The House Witch: Your Complete Guide to Creating a Magical Space with Rituals and Spells for Hearth and Home - Arin Murphy-Hiscock 2018

The Role of the Hearth Fire at Home
Your Home As a Sacred Space

In times past, fire played an important role in the home. It was a source of light and warmth, and it cooked food. Starting a fire was a time-consuming task, and so the hearth fire was banked at night to keep the coals and embers alive in order to use it as a basis for the next day’s fire. The kitchen fire was so crucial to daily life that to allow it to go out demonstrated unpreparedness. It was a sacred task of sorts to conscientiously think ahead and to maintain a basic supply of fuel, in order to keep the house in order and running smoothly. The absence of a fire, whether through negligence or otherwise, meant the lack of warmth, the lack of a method to cook nourishing food, a lack of protection, and so forth.

In Ireland, the only time the household fire was intentionally allowed to go out was at Beltaine, the festival that modern spiritual paths place at the beginning of May. A main fire was lit at Tara, the spiritual center of Ireland, by the king or the druids, and from this fire all the other household fires were symbolically relit. This practice demonstrated unity throughout the kingdom as well as recognizing the spiritual power of the monarch or the druids.

Fuel for the fire is as important as the fire itself. Oil in particular serves as the fuel for many spiritually symbolic flames. Oil was (and is now again becoming) a precious commodity. Generally extracted from plant matter, it was so valuable that it was used as an offering to deities and as gifts to churches and temples. You can make a similar offering by giving a thimbleful of oil to your hearth spirits on a regular basis at a schedule of your choosing. In Chapters 3 and 6 you’ll find other ideas for incorporating an oil lamp into your spiritual practice.