"How can we reconcile the immensely destructive force of fire with its equally limitless creative potential? Forest managers light intentional blazes to clear overgrowth and begin anew the cycle of life. A fireplace becomes a hearth, offering heat, light, and survival for the homes residents. And fiery volcanic activity can obliterate what stands in its path all the while creating new land in a matter of hours and days that becomes highly fertile soil in thousands or millions of years. The element of fire--and its life-giving results in the form of heat and light--represent both a powerful metaphor and an undeniable fact of organic and spiritual transformation. Evelyn Underhill, in her classic book Mysticism, states unambiguously 'No transmutation without fire.' And 'Here, as elsewhere...the self must lose to find and die to live.'"
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