The Giant Fennel is a drought-tolerant herbaeous perennial growing as tall as 4.5 meters (15 feet). As a plant sacred to the ancient Greek Fire gods — Prometheus and Hephaestus — the Giant Fennel is a vessel of Fire, culture, and craft. When used by Dionysos and his retinue in the form of the sacred thyrsus, the Giant Fennel also becomes a rod or sacred axis for channeling divine revelation.

In the summer of 2021, in two weeks alone, wildfires burned over 100,000 hectares of land across Greece, including the island of Evia, areas of Attica, the Peloponnese, and northern Greece. Wildfires of this magnitude seem to be, from the research I’ve been doing, completely avoidable. But are all wildfires "bad"?

Despite over 5,000 years under human cultivation, the Olea europaea remains wild-looking and ancient, with some trees surpassing 1,000 or 2,000 years of age.  Surviving fires, drought, and even a complete cutting back to the stump, the olive tree will just not give up. This is a formidable, primordial, and powerful tree, a teacher of perspective, and a reminder of the ancestral gifts of awe, gratitude and humility.  Associated with the goddess Athena as well as Zeus and the patron of human culture, Aristaeus, the Olive was a sacred symbol of divine blessing and wisdom.

Bay Laurel is an evergreen shrub or tree in the laurel family (Lauraceae) with dark green and smooth leaves, white-with-yellow flowers, and purple-black drupes. As an important tree for prophecy and divination, the Bay Laurel has a special relationship with the Pythia (Oracle of Delphi) and the Greek god Apollo; its leaves are burned to encourage visions or used in the casting of lots. Drought tolerant and aromatic, the leaves can also be woven into wreaths or dried and wrapped in incense bundles for everyday rituals and purifying ceremonies.

This playlist deals with the theme of intentional self-destruction — the necessary sacrifices we make in order to let go, move on, and start over. 

But what's really left when we set Fire to the person we used to be? Will we truly arise like a phoenix? 

Or will we just be smoke and ash?

To celebrate the Fire Season, a playlist for igniting the Inner Eye. 

Close your eyes and journey into your own Fire Cave. What kinds of dreams, plans, new worlds can you imagine? What sorts of things would you like to set aflame? To let go? Or to ignite into being?

Visions. Divination. Ceremony. Invocation. Worship.

A Time for Divination, Visions, and Celebrating the Seer.