The other day my husband and I took our children to the botanical gardens in town. They have a display of Christmas trees from all around the world, we visited with Santa and then the kids made a craft. The craft that they made was a kadomatsu. Its a type of decoration that’s usually placed in pairs by the door to welcome the Kami, or ancestral Spirits. We placed ours on the hearth. For the Ainu, the Kami is spelled ‘Kamuy’ and Kamuy Fuchi is the goddess I pulled today.
Kamuy Fuchi is the Ainu Kamuy, or Goddess of the Hearth. She is the gatekeeper of communication between the living and the dead. She represents family, ancestors and your soul pod. She is a teacher of the people and oversees all domestic affairs and relationships.
It is said that Kamuy Fuchi never leaves the hearth. And why should she? The hearth is the center of the home. Here is the flame that warms our bodies, cooks our food and sustains our lives. Here is the place where souls return and wait to be reincarnated once more. Here is the place where families come together.
How do you maintain your “hearth”? Is it clean with a fire burning bright? Or is it covered in soot and your flame dwindling? It is time to clean house. Often doing this literally, helps us to do this on an emotional and mental level as well. See how what you have around you and what you are bringing into your space is affecting yourself and your family. It could be that there is someone around you who is being disrespectful to this sacred space.
Community space, family space should be respected by all. Are you enabling by cleaning up after everyone’s messes? Are you or others being disrespectful by bringing in clutter and leaving it for others to work around? Think about this not only in a literal sense but in a metaphorical sense as well. Sometimes the words we use as well as our actions can be just as messy as those dirty dishes left all over the kitchen counter.
Call on Kamuy Fuchi to help in your marriage or in family disputes. Like a tough grandmother she can deliver the swats as readily as the hugs. Though you cannot change others, she will guide you to making changes in yourself; to become more self- aware, allow for self- respect. She teaches us how to nurture that spark and that flame within ourselves. She allows us to talk with our ancestors, living and dead and to make connections that further us in our destiny. She reminds us that sometimes our family is not only those that share our DNA but those with whom we have incarnated time and again. Kamuy Fuchi shows us how to clean up our acts and stoke the fires of a warm and sustainable life.
Excerpt and Illustration are from The Goddess Coloring Book available now.