Now, we approach the animals of the fire element. These animals, the creatures of the deserts and grasslands, all tend to matters of the spirit. They represent our ability to alchemize and transform.
From the guidebook, these animals lead us towards change. They represent the ego and encourage us to lean into change, so that we may become our best selves. Within this suit, the cards come forward when there is a hard, but needed push towards our light, our path, and our higher selves.
Once again, the cards don’t have a numerical association; rather, they were chosen by Kim Krans for their depth of consciousness. The first animal within the fire element is the Fire Ant.
The Fire Ant opens us to the elixir of heat, but, as we will see, cannot hold or sustain it for long. This suit, with its elemental association, encourages us to find our sensitive channels and create mindful parameters that help our transformation take hold without the burnout that often comes with deep growth.
Creating a Discipline of Calm with the Fire Ant
The Fire Ant opens us into the fires of spirit and transformation of the soul by asking us to consider how we are working with our sensitivities. This small insect is incredibly aggressive with incredibly painful bites. When their territory is threatened, a pheromone is released that calls the whole colony to the perceived threat.
Here is an immediate invitation to consider what our spirit wants, really wants. The Fire Ant has a symbolic thread to the well-known concept of a hive mind, or groupthink. Does your spirit truly want to follow the crowd, whatever crowd that is, or does your spirit desire a sliver of freedom? Something to ponder when this card comes forward.
The Fire Ant comes forward when we might need to create a sense of calm, rather than turn the heat in our lives up. When we are already dealing with aggression, the last thing we need is to add gasoline to our metaphorical flames. When this card comes forward, it is time that we start to take a hard look at the heat within that we are carrying, and whether we are using it for our greater good.
The suit of fire, as stated at the beginning, encourages our transformation to occur. We are challenged to grow and embrace the change of life. This is the first task with the Fire Ant. The Fire Ant asks us to consider why we are holding on to resentments or aggressions. Even if the strong grip is rooted in protection, at some point, we have to consider the cost we are paying for carrying such heat.
The Fire Ant is a mirror held up to the image of what our spirits could be, should we allow the alchemy and transformation to take hold. However, the way to get there is to relinquish much of the energy that comes with the Fire Ant. At some point, we have to let the aggression go or create a mindful channel for our rage. Aggression and rage are not bad things, especially for women who are naturally conditioned to always be sweet. We have a right to our rage and aggression. The switch comes when we use those emotions to illuminate a collective truth, instead of burning ourselves out on pettiness or resentments
Guidance from the guidebook
Some key references from the guidebook
Keywords / phrases: Aggression, Rigid Thinking, Following Orders
When in balance: thoughtful, disciplined
When out of balance: argues, excess heat, gossips
To bring into balance: solo time, walks at night
Following the guidance from the guidebook, working with the Fire Ant is a lesson in temperance. We need to be mindful if we are stoking the flames of ego, or of those that would illuminate greater spiritual change. When we choose people who allow us to feed into our baser instincts, or they bring out the worst in us, our Fire Ant energy may need to be greatly cooled.
This is not to say that this card has no good invitations. In the light, the card of the Fire Ant encourages us to be thoughtful and to slow down. In this light, this card encourages us to see the deeper meaning of our heated rage. This space is much more tender than Fire Ant would like to admit, but it is here in this softness of self that our rage speaks to our sensitivities, and deep-seated emotions.
The Fire Ant also encourages a sense of discipline within. Even if a gossip-fest would feel like a balm of cold water, in the end, it does not solve anything or create any sort of growth. Instead, it encourages pettiness, name-calling, or other parts of ourselves to take control. The discipline that the Fire Ant encourages shapes our energy, which shapes our reality. When we hold to that discipline, even when our ego wants to go the other way, we start to channel the fiery emotions into something that encourages more connection, more vulnerability, and a deeper understanding of our emotional/spiritual state within.