Neolithic Shamanism: Spirit Work in the Norse Tradition - Raven Kaldera 2012
Embers
The Red World: Fire
Galina: One can actually scry directly in fire or in its embers. Both work equally well, though it’s usually much easier on the diviner to use the whispering embers. If you have an affinity for fire, those embers will tell you things, show you things, open doorways to wyrd. I’ve always had that affinity. The first spirits I was ever able to see were spirits of fire. I watched the fire as a child and saw them dance. I could see the individual beings. Later on I learned to gaze at the embers, and I’d see into their world. They showed me the ways that they read fate through the crackling of burnt wood, the whispered compliance of ash, and the deep red heat that ties it all together. I learned to quiet myself and listen to the snapping and crackling voices, like the glottal stops and clicks of some arcane language. It’s possible to follow the rhythm even if one doesn’t quite grasp the vocabulary. Best of all, because fire also consecrates and cleanses, when I feel particularly blocked as a diviner, I’ll often light a fire and gaze at it, using the dance of the flame to still my mind and aid my concentration. If I am uncertain about the meaning of various natural omens, it is always to fire that I turn. I send an offering into the fire, usually tobacco or cedar, sometimes a little sweetgrass or other fragrant blessing herb. Alder is particularly appropriate coming from a warrior. When the fire burns down, I’ll gaze at it and ask for aid, and always knowledge comes. Fire may be high protocol, but it is also a very loyal ally. Its vaettir can cut through the vagaries of wyrd in a way that we often cannot. They reach for and taste the heart of a thing.
Raven: My favorite form of fire scrying is, ironically, staring at the smoke. I always start out staring at flames or embers, but sooner or later my gaze is drawn upward. Smoke, which is the meeting of Fire and Wind, gives me dancing, writhing images. It is one more way that Fire can speak its secrets. Remember that in Western magical practice—which is descended from older elemental arts—Fire is associated with the sense of sight (as Water is taste, Air is smell, Earth is touch, and Spirit is sound). Fire speaks to us through the eyes, and its language is a constant stream of visual chatter that we can sometimes, if we are open enough, learn to unravel.
Exercise: Fire Scrying
In order to ember gaze, you first have to have a fire, either in a fireplace or a fire pit. It’s best if you can kindle it in the old way, either by flint and steel or a fire bow. Make offerings to the Fire and ask its aid. Once the Fire burns down to glowing embers, settle yourself in front of it and ground and center. Then ask Fire your question, and still your mind. Gaze at it and look for patterns, listen for its rhythm, and follow where it leads. Scrying is a difficult art to describe because there’s no telling how the knowledge is going to come to the scryer. It’s rare with Fire to see images, but usually there will be patterns and the knowledge of how to untangle them. Be patient and be sure to thank Fire (and perhaps offer another small gift) when you are finished.