Ad Astra Grove ADF
  • By-Laws
  • Druid on the Prairie

Fire, Well, and Tree

3/26/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
The three major symbols of ADF are the fire, well, and tree. I wanted to provide a quick look at what these symbols are all about (at least to me). 

Fire is truly a gift from the Gods.  It gives the ability to see in the dark, and to cook our food.  It transforms wood to ash, and heats our homes. The acquiring of fire is often considered to be what allowed humans to evolve as far as we have come.  Fire has often been seen as a deity itself and examples can be seen in Agni, Hestia, and Bride. In Loki we have the trickster fire that can shape-shift and cause great havoc, but who also gives great gifts when in the mood. 

Fire seems to be a major component of most ancient religions. In the Greek religion it is said that the fire of sacrifice was a gift of Prometheus, who later negotiated on behalf of the humans for what parts of the sacrifice would be given to the Gods and what would be kept for human consumption.  The fire was what transformed the offerings into something that the Gods could consume and enjoy.  Mircea Eliade wrote in The Forge and the Crucible, “It is through fire that nature is changed, making it the basis of the most ancient magics.” (p. 170)

.  Fire was also used as a way to claim the land and space for either the nation or the family. The family fire was the place to gather for private devotions, while state fires provided the place where public rites would be held.
   
Wells are the by-product of both human labour and of nature’s gifts.  A human digs deep into the Earth to find this substance that makes life possible.  Water is not something humans can make on their own, unlike fire. Wells have long been seen as places where spirits live, and this is not hard to understand when considering a deep echoey shaft that seems to go down into the underworld itself.  In ADF the well is the doorway into the underworld; the land of our ancestors. Wells are also seen as a source of wisdom. I would argue this also comes from an association of the well going deep into the ground where the ancestors dwell.  We can see this in the Norse culture with the well of Mimir when Odin offers his eye to the well in exchange for great wisdom.

To me the evolutionary tree of life is the perfect picture of all of nature’s abundance and diversity. It connects every form of life on the planet into one huge family.  This is why I see the tree as the perfect gateway for the nature spirits in ADF ritual. The roots reach deep into the ground where the ancestors dwell, while the branches reach high into the sky where the deities exist. The tree is also a type of axis mundi.  An axis mundi is a symbolic pole or structure that proclaims a place at the center of the universe or at least the world. The axis mundi connects the heavens and the Earth. The tree is both an axis mundi and perfect picture of life on Earth.


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Amanda Thomas is the Grove Organizer for the Ad Astra Grove.  She also serves on the Topeka Interfaith Council.

    Hera Lakeshore is a practicing druid and contributor to the Ad Astra Grove blog.

    Follow this blog
    Picture

    Archives

    May 2016
    December 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    February 2014
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011

    Categories

    All
    Afterlife
    Alpha
    Alphabet
    Ancestors
    Ancient Greek
    Aphrodite
    Asphodel
    Athena
    Axis Mundi
    Bear
    Beauty
    Bee
    Beltane
    Book Porn
    Changes
    Chartered
    Clover
    Consciousness
    Cow
    Death
    Dionysus
    Divination
    Dp
    Eta
    Evil
    Experience
    Fire
    Gaia
    Gods
    Grove
    Growth
    Hades
    Hearth Culture
    Hera
    Holidays
    Imbolc
    Initiates Path
    Interfaith
    Leadership
    Liturgy
    Meditation
    Nature Awareness
    Nature Spirits
    Nine Virtues
    Oath
    Omens
    Oracle
    Ostara
    Pagan Blog Project
    Pagan Fire Seminar
    Pi
    Play
    Rite
    Ritual
    Ritual Roles
    Sacred Space
    Sacred Story
    Samhain
    Sigma
    Spirituality
    Strengths
    Tau
    Thana Doula
    The Dark
    The Light
    Three Kindreds
    Topeka Interfaith
    Trance
    Two Powers
    World Tree
    Yule

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.