The Firespirit: A Firewalker’s Journey – Interview with Gary Loper

The fire of the spirit, guided by intensity and gusto, radiates desire and passion.  That deep yearning to fulfill one’s mission, dream and vision is the forerunner to creating momentum in one’s life.  Sometimes it is foreshortened and overshadowed by our mindset, thoughts that penetrate so deep within that we become consumed by fears.  The catalyst needed to free the chrysalis from the cocoon state sometimes is a dramatic shift.   I observed change and freedom.   A firewalk interlude connected the firespirit with the mind as ONE, all fears diminished to empower oneself, all is achievable.

The firewalker connects to Mother Earth, faith and conviction are entrusted, transports all learned thoughts processes that fire can induce pain and moves through one to a different reality.  The initiation process of confronting and conquering one’s fears is surmountable.  Walking on a bed of radiate hot embers is the ultimate release of fears; it is an incredibly empowering experience.

Although I was not a participant, it was the most amazing experience to watch this feat of accomplishment.  The group energy was inspiring, emotionally moving, embracing love, honor and respect.   There was a magical awe, one of reflection, the shift from fear to confidence.  Can you only imagine conquering your fears?

Here is some dialog between Gary and myself:

Caryl: Did you grow up with fears?  Can you elaborate on them?

Gary: I did not grow up with fears.  I had low self-esteem from emotional unavailability throughout my life, a lack of connection and in-depth relationships.  My desire was to be respected and loved in the way that I wanted to be respected and loved.  The gremlins, the voices within my head were constantly telling me do things to seek approval from people.   I never got celebrated.  I never heard, “we are proud of you”, so in my mind I heard that nothing was ever good enough.  So, if you will, my fear was not being respected or honored.  I was always looking for the safe way to do things to be loved.

Caryl: It sounds like to me that it was not fear but rather a lack of confidence; your self-worth diminished by emotional unavailability and compounded by not being loved the way you wanted to be loved.  A lot of what we go through as children in the discovery of who we are begins to unravel as adults, especially with growth.

Gary: There were combinations of things that occurred.   I have been very conscious of growth every single day.  Through reading the book, “Taming Your Gremlins” (by Rick Carson) and now the Firewalk, I have been able to tap into a clearer vision of those gremlins –  those inner voices, make choices as whether I want to play with them, ignore them, observe them – I am making better choices, having more victories.  The confidence starts flowing back in abundance when you take out the filters in what you can receive.

Caryl: What made you choose to participate in the Firewalk?

Gary: I don’t think that I chose.  Sherry Wright called, she invited us to be a part of her grand opening ceremony for a spiritual center she was opening and managing in New Port Richey and then when she started talking about the Firewalk, there was a part of me that knew that it was something I needed to do.  So, I didn’t have too much thought or trepidation about it, just knew to go with my gut, I knew I was suppose to go.

Caryl: Did you have any fears about walking on the hot embers?

Gary: I didn’t, the only time I got a little shaky is when I mentioned it to somebody that I was going to do it and their fear sort of fanned up my fears.  So, I decided not to tell anyone.

Caryl: Was it someone at the Firewalk that had those fears?

Gary: No.  It was someone outside of the walk.

Caryl: How did you get beyond that?

Gary: Just by shutting them off, trusting my gut, and Source that this was something that I was able to do.  Then a couple of days after I talked to Sherry, I went and looked up Firewalks and looked up the pre-instructions of what you should do, mindsets and stuff, so I had a pretty good idea of what was going on and how to do it.  I have seen a lot of motivational speakers like Tony Robbins and a few others who do the big Firewalk ceremonies.   What I got was that it is a ceremony to release fears, to be able to move forward, take back the power and to know that you can do what you want to do and still be able to come out alright.  When I read all that combined with my gut and intuition, it told me that this is what I am suppose to do, this is for me and I shut people off.

Caryl: It sounds like you are intuitively listening to yourself.

So, when you were actually walking on the hot embers what thoughts occupied your mind?

Gary: With all the preparation for Firewalk, walking on glass, pushing the straw through the potato, breaking the board, building the fire, all of those things built us up.   I know when we started to walk a number of people were reciting the chant, “my body will do whatever it needs to protect me”, so I got into myself and I was doing a little Qigong walking, being centered, bringing the energy in, focusing on me – ‘This is a rite of passage to make a choice, this is right for me, I chose to do it’.  I got into a mindset and allowed all the energy to come in, and allowed all the orbs you see in the photos to be around me and protect me.  It was simply a matter of making five steps across each time.

