Visualisation on the element of fire

Here is a guided visualisation. If you want to try it, sit down somewhere you will be undisturbed, take a few deep breaths and read through it, pausing where necessary to visualise your own journey.


Fire: A Guided Visualisation

You are in a safe and familiar place, but it is dark. You have woken before dawn because this is a special day. You have a journey ahead of you, towards something you feel passionate about. Although you know the path you will set out on, you do not know exactly where it will end, or what you will encounter along the way. You light a single candle to get ready by and, as you do so, think about what it is that you are passionate about.

Apart from the clothes you are wearing, you can take only one item with you on your journey. Spend a few moments thinking about how you prepare yourself for the day and the one item you will take.

When you are ready, you blow out your candle and leave your safe and familiar place. As you step out into the open, you see the first rays of the sun’s light on the horizon. You watch as the glow begins to spread into the sky in the east and you start your journey.

You are travelling along a pathway as the sun rises. You continue for a long while, the light and heat of the day increasing. Be aware of what is around you – the road, the landscape, the sights, the sounds and the smells.

The journey is long and you begin to feel hot and tired. Think about what it is that gives you the desire to continue your journey.

You travel on for many miles, as the sun rises higher in the sky until it is directly overhead. The air above the ground on the path ahead of you begins to shimmer from the heat. The heat haze forms what seems like a translucent and flickering curtain across your path that obscures the way ahead. It seems like a barrier of light and heat that you must pass through.

You have a moment’s trepidation before passing through this barrier, which seems like some gateway beyond which are things you are unsure of, but you know you must pass through it, so you do.

On the other side of the heat haze, the landscape has changed. It seems rocky and volcanic. It is very hot. Yet the pathway continues onwards and you continue your journey.

After a while you see a figure ahead of you, standing in the middle of the path. The figure waves at you, as though they wish to attract your attention, so you stop to talk to them.

The figure tells you the road ahead, just out of sight, is broken by a fissure. They say there is a gap in the road that is impassable, and that you should turn back. They do their best to persuade you that you should not go any further. What do you say or do?

If you took their advice and turned back, then you return to your safe and familiar place. Perhaps you will try the journey again another time or in another way.

If you decided to continue your journey, you leave the figure behind you and continue on to the break in the road.

It seems as though some movement of the land or an earthquake has cracked the road. A long fissure lies across it. There does not appear to be a way around this fissure, which stretches in either direction across your path. There is nothing you can see to bridge the gap, as the land is rocky and bare.

The only way across is to jump – yet it is a long way, further than you have ever jumped before and you are unsure whether you can make it. You also realise that if you are to attempt the jump you must unburden yourself of everything unnecessary, yet the only thing you are carrying is something you chose to bring with you. Something important. Spend a few moments deciding what to do, then make the jump.

You have survived the leap and once again you can see a way forward, a path leading towards your destination. You travel on for a considerable distance and for much time.

The sun finally begins to set ahead of you. The sky darkens as the sun lowers towards the horizon.

As you crest a hill, you see below you a huge bonfire. In front of the fire, figures are dancing. It seems to be some sort of celebration and you know that you must be near your destination. The fire lies along your path, so you must approach it. As you do, the figures wave at you and beckon you over. You feel the urge to join the dancers and join in the fun. Approach the fire, talk to the dancers and decide what you will say to them and do.

Your decision was the right one. You spend as much time with the dancers as you need, but eventually you know you must continue and the dancers agree with you. They point out the way ahead, although you see that the path has an added hazard for it is covered in burning, glowing coals. You must walk over them to continue your journey.

Spend a moment preparing yourself.

You take that first brave step, putting your feet on the smouldering coals, yet you find that you are safe. You are unharmed by the fire, though you may feel its heat.

You walk on, seeing shapes and shadows in the glowing coals and flickering flames. These shapes and shadows may have significance for you, watch them and learn what they show you and discover if they have meaning.

You approach the end of the burning pathway and a curtain of fire rises before you. You have no option but to rush through it, feeling its flames flicker over you, burning away your fears and misgivings, but leaving you unharmed.

You are at the other side. You find that you are in a chamber in the heart of a fire. You are quite safe and comfortable, but fire and flames are all around the edges of this place. Your know your ordeal is behind you and you are close to your destination, although it may not be what you thought it would be at the start of your journey.

At the far side of the chamber you see a figure you know to be the guardian of fire. Taking a deep breath, you approach them, giving them the greeting that you feel is right.

And the guardian replies, speaking some words that are meant for you alone. Words that tell you something vital regarding the thing that you feel passionate about. Spend as much time as necessary listening to what the guardian has to say, and conversing with them as appropriate.

Your conversation draws to a close. You thank the guardian for what you have learnt and what you have seen.

The guardian beckons you again, and hands you a gift, for you to take with you – something that will help you achieve your heart’s desire.

You look to see what the gift is, as it is placed into your hand. And, as you look at the gift, you become aware of a change around you

When you look up you realise that you have returned to your familiar place. Any item that you lost along the way has been returned to you. You are safe.

Take time to re-acclimatise yourself with the normal world and, when you are ready, open your eyes.

You can find more guided visualisations in my book Pagan Portals - Guided Visualisations.