Fire. Emotional purification. Psychological and physical energy (flame of life), will. Devastating dangers, destruction, depletion, and transformation. Sexual passion up to and including addiction (“my old flame”); or intense passion. Need for togetherness, or the power to consolidate or remove contradiction. Cremation is said to assist resurrection (See Also: Ashes).
According to the I Ching, fire is that which bonds and radiates.
The fire that Prometheus steals from the gods is seen as a creative act of the human, as is the flame of the Easter candle that is the symbol of God’s power.
According to Germanic mythology, if consciousness fails to rule, the world will be set ablaze and consumed by a great fire. Purification, on the other hand, takes place in the fire in purgatory. It separates the sin from the sinner.
According to the alchemists1 interpretation, it is God Himself who glows in divine love in the flame of the fire. Also, according to Jung, hell is fire, since everything is destroyed there.
The fire in hell is a symbol of eternal pain; the fire in purgatory is the fire of purification. In Frazer’s The Golden Dough are many references to cleansing, Light, and fertility, related to the powers of fire.
For the Mayans, fire is the mother of the gods, residing in the center of the earth.
The image of the “fire mother” can be found in many cultures. According to Jung, fire is the true symbol of life, the center of life, the place where it is warm and light, where people assemble; that’s where you can warm yourself and cook something. It gives protection; it is the essence of being home. Fire is the primeval component and vitality of human beings.
As a male symbol, fire is brightness, the connection to the light, the Sun, and, in particular, to Lightning (Zeus and Wotan). Fire symbolizes the power of passion and action in the archetypal man and woman.
According to Freud, it is often connected with bed- wetting.
Folklore: A serious warning to be careful.
[1]