warm ourselves with it, it burns down the candle, the wood, the fuel you throw upon it. Even as it gives, it has to take from something else. What do we sacrifice to give ourselves warmth?

In a way, fire is like the balance of life. When we want something, we have to give something else up. And sometimes, what we want gets out of hand, and we have to start all over at the very beginning. Is this good, or is it bad? Can you really describe nature as good or bad? Everything has a gray area for someone, no matter how white or black it may seem to you. You can’t condemn fire because it destroys, because you rely on it for warmth. Unsurprisingly, this seems to apply to a lot of our world.

It’s like building a tower out of Janga blocks or cards. You work until it becomes exquisite and tall, and then something happens to tip the balance and it all falls down, destroying your entire work and leaving you to start anew. It’s like that in nature as well. Fire gets out of hand when the natural balance has tipped, and it falls upon us and destroys all of it, leaving us to start again. When the natural balance is tipped, we have revolutions, or wars, or plagues. And then, we start over again at the very beginning.

The thing is, even though fire is terrible, even though war is terrible, things always start anew. The lichens return and the forest grows. The people pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and start over. After destruction, even by fire, we can rebuild.

Fire…what does it mean to you?