Fire is one of the greatest tools humans have tamed.
I have watched the importance of fire in may entheogen rituals, including the peyote ceremonies of Mexico- Where the fire is the center of their religious pilgrimage encampment.
My friends and I have bonfires in the local woods regularly.
We a good amount of beer and other botanical fun. It has become sort of a regular thing for us to look forward to. A bit of the country nearby the city.
What fire ceremonies/rituals do you practice?
-Matthew
I am a shaiva Nath yogi, and we love our dhuni, sacred fire. We have fire puja, or devotional worship activities based on a fire ritual. These fires are offerings to Shiva, and many sweet things can be burned as offerings in spirit.
We also have havan kund, established sacred fire places often in temples, where holidays are celebrated with fire. And of course, arti, at the end of the puja, wherein the darshan, or blessings of a divinity are offered to devotees in the form of flame kindled from a sacred fire.
Shaiva sadhus (renunciates) in India tend their fires lovingly, and smoke their chillums around the sacred fire. Supposedly, not only do they burn away their worldly attachments in the flame, they also cleanse their spiritual auras by sleeping by the fire.
Shaivas smear their faces and bodies with ash from sacred fires, and also anoint their shivlinga with vibhuti, sacred ash. Many people ingest such vibhuti for various healing purposes.
Those who, as do I, live on the slopes of an active volcano, sleep always by a sacred fire of molten magma. This I believe is auspicious and evolutionary.
Jai Guru OM Pele Ma
jaya Ma, jaya Pele Ma
Devi bhajo Pele Ma bhavani
our starwood bonfire can be quite ummmm a religious experience, heh...