August 15, 2010

Nordic Light

Firewalkig in Scandinavia gives a very special connection to the nordic nature and the elements of fire, air water and earth. There is a significance not only when you firewalk but also where you firewalk. Though people firewalk all over the world it´s a special experience to firewalk on the ancient nordic land.

Over the land one day of the training this moose walked totally peaceful. José Almeida from Portugal captured the view while strolling around the farm.

August 10, 2010

Firewalking and the environment

Fires from wood are normally considered carbon dioxide neutral. Trees basically grow when water and carbon dioxide in the air builds carbon compounds in the photosynthesis. In the process oxygen is released. Thank you trees! When the wood is burned, or when a piece of wood decomposes, the carbon dioxide and the water is released. The amount of oxygen produced in the making of the tree is used in the process.

The ash is preferably returned to the forest.

October 21,2009

THE PERFECT MARRIAGE

How come that you still are together with Rolf asked John and Tolly when we skyped. I answered " Peace, love and understanding", and there is more to it than just a joke. Rolf and I are writing a book about our realtionship, working name is " The Perfect Marriage". We know that when you view things from a spirtual angle everything is perfect as it is. To realize this every moment, of course is another thing. But to be a master means you have to excercise every day. And the marriage is perfect dojo; place for studies.

For example some days you are disapointed, bored and feel chained to your partner, is that the perfect marriage, when you would prefer to be free and unchained, not bound to your promises?

From the beginning I was very reluctant to the idea of being married, To choose each other anew, not exactly every day but when crisis in the relation arouse, was my formula of a sound relation. And it worked for many years. Sometimes after big arguments we felt refreshed in our relationship and it deepend our bonds. After straightening out argues, we turned to be better listeners accepting ourselves and the other more and more.

Three persons influence changed this view of life. Our fathers died close to each other and Maja ur daughter wanted us to marry.

And we did. Now we became a link in a bigger whole. The responsibility of the family fell on our shoulders. It turned out that we who had been the hippies were the most mature and we stepped into a more old fashioned couplerole. It´s almost 15 years ago since our relation changed. I became more dependent and Rolf made a carrier which I supported. In some ways this was a win/ win situation because the process made it possible to live my dream fully. Staying at the farm, living close to nature and the animals.

The fabric of our lives are memories, sometimes forgotten. With an institution like marriage it´s not only our phantasy of the perfect marriage, but also all the couples that have gone before us that form our reality. For me the sweatlodge can cleanse some of this stuff and the loss of ego makes the eye fresh to form perfect marriage for this day.

i think that one part in a perfect marriage is to support the others dream. Then you end up as individuals again. Our latest picture of the perfect marriage was Rolf playing music really high and I wearing earplugs, having a good time together.

KING AND QUEEN FIREWALKING IN CANCUN

Rolf Beckman tells the story of a firewalk for 150, November 18 2008 on the roof of a hotel in Cancun, Mexico.

The job

With a focus regarding firewalking in training and certifying Firewalking Instructors and with many everyday obligations not connected to firewalking, my wife Owsa and myself only do a handful of firewalks yearly outside the Instructors Training. So when an American company after scrutinizing our website wanted us to go to Mexico for a firewalk, it was by no means natural for us to accept. However the contact we had with them made it clear that they are putting on high-quality personal break-through events globally and the phone calls also made it clear that we would sync. And the prospect of walking on fire on a roof at the side of the Caribbean see, sure seemed exhilarating.

The crew

One feature that made the assignment attractive for us was that the client was thrilled that as our crew we would have our two grow children. They saw a value adding to their training that not only does my wife and myself live and work together since more than 30 years now, but also the inspiration it would be to see the joy of a functional family working together. For us this was a great opportunity for a reunion since our kids have busy life’s living far away from us. And we needed the incentive! Not only did we have to break loose from our duties in Sweden, myself being CEO for a + 100 people company in the social sector and Owsa breeding and training show-jumpers, but we would also have to go half a cross the world.