Caryl: As you took the steps across, what sensations did you feel physically with the walk?

Gary: Physically, are you asking if I felt the hot and the cold, the fire and stuff?

Caryl: That’s right, if indeed you felt anything.

Gary: I didn’t feel anything.  Basically I didn’t feel any hot or any sensation, basically out of reflex I stepped in the bucket of water at the end of the walk.  They had a bucket of water at the end to cool your feet, but I really didn’t need it.  I know I turned inward. I never thought about what I was feeling physically, I just had faith that I was protected, that my feet would remain perfectly safe, so there was no hesitation.  The embers as you walked on them crushed down a bit, and you could actually feel the energy and space within the wood as you walked on it.   You could feel that collapse and crush.  But as far as the physical sensations of heat, burning coal, I never felt anything.

Caryl: Spiritually did you feel a shift while you were engaged in the Firewalk?

Gary: Looking back at the exercises, there was a preparation, walking on glass – years living on the beach it was reminiscent of walking on shells, I knew I was going to be okay.  Yet, when you looked at the glass it was freshly broken glass – it wasn’t sand tumbled, there were sharp edges on it.  I do feel that I was able to tap into myself, get that concentration, within me there was that spirit and the universe, all going on simultaneously, more of a connection between me / myself, the soul, the spirit and the universe.  I was able to have that connection in order to walk across.  It has been two weeks.  Some of the transformation and spiritual shifts came afterwards, as there was more of a concentration, a focus, a connection while in the process – knowing that I chose to do it, knowing that I could get into that space, that I would be protected.  I am reenergized, reconnected with spiritual source.

Caryl: It sounds like to me like there was a union within the physical and spiritual, the universe — a connection with God consciousness – more of a shift between your physical and spiritual essence after the fact.

Gary: Yes, and there was an empowerment.

Later on when we viewed the photos taken at the Firewalk, it was clear that there was a spiritual message.  We didn’t necessarily know about it when we first got there – the sky was clear, the stars were shining really bright, some of the stars would show up and then I noticed that through the camera screen there was a little rotating circle of energy.  Then I looked down and back up and didn’t see it with the naked eye.   When I put the camera back on it, it showed up once again.   I showed the screen to some people and some thought it was an airplane, a UFO; no one was quite sure what it was.

During the preparation they were talking about the energy around us.  We know that there is energy around us all of the time, but I have never physically viewed it until we saw the photos — all of those orbs, multi-colored orbs, surrounding us, the entire group, even the ones that were not as charged.  You could even see them in some of the photos – the board breaking, walking on the shattered glass.  That was a message to me that there is energy surrounding us at all times.  As people walked across the fire those energies were very intense.  It is showing me that those energies are just guides and angels; they are in that kind of form to be able to be around us.

Caryl: Looking at the photos, I myself was not aware of what the orbs actually look like; they are totally amazing, so magical.  One might think that the photos were altered; and yet, they were untouched.  There is one that it is just filled with what looks like magical bubbles, floating in the air.  I know there is energy around us at all times; some of us are more in tuned, but seeing them in the photos, in the physical captivated the real essence — it made it so miraculous.

So, can you elaborate on your senses, what did you feel, hear, see and taste?  Perhaps we covered it in a previous question; however, would you like to add more to it?

Gary: I know that I was extremely focused.  When we wrote on our boards, there were a number of things I wanted to break through. (In one of the exercises, we were asked to write our fears on a board, things we wanted to break through). There were important issues for me to free myself of, from those gremlins, old programming, to be able to move forward, and I did.

If you look at the photos, if you look at some of the different people, there were various emotions.  If you look at my photo, I was focused and very intense.  And, other people were calm, some were happy and joyful, some were still filled with trepidation, so I truly believe it is an individual experience based on what you are trying to break through.   I remember one girl, you can see in the photo, she was so happy when she went through the first time; you could see the joy and elation in her face.  You do not know what you are breaking through until you do it.  You could see her sense of accomplishment, she never thought she could do it – she expressed that.  So, some of the sensations are individualized.  For me, I was looking to get my power back, get in control of my gremlins, get a sense of freedom, and know that I chose to do those things and came out better for it.

