In the primitive camp, there is an eternal fire. Its flame is never extinguished, but burns hot and white and pure. Sometimes it is a physical flame; it is always there in spirit. This fire was wrought into being by Grandfather Stalking Wolf and the Lineage. It has been stoked for decades by Tom Brown. It is a fire that drives away all darkness, uplifts and inspires the discouraged, breathes hope into the hearts of the despairing. It changes all who are warmed by it.
An Eternal Fire, Burning Hot And White And Pure
Grandfather’s camp is the physical location of this spiritual fire. It is here that the closing ceremony of a spiritual class is often held. It is here, after a long night of battling darkness, that we come to be cleansed, purified, and healed. It is here where many of us seek renewal of our hearts, and of our spirits.
This is the central fire.
Tom has a fire of his own. His fire was fed by this central flame when he was young. When he faltered, he was strengthened and renewed by this central fire. Over time, he learned how to continually feed his own fire until it became a roaring blaze. Because of this, he is able to touch our hearts and add greatly to the fire that burns within each of us. With every class, our internal fires are fed so that they burn a little hotter, a little purer, casting light a little further. After classes, often our results are not as miraculous as when we were in the presence of our teacher’s fire. It is here, though, during these times when we are left to feed our own fire, that the greatest growth occurs.
There is a prayer which Tom gifts to certain classes which says, “forge me as you would forge a tool.” We are the tools that are being forged. Our blades are being wrought as they are thrust into the flames, brought out and hammered into shape in our daily lives, and then put into the flames once more until white-hot and pliable. In between the exposure to the fire is when the shaping takes place and the tool gradually becomes of use.
Feeding Our Own Fire
Allowing ourselves to become a useful tool for the Creator means that we have to feed our own fire and allow ourselves to be hammered into shape. No one else can do it for us. It is we who must accept the forging process, commit to the forging, and cooperate with the process in creating us anew. Then we can become a tool which can pierce through the darkness, bringing the Light; go into the center of a cancerous tumor, dissolving it; feed the flames of decency, compassion, and spirit in the hearts of those around us.
We have to keep feeding our own fire; it is a choice. As we make this choice, we strengthen ourselves, we strengthen our Tracker Family, we strengthen hope for the future.
It’s not an easy thing to do, to keep feeding our fire and participate in being forged. It’s even harder given the weight of the opposition from our culture, from the darkness, and even, sometimes, from those we love the most. By and large we’ve been taught since we were tiny that we are not capable of too much more than the physical. Our schooling, success, and rewards are steeped in the physical. But there is no external curriculum, graduation, or recognition for the work we do on this spiritual path. Our “curriculum” has to be internally generated, adhered to, and valued on a day-in, day-out basis, feeding our internal fire until the flames transform into a roaring fire and become a beacon to those in need.
Feeding our fire starts very simply with Grandfather’s unspoken rule to engage in Sacred Time each morning and evening. From here we empower our vision, keeping our fire lit, whatever the conditions. Throughout the day, each time we surrender, drop into spiritual awareness, and take action connected to our vision, we are adding a little fuel to the fire. And during our evening Sacred Time we review what we’ve done—what hit the mark and what didn’t—learning and growing stronger from this scrutinizing self-assessment, making the coals of our fire burn a little hotter. This, then, is crucial to our growth and development along the path, forging us little by little.
When we adhere to this discipline of feeding our fire, at some tipping point it is no longer enough to simply slowly feed it, stick by stick, action by action. Our heart, our soul, our spirit longs for greater power, greater Light, to be forged in such a deep, lasting, and effective way that our lives are no longer our own. We jump into the abyss of the Creator. The fires of creation and the Creator then burn so hot and pure and bright that others are drawn to us like moths to flames; or run from us like a vampire shrieking at the sight of the first rays of the sunrise.
Become An Incredible Light In This World
Becoming an incredible light in this world is a process. We cannot run before we crawl; we cannot feed our burgeoning fire by putting huge logs on a sputtering flame. Accepting where we are and what type of fuel is needed to grow that flame is part of the forging process. Are we using punky wood to try to make our fire burn? Stoking the fire with softwood that burns bright but doesn’t last long? Putting on tinder when in actuality hardwood is called for? What is it that is needed to make our internal fire burn hot, pure, and eternal?
When we have finally achieved our own roaring flame we carry it within us no matter what we do. And then we become more like Grandfather: our sheer presence changing the environment and all who are in it for the better. It is a lofty vision indeed, to have that kind of flame. But with each step, with each stick we put on our fire, and the more we hold ourselves accountable—keeping our feet to that fire—the more quickly will our light penetrate the darkness and uplift all those around us, including our Earth Mother herself.