Preparations

Anyway, all said and done we accepted and the layout was to do the firewalk on the second night out of three. Once in Cancun we had many hours on that roof, protecting the surface with special sod, fixing the wood that didn’t come the way it was supposed to and all the other details that we have learned to expect and handle after doing our first firewalk way back in 1991. As I was preparing the crowd inside the hotel to get them mentally ready for firewalking, my family crew was working the three fires on the roof, something that could be enjoyed in the room through the live feed cameras.

King and Queen?

Getting people ready for firewalking has two major ingredients: How is it done - and Why? To get the How part under way I showed clips from a Mythbusters episode where they come up with the conclusion that firewalking is busted. Taking a closer look at the video though, it becomes clear that nothing is busted. Firewalking is – and will forever be – an unsolved riddle. Anyone can cross the coals safely and – lo and behold – anyone can burn. Even though there is huge knowledge on how to prepare both coalbeds and brains to make them safe for firewalking, no one can ever guarantee the outcome of a firewalk for a specific individual. Actually, if it weren’t like that, I wouldn’t be doing it anymore. One of the reasons its so great to be around people who are firewalking is, besides the power and the total connectedness to the moment, to be in that space of mystery and awe that firewalking always produces. In the “Why- firewalk” part I used the concept of King and Queen as a reference. The King and Queen are chained to their mission and cannot deviate. Once a person comes to realize his full power, he becomes like the King (or Queen); chained to his task, destiny and power. Many people believe that the more power you have, the more freedom you get. Maybe shopping aside, nothing could be more false. When you are connected to that inner power that resides in everybody, you can not be anything but true to who you are giving you only one choice: The choice of being you 100 % in every moment. The freedom we have is to be true to ourselves or not and once somebody has made that connection to their heart in a deep way, there is no turning back. And guess what? Firewalking is the perfect classroom to learn to make that connection. Go or not go? Its been demonstrated over and over again that if you go and do not really want to do it – chances increase that you burn and when you go co’s you really want to do it – chances are better than good that you will be OK.

The firewalk

So the crowd related to the King and Queen analogy and ready for that magical meeting with their own decision-making-process and to become royalty in their own kingdoms, we ascended the stairs in a long line. Cancun means “snake pit” so we had designed the firewalk so the line of people could wriggle its way zigzagging between the three fires. The very strong winds of the afternoon had complied with our wishes and were resting again and the roof exploded from the energy of the people when they danced their dreams over the coals. You can download the song “Flow” from our website firewalking.eu, not only is it one of the pieces we played on the roof that night, I got it ready just in time for this occasion.

The sharing

Sharing next morning was profound. The reports on insights and personal break-throughs were moving. Perhaps mostly impressing was the people who had got some hot-spots; “ I did three fires and standing hesitating on front of the fourth, my friend pokes me – come on! – and I go and get that hot spot; I will never be pushed the wrong way again” or “ I did a couple of fires then lost my focus and guess what…Now I really know the difference between focus and not!”

February 28, 2008

Autobiography

I live a quiet life
invisible to most
watching champions league
with a new age eye
I live a quiet life
In the Swedish forest

I used to be a Swedish boy
In the boy scouts in the city when I was a kid
Sometimes I was mean and unhappy
And my bikes they never worked
Nobody taught me how to fix them
I felt alone and struggling
I thought there was gonna be another war
when Hammarskjöld was shot
and also over Cuba
defence was important
I looked for home
I had my room
I was left alone
No one humiliated me

I sat inside a tank for hours
In furs in winter minus 20 degrees Celsius
Waiting for a target
And saw the sun go down in the sea outside a city
where my kids were later born

I’ve never travelled round the world
But I am often thinking bout it
What it would mean to leave the forest and the land for a longer time
I see the farmers working and know their life inside my hands
And know who was here before them, even long dead animals and about tools buried in the ground or under leaves

I have been in Asia and America and all over Europe
I’ve been rejected into bars
And listened to the sound of secret parties
And been released in primal screams

I live a quiet life
Carrying bits of sweets in my pockets for dog and horses
Calling their names, organizing wood

I seek a truth that cannot be found
I seek a moment that will never come
I dance a dance without rhythm or grace
I can be very small
I keep a place

I have often made a fool of myself
Instead of being clever
I have taken chances where no risks where needed
And let things pass that would have changed my life
Maybe for the worse