Caryl: Since then have you felt other emotions?

Gary: There have been shifts, transformational, and energetically I am sensitive that way, so when I go through other attunements and ceremonies and sessions, I have a tendency to take things to a much deeper level.  Whereas, it has been my experience that other people do not usually go to that level.

I know that in the last two weeks there have been tremendous bursts of energy and power, and then there have been times that I can feel my energy being depleted.  Suddenly I have to sit down, it wasn’t a choice, my eyes close and then I am napping for a couple of hours.  I know that is a part of an integration of everything that is going on, intensified by the work I am doing, that we are doing to be able to build our businesses, to help other people, so there has been a lot of energy being expressed.

I did feel the Firewalk and ceremony has shifted those perspectives, giving new enthusiasm and focus, it relit some passions, the power of how I want to deliver my messages.   I hope that people realize that when they go through this that they do need to honor themselves, their body.  If you have the energy then ride it.  If you start feeling tired then go nap, express your emotions, do not suppress them, suppressing builds up those inner voices.  If we express what we are feeling then a lot opens up.  I know in our relationship, our marriage and communication has vastly improved.  I cannot pinpoint what it is, whether it is an eternal confidence, a reconnection with source and spirit and our souls.  I know you chose not to walk, but I know you were affected by it.

How do you see yourself being affected by it as an observer?

Caryl: First, I would like to recap what you are saying.  Essentially what you are saying is to honor your feelings, your emotions, whatever sensations you are experiencing and feeling, and to relish it and celebrate it.  There may be moments that you are so energetic and sometimes exhausted; nonetheless, whatever the case may be, it is important to be present with the experience.  You expressed the connection between your own body and the four different facets – the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental aspects — embracing all those aspects with light energy, some call Universal Source Consciousness or God.

It sounds like a lot of positive elements; emotions shifted you in a different direction, building your confidence.  Perhaps with that transition, it allowed you to be more aware of everything around you, translating into our relationship.

Likewise, everything you voiced, I experienced.  To relate to another experience, an example might be, a couple experiencing the birth of their baby, it is the mother who is carrying that child, experiencing the labor, the actual physical birth — it is the father that is so embraced in love, filled with such joy, jubilation and celebration that they experience the birth of their baby together, in unison, in a blessed communion.  Your birth was a shift and there was a shift with me, a rebirth.  I experienced a new awareness, a confidence, an awakening to anything is possible; faith that everything is possible.  It was elating; it was very rejoiceful.

We have covered a lot of things.   Are there any others things we didn’t cover?  What did you discover and uncover about yourself?

Gary: Since the Firewalk, with the shifts, the transformation with this self confidence, connecting with Source on a deeper level, there have been new opportunities.  One we created, we were toying with beforehand to create my own social media workshops.  After the Firewalk, we have been moving ahead strongly, building it, sending out invitations.  Yesterday there were two calls, ‘the law of left field’, things come from unexpected places.  Somebody called based on an affiliate email that we sent out, they were talking to this company and decided to work with us instead of giving it to someone else.  Then there was opportunity to speak about an overview about Twitter.  I have been receiving those connections.  I have been retapping into my confidence, knowing that everything is going to be okay, I am expecting that things will come from unexpected sources.   I have opened up to a more abundant flow.

Caryl: It almost sounds like a gratitude journal, journaling about appreciation, the more you appreciate things, the more the door opens up; essentially it comes in abundantly.  Similarly it sounds like you have experienced that, and with this shift in your confidence, the door has opened up.

You have answered all of my questions.  I hope your answers have provided awareness about firewalking to individuals reading this interview.

Lastly, have you done anything to celebrate this experience?

Gary: We stopped for ice cream on the way home – we took the opportunity to celebrate immediately and found the last store that was still open at 11:45 pm, we savored that.

I have shared it in my networking groups and gratitude sessions.  I have not celebrated yet, in the sense of gotten up and danced.  I have celebrated by getting much more focused, and getting that passion that keeps me up to 3:00 in the morning, sometimes 4:00 or 5:00 to make progress.  My celebration is rekindling the passion, finding ways to express that and share it with other people.

Caryl: It sounds like I need to add homemade chocolate cake to the list!   Thank you for sharing your experience!