Lesson 12

Sacred Fire

Note to instructor:
In this lesson our children learn about the Celtic symbol of fire and the liturgical presence and function of fire. They will examine how fire symbolically establishes order by transforming the raw into the cooked. They will explore how fire may be used in consecrations and blessings as a direct application of the transformative properties of flame. Fire deities will be discussed and the children will become familiar with types of fire deities, from the deities that are fire itself to the hearth and smith-craft deities who perform their functions through the application of the transformative properties of fire. There is also an excellent opportunity for the children to be taught about the use of fire as a symbol within the hearth culture of their family or Congregation and how the symbol of fire is represented and applied in their current liturgical practice.
*Remember that fire is a dangerous thing and be sure to discuss basic fire safety issues and to follow basic fire safety practices.

Short Story:
Many fires
One day at some Comhaltacht Draiocht children were studying in the playground and started to talk about fire and how they use fire in their Congregations and at home. Each child described how fire was honored and celebrated at his or her Congregation.
Susan said: "In my Pobal we have our meetings inside so we always start our meetings by lighting a candle. We all stand in a circle around the table and hold hands while our Bandraoi lights the candle and she says 'welcome the flame' and then she says a prayer. 'As the fire burns it lights us with the peace of the Gods."
Brandon started to describe the way fire was used in his Congregation. "When we have ritual, we start by lighting our fire altar. It is a big square altar made out of bricks and is about as high as my knee. We always make an offering to Daigre who is our fire god. We have our rites in the same place so our fire altar is big and heavy and can't be moved."
Jonathan said: "Oh, we always move our rites to different places so we use a round metal brazier that we carry with us and which always holds our fire. It is kind of heavy so some of the biggest guys in our Tribe move it. But it is cool because our Priests always blesses things at the fire. He says that the fire 'cooks it' with the power of the gods and changes it. I guess that the blessings of the gods comes through the fire."
Beth said: "We don&'t have a Pobal so it is just our family but we do our High-days at our fireplace and we say our prayers there and make offering to our gods there in a big bowl that we then empty outside. I think that the fire carries our prayers to the Gods."
Timothy said: "We don"t have a regular place for our rituals so we move them to different places each time and we always dig a new fire pit where we build our ritual fire. Our Draoi always says that as the fire is extinguished from our site it stays inside of us and is our fire in the head that gives us poetry and songs."

Mythic tales:
A story about fire or a Fire Deity may be selected from the cultural myths to be read to and discussed with the child or children.

Fire discussion:
Lead the children into a discussion of the subject of fire the teacher should gently direct the discussion but try to get the children themselves to think about fire and voice their own opinions. Possible phrases and questions used to direct this conversation could include: How does our Congregation honor fire in ceremonies? Does anyone know the name of our fire deity? Where do we make our ceremonial fire? Does anyone know the name of our hearth deity? Describe how you think other deities like smith gods or healer gods use fire to perform their tasks. How does fire change things? What kind of things can we offer fire?

Mnemonic: Teach the children to recite or sing this little device.
"Hearth holding, fire flashing, bright blessing"

Fire Dance:
This simple dance may be used as a way to allow children to blow off energy and express themselves. It is especially useful when dealing with high energy children. If possible have the children wear red, yellow and orange clothing to the lesson on fire. Get ribbon in the colors generally associated with fire such as, red, yellow, orange, gold, silver and blue. Cut many three foot lengths from the several colors of ribbon. Give each child several ribbons to hold in his or her hands and have the children dance around flickering the ribbons and leaping like flames. An older child or teacher may wish to accompany this dance with hand drums. *Remember that for safety this dance should not be done around an open fire since the children are leaping about and holding highly flammable ribbons.

Fire costumes:
Many craft stores have masks which can be painted red, yellow or other fire colors. They also often have inexpensive t-shirts and sweat-shirts which come in red and yellow and which can be used to make fire costumes. A trip to the craft store to get some of these masks, shirts and sweat pants along with ribbon, adhesive and glitter can supply children with hours of fun. Pre-paint the masks well in advance so that they will be ready to decorate then allow the kids to use craft glue to attach ribbons and glitter to the masks. The simple fabric glue can be used to attach ribbons to the shirts. A can of spray glitter will make the whole thing sparkle. Let the kids make the costumes at one meeting and then put them up to let the glue dry until the next meeting. The kids will have a blast making fire costumes and then using them to dance like fire. Some kids may want to wear their costumes at a high-day celebration. Also be warned that adults love this one and may want to help the kids, let them have fun but make sure that the kids get to feel that they have done the work.

Fire Altar Building:
This project is excellent for older children to lead and allows the children to build something for use in worship. If the Pobal or children have a dedicated worship site then the project can be done to build a fire altar for that site. If anyone in the Pobal has any experience with basic masonry techniques or bricklaying he or she should be asked to help with this project. For this project you will need to decide what shape and how large you wish for the fire altar to be and obtain the needed bricks and mortar. You will also need a small amount of building sand to provide a foundation for the altar. Start by digging a shallow pit somewhat larger that the projected fire altar. Fill the pit with good quality building sand (playground sand easily available at toy stores will work quite well) tamp the sand in place firmly. Place the first layer of bricks on the prepared foundation, laying out the desired size and shape of the altar. Continue to add layers to the first to bring the altar up to the desired height. Bricks are laid in an alternating pattern with mortar between them. The children should sing songs during their work. Once the altar is built it should be left to dry. At the next meeting or rite you will want the children there as the fire altar is dedicated a hearth and or fire deity with an offering and with the initial lighting of the first fire on the new altar.

Fire ecology:
For older children it is nice to put together a trip to visit a forestry department or park where there will be a lecture presented on how fire operates in a healthy ecology and how the local natural fire regimes function or did function prior to human intervention. Explore forestry and park departments and how they use controlled fire to enhance the local forest ecology. A call to a state or local forestry department or ecology centered Non Government Organization can often be enough to get an expert to come in and speak to a group of children or to arrange a presentation for the kids at a park or forest. It is also often useful to get the adults in on this type of informative project.

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