I am connected
to something else I know its not only about me
touching down in clusters

I read the papers every day
And follow mankind on its lost roads
I hear the singing of emotional focus
the dead silence or scarce roars of reason
Seldom see ecstatic gratitude
Only victory is big
Frenetic productivity and technological genius
The funniest mixture of extreme quality and the poorest work in the same goods
I have believed many lies

I live a quiet life where I can see the stars and hear the wind
that blows too much and I hear the water too
sometimes a see the big fish and sometimes the small
and when they are taken by the bird

I’ve seen women go mad
And been threatened by a finger just looking like a gun
And I have lost my insanity
Sacrificed it for music and simplicity and emptiness
And for the lynx who keeps her for herself

I enjoy the concept the meaning of life
I’m sure there is one

1953

1967

1972

1973

1974

1980

1982

1993

1999

February 05, 2008

Firewalking and the environment

Fires from wood are normally considered carbon dioxide neutral.

Trees basically grow when water and carbon dioxide in the air builds carbon compounds in the photosynthesis. In the process oxygen is released. Thank you trees!

When the wood is burned, or when a piece of wood decomposes, the carbon dioxide and the water is released. The amount of oxygen produced in the making of the tree is used in the process.

The ash is preferably returned to the forest.

If it’s a badly built fire (especially to dense), where to little air reaches the fire (as in old stoves, with wet wood, or to closed a damper) all kinds of bad things are created.

Burning wood for a firewalk is made outdoors and as long as the firewalking instructor knows how to build the fire and is using proper wood, the fire will burn brightly and does not add to the climate change.

December 21, 2007

The end of nations

Winter solstice;
And for the 23rd subsequent Christmas, I crawl into the sweatlodge to celebrate the lights return to our Nordic country I will sweat for the death of the nations
I feel the birth of one tribe is emerging
already everyone knows:
there is no way to hide,
doesn’t matter how high walls you can build, how much money you have or how big is your army;
When the planet has had enough she will strike back and clean herself
And finally everyone knows
So I sweat for the death of the nations and for one planet, one tribe
We are totally responsible for every action, every thought, every state of mind
everything comes with a prize
pollution can not be exported like starvation
finally enough power people knows
but still there is the denial
now since the truth has hit home
the action soon will come
for this I crawl into the dark
for this I sing
for this I give my thanks to the ending year
as my sweat falls on the earth
aho

20070702

Heartleaves of Fagus silvatica

The beeches are deep green now. They produce oxygen and I appreciate to walk in the forest and breath the fresh air. The latin name for beech is Fagus silvatica. We celebrate Linnés birth in Sweden this year. Linné created the system to give plants two names. The family name and the second name which tells the species. This system is international and used all over the world.

The fire is international too. Our visitors from Singapore made me see my world with their eyes for a few days and they also showed me that land in Asia, when the trees are cut down, are destroyed by fire, instead of replanted though our future is depending on them. We need lot´s of trees to create balance and true wealth especially in the urban regions. The destructive fires are wellknown but the sweet aspects of the fire needs to be discovered more.

When the fire consume a tree my wision is that it will be be replaced with two new trees all over the world. In ”my” forest sprouts last years beechnuts. The two first leaves that appears are called heartleaves. The huge beeches all begin their growth with the metaphor of the heart

October 1, 2007

Why churches?

In religious matters the truth is that there is no truth. “Where do we come from, why are we here, where are we going?” At the end of the day it will be a personal thing what teachings will be most appropriate for any individual once he/she has left the cultural setting of childhood behind. So it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the teaching of one church is as good as that of another.

So why churches? Who needs them? Why do they exist? Sure, we all want to be part of a team and naturally “brainwashing” the kids works to a large extent. But even so the hold that churches have are amazing. So then today I saw a little sentence that made it clear to me. It’s from a presentation of a play that a friend of us is directing. The sentence was: ”I have received letters from people who to their surprise have experienced something that then later often seems to be lost. Those who have written have not been religious people but Heaven has touched them anyway. I have always understood that the function of the church is to remind us of these moments.”
I truly believe that we all have been “touched by heaven”. We all have had our moments when we realize that there is more to life than we can really grasp or comprehend (just take firewalking...). But we can experience the magic. It happens in another state of mind than the “normal” and it is most commonly extremely personal.

