In many ancient cultures—particularly Indigenous traditions—fire is referred to as Grandfather.

Grandfather represents what has come before us.

Wisdom.

Memory.

Continuity.

And what lies ahead if we pay attention.

Fire is powerful. It creates profound change.

There is the fire we gather around to stay warm.

And the fire that burns inside each of us.

Fire can be precise—

directed like a laser, removing what no longer belongs.

And fire can be uncontrollable—

a California blaze, indiscriminate and consuming.

The same force.

Different relationship.

Fire is what heats the rocks.

Fire is what makes the ritual possible.

But fire is also the sun—

the source of all growth.

Nothing grows without it.

And nothing survives it unchecked.

This balance is what respect looks like.

To sit in a sauna is to sit with that truth.

You feel the heat build.

You feel your edges.

You feel what resists and what softens.

And sometimes, in that heat, you remember:

There is a light burning just as brightly inside me.

It can warm.

It can heal.

It can illuminate.

And if ignored, it can burn.

Fire asks for presence.

For humility.

For listening.

That thought comes to me often in the sauna.

Not as metaphor.

As reminder.

Grandfather is still teaching.

This is by we gather around heat at Lore.

Not to escape

But to remember how to sit with what is powerful. And that the same power resides inside each of us.

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