The Fire Element in Chinese Medicine & Kabbalah
The last blog post shared here, introduced an overview of the similarities and differences between The Five Elements of Chinese Medicine and The Four Elements of Kabbalah.
Two weeks ago today, on exactly the same day Jewish communities around the world were celebrating the holiday of Lag BaOmer, China welcomed in what they call Lixia, the first day of Summer according to their solilunar calendar.
This week in the Jewish calendar we entered the new month of Sivan and will observe the holiday of Shavuot. Once again, we see a similar reference to and shared element between Traditional Chinese Medicine and Kabbalah, that weaves itself through all of these holidays and seasons with the essence of the FIRE element.
The Fire Element in Chinese Medicine
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Fire represents the elemental sentiments of Joy and Creativity that erupt during the Summer months. It’s reflective of the increase in heat and light that comes with longer and sunnier days, which usually breed more of a desire to be outdoors and social. The elevated levels of joy we experience during this season often include school being out of session, travel on the rise, relaxing on the beach or by the pool and ice cream cravings that help cool us down.
Radiance is the most rampant and resonating resulting energy during the Summer months when our Shen (Chinese for ‘spirit’) calls to be aligned with our Ming (Chinese for ‘mission’). TCM teaches the heart must be open to intimacy in order for these frequencies of feelings to clearly come out and play in a healthy and harmonious way.
In TCM, the heart is the primary physical body part associated with the fire element. The primary physical function of the heart is to pump blood throughout the body. Without it, our cells would not be able to receive oxygen and nutrients or dispose of waste byproducts, like carbon dioxide. Blood is red like a fire and the color most associated with love, making it the bridge to ‘Summer Love’ and relationships. It’s a time when the seeds we planted in Spring start to bud. For these buds to blossom, Summer invites us to water them with love and sit in joy, connection and relaxation. It’s not a time to adhere to the planning oriented energies of the Wood Element associated with the Spring Season or the energy of letting go that’s induced by the Metal Element of the Autumn Season.
Summer represents the opportunity to bathe in light; both the one we receive from the sun and the one that sprouts as a result of the dark hibernating wisdom energy of the Winter and the growth potential of the seeds we planted in the Spring. Any time we stand in our light and especially during these Summer months, we become a lighthouse for others to do the same.
The Fire Element in Kabbalah
Similar to Chinese Medicine, symbols of light and fire sentiments are abundant in the mystical teachings of Kabbalah during this time of the year. For example, as mentioned earlier, the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer this year fell on the same day as the Chinese calendar’s start of Summer.
Lag BaOmer celebrates the yahrtzeit (day of passing) of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (one of Kabbalah’s greatest sages) and commemorates the one day thousands of years ago in which nobody died from a massive plague was killing thousands of students of another great sage and teacher of that time, named Rabbi Akiva. On Lag BaOmer, in honor of the one day miracle and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s life’s work, it’s customary to light bonfires, engage in activities that cultivate spiritual revelations and be in a state of joy, just as Chinese Medicine teaches us about the Fire element of the Summer months.
Sages are considered light sources because they help us reveal the light in dark times. The reason why we light bonfires on the anniversary of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s passing is because it’s said his home was always surrounded by a gate of fire. Fires bare light and transform matter (i.e. cooks food, purifies materials, creates warmth); light reveals what’s hidden and transformation provides new ways to perceive darkness; changes in perception usually result in spiritual revelations that get stored in forms of wisdom and expressed through joy.
Many major revelations of light or wisdom found in the Torah are associated with images of fire. Two of the most well known examples include Moses’ personal prophetic revelation of his mission to lead the Israelites out of slavery that came in the form of a burning bush and the Bible documented national revelation of the receiving the gift of Torah from G-d in the form of fire:
“Now Mount Sinai was entirely in smoke because the Lord had descended upon it in fire; the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently.” (Book of Exodus 19:18)
This week we tap into the energy of this ultimate revelation of the receiving of Torah with the holiday of Shavuot (means ‘weeks’ in Hebrew). The holiday’s name signifies the completion of the counting of the Omer, a period of 7 weeks and 49 days, that gets us prepared for the receiving of the Torah by encouraging us to refine 7 of each of the 10 energy centers connected to Kabbalah’s teachings of the Tree of Life, as briefly described in more detail here.
