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Sacred Fire, by Ellen Evert Hopman

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

The Goddess in the Sun
Modern Paganism is heavily influenced by Greek and Roman mythology, and as a result certain assumptions are made, such as the idea that the Sun is male and the Moon female. A careful study of indigenous traditions will reveal that this wasn't true for many—or possibly most—cultures on planet Earth. In Egypt, the Sun was within the eye of the great lion Goddess Sekhmet or within the cow Goddess Hathor at night and reborn from the womb of Hathor each morning. The Egyptians also associated the Sun with Bastet or Bast—Lady of Flame, Eye of Ra, divine protectress of the pharaoh, whose sacred animal was the house cat.

Germanic cultures had Sunna and Frau Sunne while the Norwegian Goddess Sól traversed the heavens in a chariot drawn by the horses Arvak and Alsvid.

The Lithuanians and Lativans had Saule, the Finns Paivatar or Beiwe. The Hungarians had Xatel-Ekwa and the Slavs had Solntse. For the Arabs she was Al-Lat. In Australia she was Bila or Walo. In India she was Bisal-Mariamna or Bomong and in Sri Lanka, Pattini.

The ancient Hittites had Wurusemu, the Babylonians had Shapash. Among Native American cultures she was Unelanuhi to the Cherokee, Wal Sil to the Natchez, Malina to the Inuit and Herkoolas to the Miwok.

In Japan the Sun Goddess Amaterasu is still regarded as the Goddess of the Universe, from whom the emperor is descended.

In Ireland she was Grian (the Moon was her sister) and her path through the heavens was a central tenet of Celtic cosmology. To move "deiseil" or "sunwise" around a place or an object brought the greatest luck. When one engaged in ritual or processed around a sacred object, such as a holy well or a standing stone, it was important to move around it deiseil, in order to go with the flow of the universe.

A sunwise procession around a place or thing in Ireland was called "cor deiseil." In the Hindu tradition a sunwise procession is called "pradaksina" and is said to bring luck and prosperity. Moving with the Sun was a common facet of Indo-European culture.

Moving anti-clockwise, widdershins or "tuathamail" (Gaelic) was considered very unlucky because it meant you were deliberately going "against the flow" of nature. In fact, invading armies would approach a fort tuathamail and the inhabitants would know that they were under attack.

Fire Deities of the Celts
The two most popular deities of the ancient Celts were Brighid/Bride/Brigantia and Lugh/Lugus/Llew. Both were deities of brightness and fire. Lugh was not a Sun God as is popularly supposed; he represented brilliance in craft and in thinking and was called "master of every art." Similarly, Brighid was a Fire Goddess, mistress or patroness of arts. She was a Goddess of Healing, Smith Craft (a magical art in ancient times), and Poetry, and also a patroness of mothers (because to be a mother was to be a mistress of every art to at least a small extent).

Brighid was the Goddess invoked at Imbolc, the great Fire Festival of February 1 that celebrated the lactation of the ewes. Lugh gave his name to the festival of Lughnasad, the Fire Festival of the first fruits of the harvest, originally funeral games in honor of Lugh's foster mother.

In Irish tradition the Sun was also known as "Áine Clair," or Áine the Bright. She could appear to mortals as an old woman, a young princess, a mother, or a mermaid. "Áine Chliach" lived in a hill (Cnoc Áine). At Summer Solstice bundles of straw, or "cliars" were tied to poles, lit on fire, and carried around her hill. The cliars were then carried through the fields, around the cattle herd, and along boundaries to bless the land with Áine's fire.

Making Offerings to Sacred Fire
In Celtic religious practice it was essential to make offerings to fire, water, and land. Offerings placed into an earthen pit or into water went down to the Sidhe Realm (Fairy Realm) of the ancestors. Offerings placed at the base of a rock or tree fed the Land Spirits, and offerings placed into a ritual fire went up to the Sky Realm of the Gods. Each of these methods had a powerful magic of its own, but I will focus on Fire offerings here.

