FIRE: Domain of the Heart
Let me tell you a tale of my heart.
Each Element
builds upon the one that came before.
EARTH 🔹 AIR 🔸 FIRE…
There is a reason why many traditions caution emotion. "Guard your heart," they say. And there's something to that.
But with my feet firmly grounded and my alignment strong and stable...with my breath connected to the Highest Self — my best self — instead of being tossed and turned about in the disorienting storms of emotion, I can dare to let my ribcage move. I can dare to let the air flow in freely, as well as all the feelings that come with it.
With practice and patience, built upon a foundation of solid self-esteem and healthy support from those who surround me, I can withstand feeling what I feel — whatever I feel — and I can even dare to express it.
I don’t believe in "good" or "bad" emotions. I only believe in better and worse moments of letting them run through my body. Better and worse moments of expressing them. Better and worse ways of doing so in any given situation.
Let me tell you a tale of my heart
When I can’t speak it, when I can’t fix it, when it’s tearing me apart but I can only acknowledge it in the darkest, most hidden and secret depths of myself, I express it by making art about it. This is one of the primary ways in which I work it out, let it out, and therefore get it out of my system so it stops jamming up the pipes.
Sometimes the art is a work of fiction or a poem. Sometimes I sing songs about it, over and over and over, on repeat.
A lot of times, I dance it.
Dance is silent but it speaks with the volume of the oceans. It is wordless, yet its communicative nature can pluck those most universal strings inside us: the heartstrings.
Whoever observes my performance can interpret it however they will, yet in dancing what I feel, I will have been witnessed as I speak my most unutterable truths aloud. Through this medium, I can kinesthetically confess it to you in a whisper, in a devious chuckle, in a sob, or I can bellow it to the rafters with such unfettered force that it 🔥 BLASTS THE ROOF APART! 🔥
It is catharsis.
It is the volcanic purge.
It is uncensored purification by Fire.
A Fire Dance
This is the eternally burning flame, barely given voice, yet nurtured against all odds. Protected and sheltered by tenderly cupped hands. Devotedly blown back to life from barely pulsing embers after every storm.
SILSILA YE CHAAHAT KA (THE CHAIN OF THIS LOVE)
~lyrics translation from the Bollywood film Devdas1Them:
The weather stretches its limbs.
Rain ripples and spreads.
A gust of wind will come
And this light will be extinguished.Her:
The chain of this love…
I haven't let it be extinguished from my heart.
O beloved…
This lamp hasn't been put out, nor will it be.
The lamp of my desire!
My beloved, come to me now, my love...With this lamp
Every inch of me is burning!
Come to me now, lover.
O my love, come to me now, beloved!There was distance between us
A remoteness...
There was distance between us
A remoteness, a world of separation.My eyes were fixed in wait for you
And you were there...
Shining, sparkling, swaying in joy
And here I was, burning for you.The clouds have thundered again.
With a great rumble the rains have fallen.
A wandering storm has arrived
But it hasn't managed to extinguish you.O my love, this light hasn't been extinguished
However much they torment it —
The rain, the wind, the lightning!
My love, come to me now, my love.
O my love, come to me now, beloved.Them:
Look at this crazy girl!
She knows nothing of the world.
A gust of wind will pass through
And carry with it her lover.Her:
My love, come to me now, my love.
The chain of this love…
I haven't let it be extinguished from my heart.
O love, this light.
The chain of this love…
I haven't let it be extinguished from my heart.
O love, this light.
O beloved, beloved, beloved…
This is the thrill — both the excitement and the danger — of falling in love. It is the racing pulse of flirtation. The awkward blush. The push-pull-yes-no dizzy-dance that consumes mind-body-life. It is the explosive catharsis of sexual awakening.
MOREY PIYA (MY LOVER)
Them:
The moon waited alone
In the arms of the night.
Hey, hey, hey, hey…
The moonlight seemed to guard
Youthful night.
