Firekeepers

December calls us to light the inner fire, lighting candles, writing Christmas cards, decorating and lighting the Christmas tree, and baking Christmas cookies. But lighting the inner fire is more than our holiday rituals. Firekeepers carry forward the traditional ways of knowing and being that allow us to connect to Spirit when Mother Earth appears dormant. When the greening powers look as if they are slumbering in the cold of December, waiting for the Winter Solstice and the promise of light, we can turn inward to light the fire inside.
 
Love sparks our inner fire and keeps it burning with passionate desire to give and share what we have with all our relations. The gift giving traditions offer us a way to spark the inner fire so that we can walk forward into the new year with renewed bonds of loving kindness. We become firekeepers, passing on the knowledgeability that allows us to transmit traditional ways that warm our hearts. Firekeepers use their hands and hearts to keep the fire burning.
 
There are people who know how to love and care for their loved ones. There are others who know how to inspire us with their artistic gifts. And there are the discrete ones who quietly light candles that burn brightly with prayerful intentions, shining through darkness.
 
I began Homing In, referring to myself as the Give-Away Girl in reference to the Give-Away Ceremonies that have been carried forward by Native Americans. The Give-Away Ceremony connects us to the importance of reciprocity. In “Braiding Sweetgrass”, Robin Wall Kimmerer interweaves Indigenous knowledge with biology and botany. She proposes that we find our way forward by retracing the ancient pathway described in tribal teaching stories. As we sit around the fire and listen to the great storytellers of our time, let us find renewed ways to be firekeepers carrying the light forward for future generations.
https://www.robinwallkimmerer.com/about