Lighting Fires in the Heart

Vivian Menjivar lives in Corfu, Greece. In this Fire Story, she describes her journey toward her approaching initiation as a Sacred Fire Firekeeper.

I once heard a Greek Orthodox Archbishop talk about the fact that people were missing Fire in their hearts. It felt like he was talking to me! In my spiritual healing practice, I started focusing on how to help light that Fire in my clients. Fast forward a few years, and I realized that while I felt good about my life and myself, I wanted to claim more joy. I was studying Plant Spirit Medicine with Eliot Cowan at the time, and he suggested I spend more time sitting by fire. So I put a wood stove in my living room, my husband and I started congregating there and it really made a difference. I felt more alive.

Next, I started attending Sacred Fire Community fires. It felt like a door would open, and those attending would feel a strong connectedness in a safe space. That awakened a desire in me to become a Sacred Fire Firekeeper. It has been a beautiful, affirming journey preparing for my initiation to this lifelong work. My Firekeeper sponsor, Lucy Wells, has traveled to Greece all the way from the United Kingdom to support me. My commitment deepens every time I observe powerful and healing moments at my community fires. What shows up is so often not at all what was planned or what the mind would have wanted…and yet, when the space is held in a good way, with Fire’s help, it turns out to be exactly what was needed.

And then, surely, we all end up with more Fire in our hearts, more joy in our lives.

— Vivian Menjivar
Corfu, Greece
February 25, 2019