Fire

The season of Summer is when Fire comes into its Element! At this time of year, the growth in Nature has reached its crescendo. This is the time of greatest expansion, the height of heights when Nature is giving everything it’s got. If our Fire is in balance, we will respond with Joy to this expansiveness. Our hearts are full and open and we contact other humans with warmth and love. The boundaries of our heartfulness are entirely appropriate as we open to love but know when to protect our hearts. The gifts of Fire include love and compassion, enthusiasm and a sense of fun, socialbility, intimacy and passion; also discrimination, the ability to sort out what is good for us and what is not.

When our Fire is out of balance, we can close our hearts, become cold and shut off; or we might have no boundaries as we gush our heart out inappropriately. We might feel joyless, humourless, heartless; or at the other extreme, become easily overexcited, even hysterical. Our organs of heart and small intestine may suffer as well as our blood circulation or our sexuality. Speech and tongue may be impaired. Our ability to digest food, and to sort out on a mental or emotional level can be affected. The way we relate in personal relationships, the way we love, is out of balance.

In treating the Fire Element, the practitioner holds points along any of the four Fire meridians: Heart, Small Intestine, Heart Protector and Triple Warmer. All of these meridians are concerned with how we relate to the world.

We can support our Fire by making sure we have some fun in our lives! Things such as being playful, joking, laughing, hop-skip-jumping, simply being ourselves in a spontaneous way. Spending time with babies helps put us in touch with these qualities. Summer offers many opportunities to be out and about socialising and it’s important we have some of this in our lives. Foods that support Fire are those of a bitter taste such as eggplant, celery tops, bitter greens; and foods that are red in colour like tomatoes, capsicums and beetroot.

The emotion of Fire is joy. What is meant here is not the quiet joy of a tranquil mind, but joy that is too much, too strong and which can verge on hyper-excitement or even hysteria. On the other hand, when joy is absent, there can be a state of flat blandness or even depression. Each of these extremes can indicate Fire out of balance. We might ask ourselves, can we be in a state of quiet joy that is not dependent on conditions? Do we throw ourselves into friendships and relationships that take us out of our heart? Or do we withdraw into ourselves to protect our heart? Questions like this can help us understand the health of our Fire.