The High Holy Days of the Celts (Imbolc, Beltaine, Lughnasad, and Samhain) were all called Fire Festivals. A large bonfire (or in the case of Imbolc, candles) was featured at each of these celebrations. Offerings were made to the fires, such as butter, sacred woods, aromatic herbs, whiskey, and oils, as prayers were spoken and petitions made to the Gods.

Beltaine offered a unique opportunity for purification by fire. At this Fire Festival the cows were led between two sacred bonfires, so close that when a white cow passed through them her hair would be singed brown. This ritual was done to purify the cows as they left the farm and made their way to their summer pastures in the hills.

At Beltaine and Samhain hearth fires were put out as everyone waited for sacred flames to arrive, brought by torch-bearers. In Ireland the Beltaine fires were lit from the great Fire Altar at Uisneach, home of the Arch-Druid, at Samhain from a fire near Tara.

Hearth Fire
Sacred fire was also honored on a daily basis in the home. Hearth fires were often made with peat, because wood was too expensive and hard to obtain. Every housewife acted as a Priestess when she "smoored" the fire each night, carefully covering the embers to keep until dawn. As she did so she would utter a prayer such as this one from the Hebrides of Scotland:

Baby Blessings
Burning peat embers were used bless newborn babies and calves, carried in a shovel around the mother and child three times, asking the fire to protect them.

A Scottish Fire Blessing for a newborn child was done by filling a basket with bread and cheese and wrapping it in clean linen. The baby was laid on top of the bread and cheese; the oldest female present would carry the basket around a fire three times sunwise, and then suspend the basket briefly over the fire. Then the "bairnie" (baby) was put into its cradle as the bread and cheese were distributed to everyone who had helped with the birth.

Communal Fires
One of the most powerful of fire rituals was the "Tein-eigin," or Need-fire. Such a sacred fire would be constructed by the entire community when the whole area was threatened, for example by a cattle disease. The fire was started by friction and had to be made by nine times by nine married men, who would remove all metal from their persons before starting (such as coins, watches, and jewelry). Sacred woods (such as willow, hazel, alder, birch, ash, yew, elm, apple, pine, and oak) were used, or the fire could be made from only oak.

Every home in the area would put out their own hearth fire and then re-kindle a new fire from the flames of the Need-fire. Then they would put to boil water from a holy well or sacred spring. Once the water had boiled it was taken from the flames, cooled, and sprinkled on people and animals to heal them.

Fire Temples and Fire Altars
I have written a novel, the third in a trilogy of Druid novels, called Priestess of the Fire Temple: A Druid's Tale. In the novel I explore the idea of a Fire Temple. We know that such temples once existed in every province of Ireland and that Saint Brighid based her famous temple in Kildare on an earlier Pagan model. These temples were sacred precincts where a perpetual fire was kept by Druids. Petitioners with needs would come to the temples to have their questions answered.

I explore the idea of the Fire Altar in the first two novels, Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey and The Druid Isle.

References and further reading:
Carmichael, Alexander. Carmina Gadelica: Hymns and Incantations, Lindisfarne Press, New York, 1992
Hopman, Ellen Evert. Priestess of the Fire Temple: A Druid's Tale, Llewellyn, Minnesota, March 2012
Hopman, Ellen Evert. Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey, Llewellyn, Minnesota, February 2008
Hopman, Ellen Evert. The Druid Isle, April 2010
Hopman, Ellen Evert. Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore, Pendraig Publishing, Los Angeles, California, 2010
Ó’Duinn, Sean. The Rites of Brighid Goddess and Saint, The Columba Press, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, 2005
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_deity. Accessed January 9, 2012.

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2012. All rights reserved.

I have a tendency to see numbers in groups of three, for example on license plates, digital clocks, calendars. I especially see triple two's, such as when a clock reads 2:22 p.m. Is there a meaning to this? It feels like I'm supposed to be paying attention to something. I've been wondering about this since 1999, when my best friend died. I started seeing numbers in threes before her death, and it's continued ever since then. Thank you very much. I love your column! My birth date: 6/16/68.

