For fire to be most useful it is best contained and focused.

A woodstove, an oven, a stovetop, a furnace provide excellent containers focusing fire for the uses of heating and cooking. A light bulb contains fire to emit light in just the right way. Different kinds of light bulbs serve different kinds of purposes for our need for light. A canvas provides an excellent area within which the artist creates. An art gallery holds the works of creative of expression and displays them in the perfect light. A church makes a wonderful place for worship. An altar contains sacred elements, which inspire deep reverence. Within the pages of a book the light of the story is well contained. A classroom defines an environment where learning takes place. A library holds the wisdom of the world¹s great masters. A bedroom makes an excellent container for making love in a crowded world.

When we speak of fire in this way, we are speaking of the balance between the Fire and the Metal elements; the creative expression and the boundary within which it is contained. Without safe boundaries fire can be frightening and dangerous. A forest fire rages at temperatures so hot that boundaries are defied. Firefighters are constantly speaking of containing the blaze, and they attempt to do so with water, bulldozers and axes, and ³controlled burns². The forest fire left unchecked leaves great destruction in its wake.

Yet fire is a part of the natural order of things. Forest fires have been part of the ecosystem¹s natural cycle of renewal; long before man began to fight them, seeing them as a great threat. Adolescence has long been part of human emergence long before delinquency was defined as a problem.

Limits are malleable, and depend greatly upon the perspective from which they are seen. Yet it has been said that when you know your limits you are completely free. Within your limits you have the safety to direct and focus your fire for optimum benefit. Consider fire as a tool for you to test your limits and make sure they are sound. Sometimes a limit is too restrictive. Turning up the heat may soften it and shift it. Other times a limit is not secure enough, and the fire spills out generally making everyone uncomfortable. The artist is painting on the sides of buildings, and people are making love in libraries. When the fire and the limits are in balance your truth can shine through for all to see without the danger of going blind.

Meditate on this and see where your limits lie and whether they are assisting your fire to burn at its optimal level. If the fire has gone out, the boundary is too strict. If the fire is raging, you are in great danger. For best results find a place where you can test your fire safely, turning it up and down to gauge the effect. In this way you will best discover the safe use of fire.

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