Fire Alchemy 2022
As we reflect on Fire Alchemy 2022, we recognize the power of this container for self-healing that was intimately held by all of us. We remember that the process of alchemy is messy, elemental, shadowy, and uncomfortable sometimes- just as this human existence is. Yet, this is the process of alchemical transformation.
At Fire Alchemy 2022, 77 human souls trusted the process of this 5 day journey.
This was the biggest profound container we - Kiki & Gaea - have held to date. We are soul sisters, co-mother of dragons, and weavers betwixt all times. As humans following our core values of building collaborative communities, we recognize the inherent value in every person who showed up.
Our days were structured to explore our 4 pillars, which are our ‘guiding principles’ that help to keep us accountable to the larger scope of what we’re creating with the Ignite Fire Keepers. The 4 pillars are: aligned intention, belonging, oneness, and authentic expression.
They remind us how to grow in alignment.
We let go of what does not serve with fierce graceful goodbyes - our stories, patterns, relationships, & actions. We welcome new ways of being with curious love & play - expansion, relationships, rewiring, choices, and actions.
Read on to discover how we alchemize our lives into gold.
THANK YOU TO our photographers Erin Grimm @cranberin & Christopher “Crispy” Moeller @christophermoeller for your visual storytelling - the photos you see are ALL by them. Thank you.
photo by Christopher “Crispy” Moeller
DAY 0 GATHERING & GROUNDING
The grounding work begins days, weeks, months beforehand : setting the structures of what is needed, from websites to payment portals, renting venues to creating schedules, gathering covid-19 test results to packing bins of fire gear.
Physically, we circled together to ground & reiterate the necessity of leaning into each other for support. Clear and honest communication is essential to hold this strong container. And getting out of one’s own way to support the collective experience for these gathering days is paramount.
Roles were clarified, altars built, and fires lit. Responsibility and leadership is a task indeed, and one that we humans are constantly weaving into our individual healing journeys.
Eating, flowing, living, breathing, dancing, and circling together remembers us to our intentions & oneness. Rooting is essential to rise.
(above) photos by Erin Grimm
photo by Christopher “Crispy” Moeller
Day 1 ALIGNED INTENTION
Our intentions crystallized, even if unspoken, as the team prepared to receive dozens of travelers from near & far. An intention is an aim or a plan, a seed sowed into the universe to guide thoughts & actions towards aligned being.
When we align our actions, thoughts, and energy towards an intention we can manifest a new reality - this is a sweet law of the universe, a courageous release towards co-creating what we desire in this world.
Aligned Intention
I live artfully and align myself with my highest purpose.
As attendees rolled in, rooting into campsites and finding nests in the castle, a juicy consent discussion guided us into aligning our intentions.
Consent is the energy exchange of asking first, never assuming. It encompasses everything from asking names & pronouns to touching someone else’s prop or assuming someone’s state of being. It is a way to align intentions with another; creating bonds that build trust, safety, and strength.
Our first gathering saw almost every participant present. Kiki & Gaea called in the elemental directions, honoring the land & indigenous peoples, and introducing their own intentions for the gathering. We then each shared our selves & intentions to seed the weekend with our dreams & desires. For, when we speak anything into the world, others can then understand and support it. We begin the journey towards realization of oneness.
We celebrate our first fires.
Our first fire ritual celebrates the beginnings of fire journeys, as a rite of passage, witnessed and celebrated by those who walk this path so we may always remember our roots, our beginner’s minds, and the essence of the element of fire as our teacher. We ground in safety practices, embolden with community support, and lean on the ignite fire keepers where all can lead by example.
The night continues on as we open into our first fire circle, celebrating, burning, being seen, pushing our boundaries, and entering into the spirit of play. We echo our intentions with dance & movement as we meet them with the fire, setting the altar of our lives to receive what the weekend’s mystery holds for us this time.
DAY 2: ONENESS
Friday began beautifully. And so began the rhythm of choice - with multiple workshops happening at once!
Yoga with Michelle flowed in the cavernous great hall of the castle, weaving breath and movements to fortify and lengthen our beings entirely. Meanwhile, Kiki grounded into the kinetic intentions of the Fire Keeper Prayer with morning fire on the dewey grass field.
