We are Fire Walkers!

John, some great friends and I brought in the New Year in a very unusual and intentional way – we participated in an American Indian Sweat Lodge Ceremony and a Fire Walk! We are friends with Peace Elder Grandfather Yellow Horse Man http://www.yellowhorseman.com/ . He performs sweat lodge ceremonies every month in Clayton, GA. For the New Year he performs a special Sweat Lodge and a Fire Walk.

In our usual food and wine manner, we rented a great country home in the middle of a 38-acre horse farm complete with a stocked kitchen, huge fire place, wrap-around porch, good friends and tons of food and wine.

We went up Friday before New Years and settled in to reflect upon our intentions for 2007. It was rainy and a bit chilly but the fire and fellowship warmed us to get down to work! Ok, ok the wine helped with the chill, too. We took our canine baby girls with us. They loved laying by the fire and sneaking as many horse apples as they could!

Come Sunday at 6:00pm, New Year’s Eve, we were off to Grandfather Yellow Horse Man’s wonderful log home and ceremony site. It was still raining – we hoped we’d stay warm and dry! So much for hoping. We helped prepare the fire all the while wondering how they’d get it started and keep it lighted with the down pours we were experiencing. Forgetaboutit! Grandfather and his steady fire keeper Chris are true professionals. What a blaze!

As more folks showed up we wrapped the wooden lodge skeleton with wool blankets, again and again for no light is to penetrate the lodge (never mind it was dark outside.) I’m not sure when the sweat lodge ceremony started but it was midnight when we were in the fourth and final round of the sweat. Gals in long skirts and t-shirts, guys in swimsuits….sweating big time….setting our intentions for the New Year.

When we were done in the lodge we crept out into the MUD to face the 16-foot-long Fire Walk. Chris had spread the red-hot embers from the fire and it was ready for us. It had been my intention all along to be the first person down the walk but…I was very hesitant. Very. Luckily Grandfather was the first, then Chris and then………me.

Natural fear of fire. Fear of a lot of things. I had to dig down deep and ask myself what was keeping me since I just witnessed two men walk the fire with nothing but joyous effects? Still I teetered at the starting place. Good grief. This is what I came for. I wanted to do this to prove to myself I can conquer the fears that hold me back. I recalled never seeing a newspaper headline shouting, “Person’s feet burnt to the stumps at Fire Walk.” I looked to the encouraging eyes of Grandfather and Chris and took my first step.

It didn’t burn! It didn’t hurt! It felt like firm yet soft bundles under my feet. I raised my arms over my head and yelled, “I am worthy!” as I took the subsequent steps to inner joy. I did it! I felt like crying I was so overwhelmed. John followed me and then about half of the others (there were about 25 of us.) What a high, what a rush. We did it. We’re Fire Walkers!