Vestals

Symbols of the inner fire

December 26th 2025
The task of the Vestals in ancient Rome was to keep the flame burning.* This was, of course, a purely symbolic function, for why should physical fire be kept alive? It could easily have been lit again, since they were no longer living in prehistoric times. In reality, the flame tended by the Vestals was a symbol of the inner fire that human beings must never allow to die.
The Vestals, who were virgins, represented the purest aspect of the Divine Mother, purity being a requirement for fire. Fire—the sacred fire of divine love—cannot be kept alive without the presence of the Divine Mother. The initiatic significance of the Vestals is this: all human beings must become virgins in their souls in order to attract the fire of love, so that the masculine principle within—the will, the spirit—may use it to create. For fire is at the origin of all creation: from the simplest preparation of a meal to the blast-off of a spaceship, fire is indispensable. And how much more so in the spiritual realm.
* Related reading: 
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