Kiki & Gaea teach “Partner, Play, Practice, Poi'' as grounding to to inextricably weave the foundations of flow philosophy & techniques. Emphasizing ‘beginner's mind’ as the root to all advanced techniques, we deepened into a slow, curious flow. We explore the flow arts as a devotional practice, poi as partner, & the essence of play. New poi-friends were established in partner poi practices! We then divided into 2 groups - beginners rooting into the basics of flow patterns, body placement, planes, and movements with Gaea & experienced poi-ers into more complex partner poi combinations with Kiki.
Here, there is truly something for everyone. And within that, we embrace our oneness, the similarities in our differences, and enter into sweet unification of flow, together.
Oneness
I honor others as a sacred reflection of myself.
At Fire Alchemy, we invite attendees to submit workshops to host to highlight the skills and knowledge of our community & to offer varied viewpoints of the flow arts and their tangents. These community workshops are held within the Castle’s rooms & the natural landscapes of the surrounding grounds.
Our first 3 community workshops:
Heidi guided humans to tap into their manifestation magic in the Circle of Pines
Honeybee shared silk poi + veils in the open sunny field
Melanie Moonbeam opened up the Castle’s Sunshine Room to craft unique, versatile & fancy costume accessories.
After a brief lunch break, Gaea and Kiki co-led “Double Down” - a foundational and technical static double prop flowshop, weaving in how flow movement patterns show up in similar ways between flow props like staves, fans, and palm torches. Opening up the space with engaging play, Kiki guided newbies to connect with props from an embodied place, interlacing energetics and neuropattern foundations to anchor into flow concepts, while Gaea engaged mind bending tech patterns within intricate layers of body positionings, as they guided both groups deeper through experiential stages of flow. By bridging the neuroscience (mind) and the experiential (body) connection, flow state is accessed more easefully.
Afternoon community workshops offered movement, artful expression and inspiring talks by our community members.
Regal and Nick engaged humans in a hoop mingle, to explore a variety of hooping concepts, from basics to advanced, layering in mind-body connection
Melanie Moonbeam shared stage makeup creativity, offering a variety of pigmented mineral shadows, face shimmers and body glitter to enhance and delightfully express with adornment options.
Ten Cano shared inspiration talking on personal well-being, abundance, & her journey to becoming a TedX Speaker in the Circle of Pines.
The Sacred Role of the Safety
The Fire Keeper Initiation: Fire Safety training.
This is the most important ritual - of information - for you can only light as much fire as you feel safe to hold for another in safety. Kiki and Gaea co-lead to anchor in the role of safety as sacred. Here, we share the practical steps of “How” in fire dancing; what to wear, gear, communications, how to put out fire of all sorts, emphasizing the mindset of unwavering attention & trust needed to keep each other safe. This year, we split into smaller hands-on groups based on experience to intentionally extinguish a variety of fire props. Our advanced practitioners dove deeper into discussion of safety within fire dancing from physical, emotional, internal, and external spaces. Our newbies put out live fire props for the first time. Our intermediaries explored their edges and put out unusual large props like swords, crowns, dragon staves, and hoops.
This ritual training is sealed in with encouraged ‘buddy’ connections of our newbies to apprentice with those who have years of experience holding safe space within fire communities. We hope these relationships to offer insights and awareness to exponentiate the safety within our communities.
Sharing information on fire safety keeps ourselves, our communities, our audiences, and the world safe. Awareness of the power of fire is central - fire is and can be chaos, and we are here to create containers for that chaos in the safest ways we know.
The fire burns away that which we don’t need, and encourages us to face the basic human fear landscape of playing with fire - which is relatable to everything else & repatterns so much, if you are willing to go there.
With a brief pause & breath, the group reflected upon all learned today, and moved into practical applications in our fire circle for the evening. The circle was filled with brightness, as newbies were encouraged to light new fire props, and all began the journey of being seen in our individuality and oneness, both. The night was filled with partner dances and play as we burned, witnessed, and safetyed each other in this sacred balance.
DAY 3 BELONGING
Our third day dawned beautifully hot & sunny. Michelle led a group in slow, deep breaths tuned with stretches to release the physical stress of the previous day in the Castle’s cavernous Great Room, while Marie Xtina mindfully led a sounding meditation at the top of the Castle Spire Tower.
Our pillar today, Belonging, is a concept of depth. Belonging resonates to how we belong to both ourselves & the planet. Gaea led a dance based experience to embody what it can feel like to become one with the present moment; alive, awake, aware. Starting in complete stillness under the dappled sunlight, humans began to explore what it means to Take Up Space without Taking Over the Space - allowing spaciousness for all humans to explore, expand, and express. No one is more important than another here, and we danced that into being collectively.
