FIRE: The Will to Power

Long ago, deep in the mist-enshrouded years of antiquity, primitive man began his slow ascent to dominance over his environment. In these ancient and unrecorded days our distant ancestors realized that their survival in a worl d of fearsome animals and overpowering natural phenomena depended directly upon their ability to control the very world around them. The first step taken upon this great road to ascendancy was the harnessing of the most ethereal and dangerous element known to man; the element called Fire.

Existing (as all four elements do) in several forms ranging from physical to metaphysical, Fire bears wondrous gifts to those who know how to safely harness its awesome energy yet it also carries risks greater than any o f the other three elements. In order to explore this sacred element we will examine it on its different levels and consider its far-reaching effects on our existence.

The first true understanding of Fire was achieved by ancient man firstly on a physical level. Many natural phenomena create fire daily, from the jagged forks of lightning that wound the sky to the deep seas of molten rock that bear aloft the very crust of our planet. Man had learned to fear fire, learning painful lessons about the nature and dangers of this beautiful and bright flower. Ultimately, the day came when primitive humans learned how to use fire in daily life, and then how to create it seemingly from nothing. With this knowledge humans gained power to create something not of thems elves, something seemingly godlike in nature and demonic in character. Light was shed from this great incarnate piece of divinity, and more importantly, heat. No longer did so many suffer and die of exposure when the cold winter came. The great winds had lo st a little of their bite, and the cold ground upon which our ancestors laid their heads warmed a little under the touch of this new power. Fire, however, had yet to reveal its most underrated gift; the ability to cook killed parasites in meat and helped slow the spread of animal disease to humanity. This may perhaps be the catalyst for the survival of our race in its early and embryonic phase. Yet fire by its very nature also consumes. The wind always blew, water always flowed and the earth rested always b eneath the skies. They were constants. Fire required destruction to survive. It needed fuel to burn in order to bestow its gifts of heat and light. Here then may lie some of the original propitiatory sacrifices of primitive humanity; an offering of wood, grasses and leaves to the semi-divine fire in exchange for the power to survive. Is it not said that the Gods need us as much as we need them? Perhaps the origin of this psychic truth lies here.

As important as fire was to primitive man, however, its qualities were rooted far deeper in their bodies than they were aware of. In every cell of their bodies combustion of a sort took place. Fuel from wind and fuel from food combine within the bodies of all living things and unleash the very energy that fuels even our most insignificant movement. Within our bodies flow the electrical impulses that allow us to function in the physical world, arcing eternally from axion to axion, from nerve to nerve, from brain to body. All of these are subtle, but vital functions o f physical fire, yet the most obvious influence of physical fire is found not in the bodies or campfires of our ancestors or ourselves but rather high above in the ageless nuclear fires of the sun. Deep within this mighty star is the heart of physical fire . Element after element is transmuted and sacrificed, hydrogen to helium to iron in a never ending dance of creation and destruction, and herein lies the physical transmutation into the fifth element, cosmic alchemy, manifested in the physical universe through all the m yriad forms of radiation. If our planet rested a little farther from the sun life would have frozen and choked before it could begin, and if it rested a little closer it would have been incinerated before the lowliest prokaryote could struggle into being.

The element Fire is balanced by Water, the third element, and the two are mutually destructive and creative. Fire is extinguished by water, and water evaporated by the heat of fire, yet steam results from this volatile union, and thusly Air is called an intermediary between the two elements.

Moving beyond the seemingly simple physical aspects of fire we find ourselves drawn into the next level of fire, that of the mental or psychic realm of manifestation. Psychic fire is the Will of man. It is the force that, when focused, allows us to shape the environment around us. It allows us to control ourselves; any conscious action taken by a human being is a function of will, and this force is tied in fundamentally and inexorably with magick in all its various forms . The very act of continuing to live is the result of an act of will on one level or another. The will is a natural progression from the eastern element of air and its psychic aspect of mind, that is, reason and knowledge. Before we may will something to be or an action to occur we must know what that action is. For example, if the soup we sit down to eat tastes bland, we have recognized the problem because of our idea of how it should taste. We may then use our will to change the taste of the soup, perha ps by adding salt or some other spice pleasing to our palate. By definition, this is of course an act of magick as well, but then again, will and magick are natural bedfellows, and one does not exist without the other. Once we have become aware of the path we wish to follow, the will presses the gas pedal and we begin to move in the direction we have chosen.

This doctrine of fiery will is not limited to man, however. Every living being possesses will, and a prime example of this is found in the social structure of a pack of wolves. One wolf, termed the Alpha male, assumes a dominant position and maintains this position through strength of will. His desire, or will, to lead and dominate the weaker members of the pack around him is focused by his very position and by his right of leadership. Challenges to the authority of the Alpha male are rare, and are in fact usually only the result of the presence of another Alpha within the territory of the pack. As human beings we too obey these unwritten laws, for altho ugh they are not laws in the legal sense, they are deeply ingrained within millions of years of mental, emotional and genetic development.

