Foreword by Robert Howells
Nic shared his essay, Annotations on the Elements – Fire, in 2004. He presented it as an example of the response given to the question ‘are you a Rosicrucian?’The premise being that Rosicrucians would historically identify themselves to each other with an explanation of the esoteric qualities of fire. I found the essay so informative that I obtained permission to reproduce it in Inside the Priory of SIon.

Annotations on The Elements – Fire
By Nicolas Haywood

‘Fire hath also in it another species or kind, namely the fierceness or wrath, which is the very house of death and a corruption of all good……………….For if it be too elevated or too preponderant in any creature, and become inflamed in the heat, then flesh and spirit separate’.
Jacob Boehme - ‘Aurora’.

The ‘wrath’ of this Sacred Fire is born of the vengeful gods from whom it had been stolen.
Fire equates perfectly with the innate wisdom of being; the momentum that belies mans’ very existence.
In stealing the fire Prometheus launches man into being, and his act sets in place an innate, passionate thirst for knowledge. The quenching of this thirst is manifested in the transition of initiate to adept. It is the Magus; the true Philosopher of Fire who, in an act of solitary artifice, satiates the insatiable and becomes as one with the gods by skilful manipulation of this divine element within. As he crosses the divide - the arc - the green robe of the initiate, which reminds us all that this essence is at the heart of all created matter, is exchanged for a cloak of red; the spectral diametric. Green is, however, the first frequency on the chromatic spectrum perceived by the human eye and it is also the last before the sombre hues of death.

Durand conveys the significance of Prometheus’s craft so perfectly. The panorama of the canvas leaves us in little doubt as to the universality of the booty in question.
The birds-eye view is almost reminiscent of the Mercator projection, reflecting the momentum of such an act and it’s seal upon, what is to become, Humanity.

In many respects, symbolically the fire equates with the circle or the ring, it being indicative of the aura attendant to a flame and it‘s orb of radiation. However, in echo of its shape fire’s elemental glyph is of a triangular construct.
Tradition speaks of the circle being a device, a veil, that was ever to be placed between the world of men and that of gods. It is with the aid of the triangle that the circle is squared; the divide between mortal and divine; the finite and infinite is bridged.

Not unlike the golden fruit of the Hesperides and the Adamic apple. It’s taste is both sweet and acrid, much in the way that Frankincense is tinged with sulphur in the incense of the Magdalene; priestess to the disciples of the Holy Flame, (Flam-el? ).

This is the Fire of Creation; The Spark of the Divine. As Boehme says:

‘It gives shine and lustre to metals, and colour and fragrance to flowers. It is the Life. For when this tincture vanishes, pallor and decay result…..’

In the same fashion it equates with the intangible fifth element of the pentalpha and constitutes the ‘Elixir Vitae and the Sulphur Tingens of the alchemist. The adept of transmutation is the master of fire.In such respect it represents that which completes the ‘Quintessence; the Sophic Fire.

As an icon universalle this fire is synonymous with the breath of god and is itself the sum total of Divine Inspiration; the spark of intuition and the Flash that is Revelation.We observe it in the firmament of Genesis and the flame of the Apocalyptic vision because it is representative of Creation; the cyclic nature of which is world without end. Hence we find it encapsulated in the Alpha and Omega.

So inherent is the strength of this archetype, both physically and symbolically, that it beckons understanding yet protects itself in a single gesture. We both know it and fear it yet it holds us in a timeless fascination. Perhaps the sacred origins of the Fire Dance; the Dance of Death.

The Magi in times past revered it in the physical manifestations of Sulphur; the stone that burns. It was sacredly demonstrable for, although a stone, the archetype of primordial permanence, it was capable of ignition, and insodoing, consumed itself. Fire, emanating from itself, made mutable that which was fixed.

The arcane attributes of fire offer insight into it’s true nature, and it has remained an esoteric principle that, symbolically, this element is interchangeable with that of air. This alternation is apt to be misleading for it is easy to confuse that which feeds the fire and spreads its light with that which constitutes the heart of this element.

Esoterically speaking, there are TWO fires, or perhaps more fittingly, fire has TWO aspects. It is inherently hot; it burns and consumes, but insodoing it illuminates. Therefore, by tradition it is both dry and warm and warm and moist; the latter pertaining to its field of light as distinct from it’s core-quality.

It is a given that, in the physical world, the former cannot exist without the latter, however additional keys to the true nature of the element are evidenced in the wand of the Tarot and the quadruplicity of the zodiac. Here, the glyph of the fixed fire is attendant to Leo, itself ruled by the sun. The arch-luminary without which mankind would not, and could not persist.

Fire engenders transmutation; revolution. The Firebird become Phoenix. Just as self-sacrifice is the intermediary of Gnosis. The unshackling of man from the spiritual confines and constraints that this same fire places upon him, so fire constitutes the means by which such bonds or ties are broken. It is both the means and its end. It is thus we are reminded of the esoteric message contained in the plaque above the Christ‘s crucifixion:

‘Ignis Natura Renovatur Integra’ - ‘By Fire Nature is Renewed Whole.’
Nicolas Aubyn - Annotations on the Elements. Copyright - 2004
Ammended: Spetember 2005

Inside the Priory of Sion
Robert Howells
ISBN: 978
Watkins Publishing Ltd - October 2012