The role of the congregation then to me would be to provide an arena where my “meeting of Heaven” can be shared and remembered in my normal state of mind. The role of the church then, would be to hold a sacred space for all the Gods brought to that place by the people; one God brought by each person. This I believe to be a true need in all of us, to share and explore our understanding of the spiritual dimension. And how strange that the churches are providing all kinds of burlesque answers instead of holding the space and listen for the people fine-tuning their own truth.

March 3 2007

11 signs of success

Many people talk about success and getting what they want from life. So I made a list of what to me are signs that people are successful in their life.

1. Not acting from fear, especially of what other people would think.

2. Uninterested in judging oneself and others.

3. Uninterested in conflicts.

4. Not wanting a lot of stuff but having the stuff you want.

5. Having a tolerant interest in all your own feelings and general inner life, no need to express thoughts or feelings and having enough opportunities to share them and gladly do so, when they are asked for.

6. Feelings of happiness and gratitude for no good reason.

7. Warm feelings of communion with other people’s dreams and with nature.

8. Some really close relationships, friends, family or both, so someone to talk to when – for instance - you made an ass of yourself.

9. More interested in “how” than in “why” and thereby in copying the good stuff.

10. Interested in all forms of religious beliefs (one fantasy is as good as another) and what death might be like.

February 19 2007

The Secret

Recently I saw a film called the Secret. For those that haven’t seen it, it’s an American film, very professional, well cut and paced. The message is basically that we reap what we saw. Positive thinking brings about a positive life. The message was creatively illustrated in many ways. The one I liked most was that of Aladdin’s lamp. We all rub the lamp and out come something compatible with our belief pattern. Thus change the belief pattern and the world – as perceived - will change. Now even though this is something that’s fundamental in the teachings of Firewalking, still something was disturbing me with the movie. Even though it inspired me to keep the positive thinking up and not get sucked in by the “life is hard and you got to suffer” attitude of many of the people I monitor in my daily life, there was something itching and until yesterday I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but then it hit me. Most of the examples of the benefits you get from a positive attitude were material. All the money and wealth you will make as side effects of having positive belief patterns. How all these great things would happen as a consequence.

I want to be really clear in my teachings course I think there is a tendency in the human potential movement to promise outer prosperity. It is true to some extent, but life is much more complex (rich!) than that. Even if we all used all our potential, all of us would not fly in private jets, would not live in the hills above Cannes, would not all drive Rolls- Royce or have our own yachts if you know what I mean. Basically, getting rich is for the people who have a talent for getting rich……What can be promised though, is happiness.

Happiness is an inner process and when mastered, not depending on outer circumstances.
Part of it is really about accepting that shit happens and that shit happens not necessarily as a by-product of your attitude or belief system. People betray you, break into your house, gets into car accidents, looses their minds and advocate and implement war no matter your degree of positive thinking. The only thing that is optional is the attitude, feelings, thoughts and ultimately actions that you will execute when faced with what goes down.

Having feelings and thoughts and the capacity to make any kind of decision at all, to me is the biggest secret of all and the biggest blessing. When you were given life you were given the possibility to experience all these sensations and you can truly just be in constant gratitude for being selected (out of a billion sperms) to have any life at all.

Now this I know anybody who wants can learn; to get rid of negative conditioning regarding your own experience and perception structure and accept and be interested in how your inner world is processing the outer. Now this acceptance, or self-love, will for most of the time generate a great deal of nice things on the outside but no one is spared from lifes grievances. Even if we have everything ourselves, we just have to see all the violence that goes around to feel the sadness. What we can do however is to feel everything to the fullest.

If you’re interested in music, you can listen to my new song on this theme. It’s called Dead or Alive and you can listen to it by clicking Jukebox and also download it on the Heated Vibes page of this site.

A happy secret

20070216

Cupperion and ironion
Magnetism is the key to many interesting phenomens. The earths magnetsim is the source of migrating birds capacity to find their way back to the place where they were hatched. I´m waiting for the birds to fly north again.

