The Sacred Fire

Burning Away What Holds Us Back

We all carry internal weights in our minds and hearts. We carry inner scripts that tell us we are not enough or that we do not belong at the tables where we sit.

Perhaps you recognize some of these within yourself. What do you do with these old narratives?

There is a practice to undertake when these thoughts begin to crowd your mind. It is a form of guided imagery, but one that can become very powerful.

In your mind's eye and in your heart, imagine a fire. It is a sacred fire that consumes all that is inauthentic within you.

This is not a physical fire, but a spiritual fire. It is a place deep within where, instead of struggling against your anxieties or challenges, you gently offer them to be consumed.

Feel your mind and heart being bathed and cleansed in this loving fire—whether you call it Knowledge, the Holy Spirit, gnosis, or higher consciousness.

Sit quietly with your eyes closed and watch as the flame consumes all that haunts you.

Bring your self-doubt and sense of unworthiness to the fire.

Bring the thoughts that tell you you are less than you truly are.

Bring all that obstructs your full participation in life—the invisible walls that keep you from deeper relationships, meaningful work, or service in the world.

Bring all the fears that haunt and oppress you—the anxieties of the past and the fears of the future.

Bring what might go wrong, or what has gone wrong before.

Bring all that needs to be cleansed into this sacred fire.

Sit quietly in its light, and bring to it the fears and worries that occupy your mind.

This practice can be more than a one-time activity. You may return to it every day, every hour, or, in times of crisis, even more frequently.

Regardless of what you see or think, this sacred spiritual fire is always burning. You can return to your inner sanctuary, where this fire is never extinguished, whenever and wherever you are.

This practice can bring true comfort, clearing away the internal debris so you can see the landscape of your life more clearly and walk through it more authentically.

The sacred fire has the power to consume the old, leaving only that which is true to your deeper nature.

— Inspired by the book Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing and other work by Marshall Vian Summers.