Of the five senses through which we relate to the world sight is attributed to the element of Fire. The reason behind this is obvious. Light alone makes sight possible, and light is a function of fire. The eyes, the organs of sight, have often been ascri bed magical powers, and are in fact a vessel of will. We hear of icy stares, hypnotic gazes and the evil eye, all of which are actually expressions of will upon others.

When we stand within the Magic Circle, will flows forth from the south, although we call this will power, for that is truly what will is. The two words are often found together in our language, for example in the word 'willpower' and in the writings of philosophers both in English naturally and through translation. Neitzche's will to power is a prime example.

More of the meaning of psychic fire may be gleaned by examining the astrological signs associated with it. These signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. The sign Aries is often expressed through the key phrase ' I am' . In Hebrew, this is AHIH (Aleph, He, Vau, He), the name of God associated with the sephira Kether. AHIH (Eheieh) is usually rendered 'I am' , but a more accurate translation is ' I will cause to become' . This is the ultimate expression of the divine will to create, the primal and original act of magick only truly duplicated by human beings in the conception of a child. The second sign of Fire is Leo, whose key phrase is fittingly enough ' I will ' . This is not a statement of obeisance, but is rather an outward rushing of force, the natural participial extension of the future-tense intent to create embodied ultimately in the phrase of Aries. The third sign of Fire, Sagittarius, carries the phrase 'I see' , another association that is not difficult to understand. So, magically, we may say that the doctrine of psychic fire can be expressed in the desire to create, the act of creation and finally in the witnessing of that which we have created. Fire is the will to be, or to cause to be; all magic is deeply rooted here. This is expressed in Genesis as well. YHVH as Eheieh wishes to create, so He does so, and then He saw that it was good .

In our Craft, our will is symbolized by and focused through the athame, or dagger. This also makes perfect sense, for the athame by virtue of its very form and construction seems a tool to accomplish our will, and any one who has ever spend a little time camping o r hiking with even a mere pocket knife can attest to the amount that may be accomplished with it. Athames in the grimiores, such as the Key of Solomon, are often decorated with various symbols that are found not only on these ceremonial implements but also within our Craft. For example, one certain symbol is said to represent power flowing forth from the Horned God. If this is not a symbol of will what is? One of the few Magical Weapons common to almost all grimoires is the Black-handled Knife, aka the Athame; we could take this as a nearly universal acceptance of the importance of will, certainly within the Western Tradition.

It is not all that rare that one finds the sword attributed to Fire as well. Although the sword and the athame are often interchangeable in ritual use, there are certain fundamental differences in the two. A knife, that is, an athame, is primarily a tool , as most people are well aware. A sword, however, is a weapon by nature. Referring these two tools to the Qabalistic Tree of Life, the athame (or dagger) is the elemental tool of the sephira Netzach (the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn incorporated a blind here, reversing the attribution of the Athame to fire and the wand to air. This was once explained away to me by an Alexandrian initiate who felt that the athame was placed in the airy Yesod in order to show that the will ultimately derived from the intellect. If this is so however, what is the magical value of elemental fire?, while the sword is attributed to the sephira Geburah. Both are actually seats of Fire on the Tree, although Geburah rests higher upon its pillar and represents the principle of Universal Catabolism as opposed to the raw emotion of Netzach. We can therefore, at times, utilize the sword as we would the athame, but it m ay be a little difficult to dunk a broadsword into a chalice (although the ego may benefit a little from this magical statement)

Examples of magical blades in folklore and mythology include Excalibur and the Sword of Nuada. Other examples may be found in the legends of the Japanese, continental Celts and other peoples scattered across the world. The instructions given in the grimoires concerning the making and consecration of the athame (often called the Black-Handled Knife) are typically tedious and long. Typical instructions include bathing it in the blood of various animals, doves and moles being examples, and long lists of the aforementioned magical symbols meant to be inscribed on the blade or hilt of the tool appear in books such as the Key of Solomon and the Book of Ceremonial Magic and Pacts. The traditions of our own Craft have often stated that the athame should be double-edged and black-handled, although these statements vary greatly depending on the source. Gavin and Yvonne Frost shun the use of steel and have supported the idea of bronze blades, although this eliminates the possibility of magnetizing the blade such as Eliphas Levi suggests. Ultimately, as with all things magical, the feeling given off by a tool is more important than the actual material used.

Our emotions too are also affected by the Fiery force. Although emotions are primarily the province of elemental Water, Fire rears its head in the lust of the Young Lord and the profound and mysterious burning love of the Dark Lord for the Lady. So too i s it for us. Love is so often likened by poets and songsmiths to fire and burning embers that it is nearly impossible to separate the two in the collective unconscious. Some of our phrases and euphemisms referring to love reveal an obvious connection to fire; for example, we often say that one 'has the hots' for someone, or that they are 'burning with desire' .

Symbols that represent fire vary according to tradition, but a few of the better known ones and brief explanations follow.

This symbol is the Golden Dawn emblem for the element of Fire. Its upward point indicates the masculine polarity of the element.

Tejas, a red equilateral triangle, is the Tattwa (Hindu mystical symbol) representing Fire. Its use is found primarily in meditation on the element, and symbolizes a tongue of flame.

Similar to the Tattwa, this incomplete triangle is used by some to show the focused nature of psychic fire.