Dreamchaser:

Debbie, I am so glad that you asked this question, because it is SO common and people do not really think it is anything but a coincidence. I am sure so many of our readers will say, "Wow, I thought it was just me!" Numbers that repeat are part of a very sacred geometry system. I personally have always, and I do mean my whole life always, seen 11:11. Some people see 12:12 or like you, 222.

When our souls chose to come to this Earth, some chose to come as Lightworkers, or people who would bring "Light" to other humans and the planet. I am a Lightworker because I work as a psychic/ spiritual counselor. That is how I bring "Light" to people around me. Lightworkers do not necessarily have to be psychics, healers or mediums. We can be teachers or doctors or homeworkers or ditch diggers. It is not what we do; it is how we do it. We teach either while speaking or via our actions. Sometimes we even teach people how NOT to do something.

When we see the numbers 11:11, 12:12 or 2:22, we are being handed down a "wake-up call" by a higher power. We are being reminded, on a soul level, of our purpose on this Earth. Our conscious minds do not in any way know any of this going on, but our souls sure do. When we see our personal sacred numbers, we "re-member" who we really are.

I suggest that you just stop when you see 2:22 and get quiet and breathe and allow your guides, Angels and other workers to "speak" to you. Just feel the energy of the moment and allow yourself to be one with all that is, if only for that brief second. It is your reminder to "re-member," remember? (Note the difference in the two spellings.) We can realign our energies, thoughts and emotions, or re-member in one brief second so easily at those times of day. It is when our energies are most closely aligned with all that is, and we should be taking advantage of those moments to balance and readjust.

When your best friend was dying, your soul was laid open and you were seeking answers. You could NOT understand her death. You had an awakening and you re-membered who you were. I do not know very many people who are born consciously enlightened; most of us have had to seek it. Frequently, enlightenment comes during or after extreme hardship. So many of the truly enlightened people on Earth have tried with drugs, alcohol or other numbing agents to just turn off heavy thoughts, or to just fit in with the rest of the world. We never will fit in "regular" society. We just have to go find like-minded people where we DO fit.

I wish you continued enlightenment.

*****

Astrea:

Triple numbers do seem to occur a LOT with you! You have three sixes in your birth date, and your friend died in a year with three nines. As I explore the reasons why this keeps popping up, I get an overwhelming feeling that you DO need to be paying more attention to what is going on when this happens.

Your Angels tell me that They show you these numbers after you've been shown something two or more times in order to get your attention. One large male Angel says that you have a very hard head, and that He tries to show you day after day what you should be doing. He says when you see these triple numbers, you should go over what has occurred during the last 24 hours and pick out any and all things that have been said or done by someone else TWICE in that day. This is how you will begin to discover what this pattern means to you.

The OTHER Angel, the female who is with you, says that She often tries to speak directly to you in dreams, but that you don't remember what you dream very much. Write down what you DO remember when you wake up while it's fresh in your mind, before go on about your day and forget. SHE has things that She wants to show you that are separate from Donovan (the guy Angel). He is more in charge of Protection and Safety Issues, while her job leans more towards the Emotional aspects of your life.

Your friend is also trying to come through to you, but doesn't want to frighten you. Try to welcome that Spirit into your life. Don't be afraid. This is a great opportunity and a lot of work for your deceased friend, so be as open to this as you possibly can be.

As far as the MEANING of the numbers you're seeing in triplicate, three "ones" mean that you are right on top of discovering the answer to a problem you've had for a long time. Three "twos" mean that you'll get some money from an unexpected source. Three "threes" mean you should be extra careful while driving that day. Three "fours" mean not to be forgetful. Three "fives" mean you should look under the surface of a problem for the answer. Three "sixes" mean that you should do more for a friend that day. Three "sevens" mean that time is up on some project that you've put off finishing. Three "eights" mean you've forgotten someone's birthday, and three "nines" mean that it's time to have a visit with a Spiritual Advisor, Psychic or Counselor.

It's great that you can get some kind of warning and word in this way, because numbers are everywhere in our lives. Use this information to help you along your way, and always thank those Angels who are with you every step of the way!

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.