Belonging
I keep myself and my community safe with my actions and intentions.
The workshop continued with a brief discussion about best practices in how to take up space, and the mental gymnastics that often asks us to perform. Evolvinging into small group performances, then a giant dance jam circle where all took up space and took up space holding space, this workshop was truly lit.
A brief breath, and participants were on their way to community workshop breakouts.
Bredevi led her signature “Activate your Mystic Honey” in the great hall, an energetic exploration of healing through the chakras -the 7 energy centers held within the body, according to the ancient Indian traditions.
Jessica held her long awaited “Dancing the Goddess Amaterasu” - where the Shinto Japanese Sun Goddess’s story was danced and explored by participants of all ages.
Beacon explored “Fire as Ritual of Release” with a group in the Circle of Pines to- a preparation of intention to release for our witnessing fire ritual the coming evening.
The energy of the day swept into an epic POOL PARTY, embodying celebration, joy of connection, and levity of friendship. Bubbles, cannonballs, tandem diving, conversations, laughter, tunes, and watery dancing amplified the play!
With participants still dripping, Kiki led a deep meditation into our personal “Relationship in Flames”, exploring how the fire is a microcosm of each of our relationships. Our relationships with fire can teach us how to show up in them. Lighting live fire, Gaea continued to embrace an intimate relating to fire with flames on our skin, in our mouths, and transferred around the body in a fire eating & fleshing workshop. Empowerment abounded from the depths of each human as everyone present ate fire and reveled in their own courage!
Meanwhile, Ten & Erin led a smashing rope dart workshop where participants embraced the chaos and release of the rope dart. Tania & Heidi grounded the Castle Great Hall with “Meditation with Breathwork Techniques & Sound Bath”, where the resonance of deep self-healing began to take root as stillness consciously guided us towards knowing our essential truths.
What a day!
The Sacred Role of the Witness
The evening ritual of Belonging wove into the role of the Witness. Our safety training the previous day rooted us into the role of safety, and here, we explored the power of witnessing and being witnessed.
In small groups, intentions were spelled aloud. Then, one by one, each human stepped into the spotlight to be witnessed in silence alongside their intention by the group.
Simple, easeful, and profound. Difficult, emotional, and whelming.
A moment of silence solidified the beauty of the ritual, and the chant “We’ve got fuel… we’ve got fire… we’ve got a burning desire…” began as whispers, then quickly amplified as it rang into the forests. Our third fire circle opened with the energy of the witness, and continued to dance throughout the whole night around our elemental altar, dancing our intentions into being.
DAY 4: AUTHENTICITY
Sunday dawned with thunderstorms, water pouring from the sky almost all day.
Early morning Qi Gong with Enrique slowed down participants as they moved their Qi lifeforce energy through with the ancient Chinese practice.
Pivoting to host all workshops undercover, Kiki led “Universal Sticks” in the pavilion to seal the 4 universal flow patterns into our bodies - warming up our stiff and sore structures sweetly with spinal circles, sweeping spirals, swaying infinite eights, and rolling waves. Each movement began in the body and expanded out into the staff as we giggled and laughed while encountering the faerie lights in the pavilion while rain quietly misted down around us. The universal flow patterns emerged in our play and flow authentically, each in our own ways.
Authenticity
I express myself authentically and encourage others to do the same.
The group traversed, with sticks, into the tower for a group photo orchestrated by Crispy & Enrique cascading up the tower stairs! We became the spiral!
The afternoon partitioned out with workshop choices.
Coelti led “The Alchemy of Envy”, guiding into an encounter with this intoxicating emotion & witnessing through experiential shadow-integrations.
Kate Fuego led prop/dance based “The Art of Is”, exploring improvisation and play.
Marie Xtina pivoted from a nature walk into exploring the castle for a “Silence & Sound” experience.
After a nourishing lunch, the Castle Great Room filled with colorful veils as Gaea led “Oneness & Mindfulness: Silk Flow”. Dancing towards the collective altar, we explored the ‘dark plane’ behind our bodies while we draped, dragged, and sensually became one with the moment and all its potential. Duo exercises of dancing together with outhers and with our veils led us into depth and laughter, tears and connection. The alchemical stage of separation began to sweep away that which we didn’t need with our airy silks.
For our final community workshop block;
Kendra deepened our self-compassion in “It Takes What It Takes” as all explored patience in our common human experiences. The workshop was profound for many.