Hey, hey, hey, hey…Hey, a gust of wind; a shining night!
In a palanquin of stars
A crowd of fireflies arrived.
A thought rose and hesitated on everyone's lips.
The drums and cymbals began to pound.A great tambourine started to tap, and
My lovely Radha strutted out and began dancing, yes!
My lovely Radha strutted out and began dancing.
Who knows from where
This handsome loverboy appeared to dance!Her:
My lover…
Behold how my heart trembles with fear.
My lover…
Behold how my heart trembles with fear.
Yes…My lover…
Don't seize my arms.
Shyness overwhelms me.
Yes, let go, you have my vow.
No, don't be stubborn.
Let me go, sweetheart.
Look, I will give you curses!
Go on, move away.
Don't torture me, my lover!My lover…
Behold how my heart trembles with fear.
My lover…
Behold how my heart trembles with fear.
My lover…Them:
On the banks of the Jamuna River
The drum will sound.
Krishna shall dance with Radha.Krishna shall dance with Radha:
Songs on the lips, exultation in the heart.
Krishna shall dance with Radha:
Thirsting breaths and rapturous bodies.
Krishna shall dance with Radha:
The world beholds them in astonishment.
Krishna shall dance with Radha!
Fire is also the crushing weight of an imploded ribcage when it ends. It is evisceration. The guts slopping out on the floor. The searing veins. The firestorm erupting from the rift.
This is the locking down of the breath and the refusal to let the storm rage. Such a thing would burn everything down if it was allowed to be felt. But no, there are tasks to be accomplished in life, so it must be extracted, sealed inside the box, and buried on the floor of the Atlantic with all those other things. Things that cannot be spoken.
This is the armoring of the heart. The guarding of that most vulnerable target, and the crossing of swords over the raw, enflamed breast. It is the attempt, over and over, to slam down the portcullis when we know what we need to do — what is best for us to do — what we have to fucking do!
But we just bloody can't.
HAMESHA TUMKO CHAAHA (I’VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU)
Them:
O joyous night!
A resplendent wedding procession has arrived.
An ocean of sadness,
Having welled in her eyes, was slowly checked.
The hum of the shehnaii rises.
Her eyes told the tale…Her:
I’ve always loved you
And loved you and loved you and loved you
I’ve always loved you, and no one but you
My heart has worshipped you...
Worshipped you and no one else.
No, nothing...
No. Never. Nothing...
Nothing else.Them:
There was sadness
Even in this happy occasion.
She was surrounded by
Shadows of pain.
But still she came
Only to tell her beloved this:Her:
The scar you gave me
Only adds to my beauty.
This scar I will preserve as your mark,
And decorate my forehead with it forever.
O darling, o darling
In this life without you
There is nothing, absolutely nothing
Nothing at all…Them:
Carrying memories of past moments,
With burdened steps she walks.
The heart wept and the eyes welled up.
A sound came from the heart.Him:
Those childhood memories…
Those affections, those bonds.
Those swings of the monsoon.
That laughter, that teasing.
That getting upset and persuading her.Her:
Each and every moment of love
Is locked inside my heart.
I have lit a lamp for it.
I am taking it with me.
I am taking it with me.
I am taking it with me!Him:
O darling, o darling!
Without you there is nothing in my life
Nothing…absolutely nothing
Nothing at all.
I’ve always loved you.
Loved you and loved you and loved you.Her:
And loved you and loved you and loved you
And loved you and loved you and loved you
Yes, loved you and loved you
Just loved you and loved you…
**For centuries, the traditional color of an Indian bride’s wedding veil was saffron red.2
This suite of dances was performed in Durango, CO 2008. Among other places.
To explore more of Fire Dance see:
ELEMENTAL EARTH - REALM OF DANCE
To discover the Fire Music Playlists see:
ELEMENTAL AIR - REALM OF MAGIC, MUSIC & MUSE
© 2022 Hartebeast
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