The Peace Abbey Coffeehouse

On a late October Sunday afternoon I stood in the warm sun not far from the corner of the Multi-Faith Chapel of the Guest House, with the pasture on my right, watching the gentle wind puff away the dusty ashes of the rectangle outlined in green grass. I was finding it hard to imagine that the night before I and a number of others were out there in bare feet in the accumulated wet snow, our heads dripping from the heavy falling wet snow, standing at the same edge of the rectangle in anticipation of walking across the glowing red hot coals that were radiated warmth up to our faces.

As suggested in preliminary instructions, I had gone to the Firewalk Seminar with an open mind – not thinking that I would feel compelled to do the barefoot walk across the red coals, but also trying hard not to think that it doesn’t make sense that feet don’t get burned. This seminar was sponsored by D.E.A.F. Inc., an organization which encourages and empowers Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals to lead independent and productive lives. D.E.A.F. Inc. offers a comprehensive package of programs and services in a supportive community environment that is linguistically and culturally accessible for Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals from diverse ethnic and cultural populations.

Most of the participants at the seminar were hearing impaired – hard of hearing or deaf. One participant was deaf and blind. She used a method of tactile signing to communicate. The seminar was conducted in American Sign Language, and there were two interpreters who sat with the minority of us who were not hearing impaired. The interpreters did an amazing job of not only speaking what was signed but talked with expression and inflections as if they were the original speakers.

The instructor, Virginia Beach, is the world’s only Deaf Certified Firewalking Instructor. In the seminar, she told us about the path she has taken to get her to where she is today. It has been a hard path, but she is totally empowered and is hoping that she will have the opportunity to give these seminars across the country.

It was a powerful experience to spend the hours in a different communication method than I am used to, and to understand more fully the communication of the hearing impaired. When Virginia was lecturing, she exaggerated facial expressions and body movements to get her emotions across. When the occasion arose for clapping, hands are waved at shoulder level, or feet are stomped. When I was getting coffee and tea for everyone in the kitchen, it surprised me to hear no voices and to turn around and see 25 to 30 people there. I really thought about it when we went outside in the dark, and realized what it might be like to be in the dark and not be able to hear anything and need some kind of light to communicate.

The seminar was aimed at getting us to understand our fears, to confront our fears, and to get beyond our fears. When we were waiting for the bonfire to settle down into coals, we did two other “exercises” to get us ready for the firewalk. The preparation was to talk about FEAR and how to deal with it. One exercise was to break a foot square, 3⁄4” thick pine board which was suspended between cinderblocks by whacking it with the side of the hand, either straight out or closed fist. The second exercise was called “snapping the arrow”. Picture a regulation arrow, metal tipped, wooden shaft. With the metal tip placed in the soft part of the throat at the collarbone niche, and the feather end of the arrow up against a board that someone else is holding, the participant lunges forward and the arrow snaps. I noticed that when Virginia explained and then demonstrated the arrow exercise, many people did the same thing that I did, which was to keep poking that spot in my throat and imagine the metal arrow point against it. I can tell you that of the people who tried to snap the arrow or break the board, some did it on the first attempt, some did it on the second or third attempt, and some were not able to do it.

We all participated in building the bonfire, which involved laying out the 2-foot cedar pieces in an orderly fashion – each layer parallel and end-to-end, perpendicular to the previous layer. Pieces of newspaper were balled up as the wood was laid down, then when the wood was all laid down, corn oil was poured over it. Then we each lit a roll of newspaper from the sacred candle and put the roll into the cracks of the wooden structure, until the wood was lit. It was a glorious bonfire.

We went inside until the fire burned down and the firewatchers came inside to tell us that the coals were ready. When we got outside the wet snow was still falling and had accumulated on the grass outside the coal bed. We could feel the heat rising from the red hot coals. Virginia walked through the coals, it took four or five steps, and I remember watching her bare feet sink down into the coals, not understanding how she could do it. Participants started taking off shoes and socks, rolling up pants, and standing in the snow awaiting their turn to walk through. I will tell you that it was an amazing feeling to stand there at the edge of the coals, and abandon all thoughts of what I thought should happen, and to trust. I will not tell you what it was like to walk through the coals, that is for you to find out sometime. I will tell you how great it was to walk into Virginia’s warm hug at the end!

So the lesson about FEAR is to understand what the fear is about – are we looking at a situation based on past experiences, or based on what it appears to be? Can we get beyond the fear to understand the situation? Can we get beyond the fear to trust what someone else is saying or showing us? It takes a seminar like this to show that we can break out of our fears.