Tania & Angel led “Healers Connect” in the healing room, where we created a tight circle to talk about our own healing journeys, ending with an eye-gazing exercise to emphasize the healing that occurs simply by holding a space of conscious presence.
Evening already, our fire performance & circle drew near. The rain encouraged a shift, we moved the fire circle from near the bonfire towards the pavilion so we could sit off the ground. Everything was quickly re-oriented in the space, even the altar itself.
The Sacred Role of the Dancer
Our final fire experience of Fire Alchemy began with the “Prayerformance”, where we explored the role of the Dancer.
All 3 of these sacred roles within fire dancing are essential. The safety grounds and holds us, the witness weaves the story into reality, and the dancer channels the intentions through into being.
Watch the video, as the dancing speaks for itself! (Thanks to Ray Durant for additional footage, and Erin Grimm for spearheading this entire video!)
After resounding applause, the night danced on as humans eagerly took the open stage to authentically express their own brightnesses. Clothes came off, exuberant wildness ensued, clothes went back on, and exuberant wildness continued as Keaton DJ-ed for us all night. Boundaries were noticed, freedom experienced, and prayerformance permeated the whole evening.
This celebration of being was truly a night to remember - our fires alchemizing as we wove our spirits betwixt each other in a collective transformation.
Day 5: Gratitude & Celebration
Monday dawned beautifully. Tired and soft, we circled up one last time in the great hall for a tender closing ceremony.
Kiki seeded a flash-mob fire prayer that Gaea knew nothing about… when it was time, the whole group stood and began the prayer, Gaea elated that the prayer was happening, jumped right in.
Tears flowed as the room rose and turned together in the sweet flock choreography of kinetic prayer, together. We knew this moment to be special. Together, we danced and prayed to seal in the connectivity, support, intention, and magic we all felt. This was the moment to anchor us into our coming integrations.
As the group seeded their words of gratitude together into the circle, our individual “nuggets” became one. Oneness is the connections felt so deeply by all. Leo remembered us to our beauty that shines out from inside - not to remember how we appear momentarily in photographs or video- but the shining glory of our remembered experience of the beings standing in circle.
We are not our images, we are the embodied frequencies of energy. This is to be remembered in love and tenderness, for the moment it was, and how we felt during it
After the circle breathed together for our last time in this iteration of the Ignite Fire Keepers, we continued to eddy and flow around each other offering hugs & goodbyes, reflections and gratitudes. Staying connected, heart to heart, life to life. As each departed the castle, leaving no trace but energy in our wakes, we began our journeys back home.
Celebration is the frequency of reveling, essential to our final stage of rest.
In celebration, we allow ourselves to integrate what happened.
Remember & savor our most poignant moments to process them.
This gathering was filled with potent self-healing, celebrations, acceptance of all bodies, contractions, expansions, tears, laughter, and connections. Our moments evolved into belonging deep in the self, and discoveries of deep rifts that need to be crossed before any more happens are blessings and lessons.
We are the gold, these are the moments of the adventure of life that allow for us to grow, change, and evolve into the consciousnesses that emit only love.
All continue to process and integrate as time carries onwards. When speaking powerful intentions into the world, the universe holds us accountable for actualizing them. Many have seen their lives shift - a change which can be a difficult feeling flow - to align with what they asked to become their newest selves.
Devotion to the flow, and to deepening into our process is the alchemy. It’s never ‘done’ in a weekend, but the fire works on us over time, though the burning itself may be quick. The integration process of this alchemical event into our everyday lives is an important one, and after such an event can be poignant. When we shift internally, the external world responds.
We see the spaciousness of the spirit wind offers clarity as time passes.
The blessings are in the lessons.
We are always learning. Always. Kiki and Gaea, we, consider how to keep our communities safe & in consent, connected, rooting to love. We ponder how to avoid the dissolving qualities of old-patterns of distrust and disconnection that often can be the rubber-band effect of such a close heart-opening gathering. We trust that our own human hearts will show us the way, as we continue to align with what turns us on and lights us up.
Looking at each experience as a whole, the thorns, leaves, roots, stalks, buds, blooms, and seeds are all essential parts of the whole.
We root into our 4 pillars, and devote ourselves to the flow.
Together, with strong roots belonging to the earth, may we open and bloom.
We hope that you will join us next year for the Fire Alchemy Gathering, held in the Stronghold Castle & Grounds in Oregon, Illinois. August 3-7, 2023. Or, if you desire a more tropical getaway, we host 2 smaller retreats at Kiki’s home, Villa Larimar, on the US Virgin Island of St Croix.
