Burn, Baby! Burn!

Burn baby, let's stoke this fire;
let us be consumed by this desire.
Embrace me, claim me as yours once more
until daybreak, when we awaken as before.

The Earth Mother, in all her majestic power and vast wisdom, has, I believe, made a grave mistake in bestowing upon humans the gift of fire. Of the four classical elements or the five Oriental elements, fire is the most unstable and destructive element of all, often defying harmony with the others.

Water can, by sheer volume, destroy coastal villages by hurling tons of itself upon the land. It can undermine the earthen mountains and trigger the collapse of cliff faces but does it not heed the call of the earthen moon and peacefully head back to the ocean as the ebbing tide? The wind that lashes at the leaves, and even the trunks of the massive wooden trees, can be injurous to these life forms but does it not bring the hope of new life for every grain of pollen it carries on its agile wings?

Metal is mostly a sleeper, slumbering deep within the warm, rocky-hard cushions of the earth and it is no surprise beasts that come into contact with its venomous awakened state, with all its grumpy personality, are often led into a deep and eternal slumber back into the loving arms of the Earth Mother.

Fire, on the other hand, is quite a quarrelsome element. Against water, it hisses defiantly even in death. With wood or with air, it rages ever more angrily, asserting dominance or, at the very least, displaying sheer power. With perseverance, it weakens earth, even metal, and forces them into a water-like state, incapable of holding their own shape. Given time, it will vaporize everything and dominate over all, feeding on the carcasses of the brethren it has killed.

Yes, like I said, fire is a very violent element, one that, I think, should have never been harnessed by humans. We, like all our fellow creatures, should have been content with the light and warmth from that great ball of fire hovering far, far away: the brilliant star so livid with energy that the Earth Mother thought it wise to maintain a respectable distance. However, it is oft of no use crying over spilled milk or, in this case, burnt elements.

I do, as a sorcerer, find it ironic that much of my spellweaving, storytelling and wordforging works have been powered by that massive ball of fire. In the past, I have attempted to help heal the planet by being conscious of some of my destructive habits. However, I am unable to resist the call of lust when, just this afternoon, I was commanded to burn a pile of garbage. It has been quite a long while since I burnt dried leaves, indeed, a much longer time since I last casted lvl-2 Fire, but the call was strong and my will, as weak as paper against flames.

Ten minutes later, I was standing in an empty lot, almost devoid of life. As a human, I feel relieved that the place now holds a lesser probability of being infested with unhealthy, noxious life forms. It does feel good when your surroundings are "clean" As a sorcerer powered by the sun, I felt immensely powerful then; a light breeze had picked up and strengthened the raging flames. Dry twigs and leaves cackled their drying breaths and even I had to move back as the conflagration burned the air itself.

As a son of the Earth Mother, however, I do find it the least bit funny to be reducing it all to ashes, when putrefying agents could so easily have brought them back to the folds of the Earth Mother's embrace. Now, all that was left of them were glowing embers and lifeless strips of ash floating about the sky.

It's not easy to heal the planet for a man who has an affinity to fire. I suppose even some doctors find it difficult to reconcile their medical knowledge with their habits of smoking, or drinking. We all have our weaknesses and for mine, I beg the Earth Mother's forgiveness.