(^256) A Wiccan Bible
I say nay, the soul of humanity is pure, but our thoughts sometimes muddy that purity.
Our mind sometimes gets in the way. After all, Fire is the Element of war, and that Fire
is exactly why Zeus and others were very guarded when it came to matters of Fire’s
possession by humanity.
Consider the Haitian Voodoo Ogoun, who is god of not only Fire and war, but also
of politics. If that isn’t a clear message about the nature of fire, mind, and war I do not
know what is. Over and over we see the connection between fire and war: Futsu-Nushi-
no-Kami (Japanese), Maru (Polynesian), Ah Chuy Kak (Mayan), Mixcoatl (Aztec),
Camaxtli (Aztec), Resef (Egyptian & Phoenician), Bishamon (Japanese). These are all
gods associated with both Fire and with war.
And of course let us not forget the Christian lore that actually predates Christian-
ity. In mix of ancient Mediterranean lore on which the Christian story was based, we
see that Yahweh told the other deities that he wanted to create Adam and give unto
Adam the intelligence of the gods, the ability to think for himself. All of the other
deities, including the Earth herself, opposed this creation because they agreed that the
line of Adam would result in the fires of war.
Fire as Creative
This is not to say Fire is in and of itself a destructive force. Although it is the Ele-
ment that promotes the fastest change and that fast change is sometimes described as
being violent, Fire is also the tool of the craftsman. In the same Element that drives us
to war, we find the soul driven to create. In this, we see that Fire by its nature might
well be destructive, but when mastered it is creative. Who can argue that this is not the
very nature of human intellect? That genius brings us such things as both our greatest
artisans and our greatest villains.
Hephaestus—Male—Mediterranean
Greek patron of all forms of the arts, but particularly of the metalsmith.
Svarog—Male—Central/North Europe
Slavic fire god, mentioned earlier, who is also patron of the metalsmith.
Goibniu—Male—Central Europe
Irish god of the smith’s fire who is said to create swords that remain so true, they were
thought to possess great magick.
Fire and Water/Soul and Mind
Separating Fire and Water to explain the two has been difficult because they are so
strongly fused. Once a blade is forged, can one separate the fire and the water used to
temper it? Who can say where the fountain and the fountainhead separate? Just as that
which a person is after being born of a mother and father cannot be separated back
x WB Chap 15.p65 256 7/11/2003, 6:03 PM
barré
(Barré)
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