Shavuot is also the yahrtzeit of King David and the Baal Shem Tov, another great sage that came about 1,600 years after Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and was known for being the first to make the mystical wisdom of Kabbalah more accessible to all.
More Connections in Fire
Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet holds a world of energy in and of itself. The spelling of Shavuot starts with the Hebrew letter ‘shin’ (ש). The letter ‘shin’ not only looks like the flame of a fire, but it is also spiritually potent with the Fire Element qualities of transformation and spiritual intensity taught by both TCM and Kabbalah. It also sounds like and has the same symbolic meaning of the Chinese word ‘shen (神),’ which translates to ‘spirit’ and is associated with the same energy of the Summer months and Fire Elements described above.
Shin is one of three mother letters of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. It sits in the most transcendental of the four worlds of the Tree of Life called Atzilut and holds the three most spiritually ignited energy centers we don’t refine during the counting of the Omer (Keter, Cochma and Bina) because these are soul centers very few humans can access. Trying to tap into these realms in unholy ways can lead to a fire that can burn much like the fire created by the Sin of the Golden Calf. We’ll talk more about that in a future post as we get deeper into the Summer months.
Below the Shin mother letter of the Tree of Life sits the two other mother letters - Aleph (air) and Mem (water). Although The Five Elements of TCM don’t include an air element like other element based traditions, it has a similar feeling with its teaching of the ‘Heart Kidney Axis.’ This axis is the most balanced point of equilibrium between TCM’s heart fire element properties of shen (spirit) and the kidney’s water element properties of jing (grounding) or what is similarly and more commonly known as yin and yang. A similar point of equilibrium called the Aleph (air) mother letter axis line sits right above the heart space energy center of Tiferet in Kabbalah’s Tree of Life, and in between the Shin (fire) and Mem (water) mother letters.
Lastly, Breslov, a branch of the Jewish Hasidic movement, focuses on similar principles of spiritual intensity found in both the fire based mother letter of Shin in Kabbalah and the fire element of TCM. All of these teachings “boil up” to the importance of awakening the heart center (notice how I said ‘boil up’ instead of ‘boil down’ because and just like how the flames of a fire are always pointing up towards the heavens). The symbol associated with the Breslov movement is a flame that is meant to represent the spiritually passionate teachings of Rebbe Nachman, the Founder of Breslov and the grandson of the Bal Shem Tov.
Rebbe Nachman taught that joy primarily comes from tapping into the energies of the heart. Unlike other sects of Hasidism, Breslov focuses on inward transformation through direct conversations with G-d instead of through living Rabbis, and existential emotional intensity through honesty rather than formal structures of tradition. Some common practices amongst Breslov followers to help awaken the heart is dancing, hisbodedut (talking out loud to the Creator), spending time outdoors and midnight prayers.
CONNECTING TO YOUR FIRE
What does the Fire element have to do with you and how can you apply its properties to your life? For me it’s been a 26 year long road and journey to answer that question. I’ve boiled it up to this one formula - When we take time to Remember our light and Reclaim our spirit, we can Rejoice in our Mission.
What does it take to be in flow with this formula and not burn in the fire or drown in the water of the extreme powers of the elements? How can we find our way to the Tree of Life’s Aleph mother letter energy and TCM’s Heart and Kidney Axis? You’re already one step there by being here.
Dive in deeper by joining me for a Meditative Torah study session, sitting in Tea Ceremony with fire element tea leaves or signing up for a Nature Retreat. These are all tools that have helped me be present to rejoicing in my mission with you. It doesn’t mean my life is perfect and thank g-d for that! As a recovering perfectionist, I’m learning to find joy in transforming perfection to presence; pain to purpose and problems to passions.