This is a firewalk for us. It’s a chance to co-create a miracle.

I’ve done three firewalks. They’re all about consciousness.

During the 1990’s I participated in three firewalks, one a month for three months. They were not part of a religious ceremony, like this photo showing Japanese Buddhist monks in a firewalk ceremony.  

These firewalks were organized and facilitated by ordinary people who had trained specifically to do that. When a friend invited me to the first one, I thought it sounded interesting, so I went. These were each attended by about 25-30 ordinary people, like me, and they were paradigm-shifting, consciousness-shifting, at least for me.  

The flow of activity for each of them was similar. We gathered in the early afternoon, helped stack a huge amount of wood into a very large pile, lit the fire, and the facilitator gave us some information and instructions about what we were engaging in. Then we sang, chanted, danced, talked, ate, and just “hung out” enjoying nature, each other, and the fire, including coming into a relationship of oneness with the fire.

After several hours the wood pile had burned down to be just white-hot coals, much hotter than the active fire. The facilitators raked the pile of coals out to cover an area that was probably 10’ wide X 20’ long X 6” deep, and we all gathered around the bed of coals.

I remember thinking that so far this didn’t seem particularly unusual. We hadn’t done any specific or dramatic ceremonial activity, and I wasn’t aware of experiencing any consciousness shift that would make it remotely possible to walk across those coals without serious injury.

Then it got more than just “interesting”. I watched as the facilitator casually strolled across the bed of coals from one end to the other, acting like it was just a walk in the park. Then several other people followed suit. Same story. Then the facilitator’s young daughter, probably 9 or 10 years old, didn’t just walk, she danced and skipped across those coals, obviously having fun. I remember thinking “Huh?!?! WHAT?!?!” and then thinking “Oh, this is obviously no big deal.”

After several more people had made their crossing, my friend and I stepped out onto the coals. I remember thinking that maybe I should be afraid and run really fast in order to try to keep from getting burned. Then I could feel my choice to dissolve that thought and my choice instead to feel safe and free to enjoy this, like the others had been doing. So that’s what I did. My friend and I casually strolled to the other end together. As we finished, I looked at what we had just crossed and didn’t register any surprise or big deal.

Others walked, some danced, one even rolled around on the coals. Then I wanted to test it out and see if my first time was some kind of fluke, so I strolled and danced again back to the other end. Same story, so I turned around and went back across that bed of coals, just to make sure. (Aren’t our minds funny?)

After everyone had finished walking as much as they wanted, we all gathered indoors to check everyone out and debrief. No one (NO ONE!) had any burns. There were just a couple of small blisters. We debriefed people’s experience, feelings, and thoughts, then closed with gratitudes for each other, the fire, the natural world, and this whole mind-bending, shape-shifting experience of the reality of applied consciousness.

As I left, I realized that my mind was on “tilt”. It was thinking things like “No way!!! That isn’t even possible! That couldn’t have really happened. It was just an anomaly. It was all your imagination. Blah, blah, blah.” My mind couldn’t “make sense” out of this. You know how minds work, right?

Of course my mind couldn’t “make sense” out of this because it was beyond the logical, rational understanding that our minds operate on. It was in the realm of consciousness,  energy, and the Mystery from which all Life and creation emanates.

It was an experience of one definition of a miracle that rings true for me:

“A miracle is not the suspension of natural law. A miracle is the operation of a higher law.” (Anonymous)

That experience just wouldn’t let me go, so I created a firewalk a month later and invited all my friends to it. (If a friend invited you to a firewalk, would you go?) Sure enough, it was the same story as the first. About 25-30 of my friends came, we did a similar process (although with a different facilitator), and had the same outcomes—no burns or even blisters—with my mind on “tilt” again afterwards, struggling unsuccessfully to “make sense” out of this, especially since this was the second time. I mean, really?!?!?!?!

Then one of my friends created a firewalk a month later. Same song, third verse. However, this time when my mind was on “tilt” afterwards going through its same “blah blah blah,” suddenly I heard it say “OH, I GIVE UP!” My whole system relaxed, I felt totally coherent and at peace, and I’ve never had any desire to do another firewalk since then. Obviously it was not because I had “figured it out.”😊

As I look at the polycrisis we’re in, I see it being like these firewalks. If we perceive it from our usual rational mental consciousness of separation, of course we’re in fear. In order to try to feel safe, we do all kinds of external actions to “figure it out” and control the circumstances, including other people and nature.

However, if we perceive it from a higher consciousness, we transform our experience and our physical reality. As Einstein famously said, “We can’t solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.

I say it’s high time—actually past time—for us to co-create a “miracle” here through the operation of a higher law. As you read this, I’d love to know how it landed for you. Is your mind thinking what mine did?