Fire

" Of the four elements, the gods left the secrets of only one in the realm of man. And with it, he forged his will upon the world"

I once met a famous sheik, leader of the Helvetti dervishes in Istanbul. It was said that he could see a man's destiny and so in conversation with him one evening, I asked if he could see my destiny. "You will be drawn to the flame and consumed," he said. At the time, I wasn't sure that this was a good thing, but he assured me that it was wonderful. I didn't realize how literal his vision would be until I found myself staring into a white hot welding fire twenty years later and made the connection.

The craftsman has an affinity for his materials and for the processes. Working with fire has been one of the attractions of forging. Fire is a powerful and dangerous ally, it accounts for the alchemy of the craft. If I am away from the fire for too long, my direction falters and when I fire up, I am revitalized. Fire skills are the first to leave for me also. If I am struggling, it often starts with the fire. I will rebuild or redesign my forge routinely as I gain more understanding or to reacquaint myself with the flame. A right fire is wonderful to work with and can unlock matter making it responsive and expressive. It is too easy to forget the tools or become complacent with them, but fire demands attention. I have moved toward technology to control my fires, but quickly was forced to accept that even though I can add controls and aids, the real work is in the attunement to the fire and that can never be replaced by a probe or controller.

Fire serves also as a symbol of the energy of the path. It transmutes material and purifies. In the incandescent white heat of a welding fire, I am reminded of purity. It is the key that unlocks the physical world and reveals the structure within the chaos.

The work of the craftsman is directly related to his understanding of the materials and processes. As a craftsman matures, his relationship to his media changes in very subtle ways. For the bladesmith, the central material is steel and the primary tool is fire. Because the steel is so responsive to the fire, even minor changes can have a profound affect on the finished piece. I believe this is true with all things. It is in our attunement that the nature of things is revealed. My education has been much like a jigsaw puzzle, pieces of information linking together with experience to reveal a pattern. It is a process of conflating these random bits into a tangible base of understanding and that is ultimately expressed through the creation of work. Understandably my view is personal and unique, but when I look at the world, it has given me a place to stand.

Winds of Liberation by Phillip Sugden For more images on this site
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Vibration