The astrological symbol of Leo does double duty as the Kerubic emblem of Fire in various ceremonial rituals and temple furnishings.

Hebrew, Michael (Mem, Yod, Cheth, Aleph, Lamed). Michael is the archangel of Fire in the Qabala. Interestingly enough, the name contains the Mother letters Aleph (Air) and Mem (Water) but not Shin (Fire).

In addition to these symbols, Appendix one contains a list of the basic correspondences of the element. \par }\pard \qj {\fs24 \tab Like each of the other elements, Fire can be subdivided into four sub-elements, each of which is naturally of a fiery nature, but blurs slightly into the other elements. These four sub-elements along with thei r Tattwas and Aleister Crowley's attributions of them to natural phenomena are shown below:

Fire of Fire: Lightning (swift violence of onset)

Water of Fire: Rainbow (fading spiritualized reflection of the image)

Air of Fire: Sun (steady force of energy)

Earth of Fire: Mantle (the fiery rock ocean under the Earth's crust)

There is a great value in understanding each of these sub-elements in turn, and experiencing them ritually, but in my previous Air paper I have already quoted a passage from 'Techniques of High Magic' by Steven Skinner and Francis King concerning this and therefore see no need in repeating it here.

Referring to the Book of Thoth, that is, the tarot deck, Fire is symbolized by the sword suit, although once again the Golden Dawn blind mentioned previously in the footnotes has polluted several modern decks and the symbolism of colour has become a little blurred.

Finally, we come to the spiritual meaning of Fire. According to Aleister Crowley, an element finds its birth in its cardinal sign, its life in its fixed sign, and its spirit in its mutable sign. In the case of elemental fire, this would place the astrological signs of fire in the following order: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, as they appear in the Zodiac. The spiritual meaning of Fire may therefore be found in the phrases I am, I will, I see . The spiritual seeker may then seek the spiritual meaning of fire firstly by 'sifting people to find the human' , that is recognizing the inherent divinity within (the Higher Soul), then setting the trained Will in motion towards enlightenment and the divine and finally by witnessing the result through the Eyes of the Spirit which are opened through intuitive understanding of the element.

Naturally of course, merely understanding the element of Fire does not immediately impart spiritual wisdom or attainment. Fire must be balanced by the other elements, especially by its opposite and therefore complement, Water. This is why the sephiroth Netzach (Fiery) and Hod (Watery) are opposite each other on the Tree of Life, and why this pattern continues up the Tree with fiery Geburah balancing watery Chesed and Chokmah balancing and finding its completion in Binah.

Ultimately, an understanding of Fire is one of the necessary tools to the seeker of enlightenment in the Greater Western Mysteries, but it must ever be remembered that in order to bestow its great benefits upon the seeker Fire must consume and destroy as well. Here of course, is one of the earliest instances of sacrifice one will encounter. Even the authours of the Old Testament have used Fire as a symbol; 'Who may rake fiery coals into his breast and not be burned?' -Psalms. Truly, no one may. but the true test of understanding this element lies here, in knowing when Fire has burned away the dross and left only the purified and tempered soul shining clearly like a brilliant gem.

APPENDIX ONE: Correspondences of Fire

Season: Summer

Time: Noon

Tool: Athame / Dagger and Magical Lamp

Sephiroth: Netzach (Hebrew; 'Eternity' ), Chokmah ('Wisdom' ), Geburah (' Strength' )

Direction: South

Colour: Red and variations (crimson, rust, poppy-red, etc)

Planet: Mars or Sun (also Venus qabalistically) \

Signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius

Human Being: The Will

Polarity: Masculine

God Name: YHVH Tzabaoth

Archangel: Michael (Mem, yod, cheth, aleph, lamed)

Tetragrammaton: Yod

Mother Letter: Shin

Spirit: Salamander

Wind: Notus

Stones:\ Ruby, garnet, cat's eye, jacinth and generally all red stones

Herbs/Plants: Peppers, jalapeno, poppies, cayanne, chili, tiger lily, geranium, sunflower, almond (in flower)

Animals: Ram, owl, lion, centaur, horse, hippogriff, dog, sphinx

Magical Weapons: The horns, energy, burin, discipline, the Arrow

Scents/Incenses: Dragon's Blood (sanguis draconis), olibanum, lign-aloes

Figures: Puer, Fortuna Major, Fortuna Minor, Acquisitio

World: Atziluth (Archetypal)

Permutations: YHVH(final), YH(f)VH, YVH(f)H, YVHH(f)

Alchemy: Sulfur

Pentagram: Lower right point

Metals: Iron, gold

Divinities: Men Thu, Shiva, Ra-Hoor-Khuit, Pasht, Sekhemet, Mau, Vishnu (Nara-Singh and Horse avatars), Thoum-aesh-neith, Kabeshunt, Horus, Tarpesheth, Agni, Yama (judgement aspect), Athena, Mars, Minerva, Vulcan, Hephaestus, Pele, Tezcatlipoca, Brigid, Amaterasu Omikami, Shekinah, Arthur (as Warrior-King), Lugh (as solar deity) , Apollo, Helios, Ra, Grainne