Fire Monkey Mantra

I was born in the Chinese Year of the Monkey. Fire is the element assigned to the particular year I was born. This makes me a Fire Monkey. Fire is tricky. It can destroy you. It can shoot out of your mouth and leave nothing left of the person in front of you except for ten smoking toes. Fire can also warm you. It can fuel you. You can cook a bunch of seemingly unrelated stuff in a pot on top of a fire and end up with ambrosia.

But fire needs to be tended. You have to bank it and settle it in for those times when you aren’t able to keep an eye on it. You have to stoke it when you need it to roar. We never completely control fire but we can keep it from burning down our house. We can learn to light someone’s cigarette without leaving lifelong scars.

You probably already know most of this, but what you might not know is how important it is to never give away your last burning ember, your last piece of elemental energy no matter what form it may take. You need to keep it close. For yourself. You need to blow on it and keep it alive. You need to carefully tend to it. (Are you hearing me yet about the need for tending, is it sinking in?) It’s not a selfish act to keep that final ember. I’m not just talking about needing it to ensure your own survival either, though there is that. What many of us tend to forget is that what fuels and feeds us also makes it possible for us to warm and nourish others. And of course, if we happen to need a flamethrower at some point in the future, it would be good to have a little ammunition in reserve.

Cinse Bonino
2023