In his inauguration Speech in 1994, Nelson Mandela, quoted Marianne Williamson’s poem ‘Our Deepest Fear', stating, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be?” As we approach the 1st May we arrive at Beltaine, the midpoint between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, the beginning of the ‘Merry month’ where the growth that is all around us is entering its most potent and fertile period of the year. Life’s abundance surrounds us, as we celebrate the beginning of summer, and for ourselves we can ask, “What within us would we like to nurture and grow?”
Beltaine (Beltane) is a fire festival, the word coming from the old Irish meaning Bright Fire. In Irish history and mythology, the Hill of Uisneach, in County Westmeath, was the spiritual centre of Ireland. On the night before Beltaine all fires were extinguished across the land. The next morning, the Beltaine fire was lit on this hill with runners carrying the flame to surrounding hills, where more runners would take the fire out across Ireland until it was said that the whole island was lit from this one fire. This tradition died out, but, as with many of these ancient ways connecting us with the earth’s rhythms, it has been resurrected with an annual fire festival at Beltaine again held on the Hill of Uisneach.
What fires do we extinguish in ourselves and what makes us resistant to bringing our light out into the world? We often get stuck in old childhood patterns and habits designed to keep us safe from a danger that is no longer there, unaware that it also keeps us small. What can we do for ourselves to nurture that fire within? How can we allow our gifts and talents to grow, to bring them out into the world, taking our fire from one hill to the next, until the whole land is lit?
Fire is a powerful, potent and sometimes scary element to work with. ‘Don’t play with fire or you’re going to get burnt,’ makes us rightfully wary, often fearing that we will be consumed by it. Yet fire keeps us warm, cooks our food, is our passion and creativity, our spontaneity and directness. As Marianne Williamson goes on to say, “as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” There is no magic fix to help us break out of these old ways of being and to bring our light and fire into the world. It can be a long process, which starts with the simple act of being kind and loving towards ourselves.
What is stopping you from being your “brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous self?” If you are feeling stuck and want to explore bringing your fire, light and gifts out into the world then shamanic healing offers a way to explore your own internal world and patterns in a safe and nourishing space, to light the fire within us that then offers permission for others to do the same.