This winter we have a colony of crowbirds (many species) from crow and raven to daws living together in the wood uphill. They flock together when the winds is stormy and flies chatting with each other. They are supposed to be very inteilligent and very social. In my phantasy they have great meeetings in the winter where they exchange valuable information. About what is still a hidden secret to me.

The nature fascinates me and I´m very lucky to live a life where it´s possible to step out the door, be silent and let the world unfold as I breath the fresh air.

I´m waiting for the leaves to sprout. I´m missing the oxygen they produce. I feel connected to the trees. The thought that we are so similar to each other fills me with thankfullness over the the earth´s intelligent design. In our bloodstream hemoglobin is the molecule that transports the oxygen. The tree respiratory molecule clorofyll has the exact same construction as hemoglobin except that the ironion is a cupperion.

The ironions in my bloodstream connects me to the center of the earth through magnetism and I´m playing with the thought that magnetism has a deeper meaning in communication. Magnetism influnce both living species and the material world in many ways.

Literally we say that we are magnetically drawn to people, things and phenomenons. The fire is such a phenomenon that attracts people. It´s fascinating to see how people interact with the fire and how the fire transform our existence.

January 20 2007

What can you do?

I’m down at the lumberyard getting rebar for a corporate firewalk (you wouldn’t believe me if I told what we do with the rebar’s at a firewalk…). Bengt – one of the brothers how owns the sawmill – helps me cut the rebar and we – of course - discuss the weather. The weather is now extreme in Sweden as in so many other places, so its even more on everybody’s lips than normally. It rains all the time, its very mild and its just one storm after the other. Bengt has firewalked with me a couple of times and we both share an interest in wood and he seems genuinely sad when he states how stressed our Nordic trees are from not getting the rest the normal cold winter provides.

Then he concludes: “It seems its all going to hell, BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO?” And he shrug’s his shoulders. An answer races through my head: “Pay attention to the car you drive and what kind of petrol you put in your chainsaw and your lawnmower. Pay attention to the food you eat, how much energy that is consumed in producing and transporting it. Pay attention to how you heat your house, to the clothes you buy. Pay attention to how you raise your kids, how you talk about the environmentalists and what goes on inside your head when you hunt the deer. And then make the choices that you know are for the best.”

I do not say this, it just sort of flashes on my mind. Instead I say: “TAKE CARE, Bengt”.
Yeah, take care….but I know that if Bengt doesn’t truly love and accept himself, why should he take care about the nature that supports him? All my good advice would fall to the ground. He would say it’s too much work or it’s too expensive (when in fact it would be easy for him to afford what I suggested). This inert craving for the ego comfort seems like some kind of collective death wish.

To me the only solution is that the individual takes responsibility. To live ones life to fullest. To trust ones senses, to listen to the deeper voice. To open up for the possibility that you make a difference in every situation. In every relation. To take care. With every step. You might be the last person needed so that a critical mass of aware people is reached and a significant rotation in our collective consciousness is reached. Bengt would probably claim that this is just wishful bullshit. To me it’s just a fact that any understanding of our role as an individual is a “fantasy”. We will never know, in a western scientific meaning of the world, why we are here and what role we play, that’s something we decide (on a conscious or subconscious level). And I prefer a “fantasy” that makes my actions mean something instead of a fantasy that makes me a fart in space

Preparing for this corporate firewalk

20061212

The magnetic field
I´ve been thinking a lot about it while I´m strolling around at the farm. The weather is so close to me, the rain and warmth is extraordinary here in Sweden at this time and suddenly everybody are aware in a new way. In the 70ties I was doing research in the Baltic about how oildetergents affects the environment. Since then environmental issues have grown very much in Sweden and from being an outsider I´m suddenly an insider with lot´s of knowledge about what was denied earlier.

Firewalking connects me to the earth. Often when I walk around I remember that the glowing coals on the earths surface is an reflexion of her glowing center of melted iron. The thought that the earth suddenly can change the magnetic poles is thrilling and worrying. Being a part of this adventure exploring the minds capacity is an astonishing gift. I meditate on the concept of mind in matter and the glowing coals gives me fuel.

December 29 2006

Not rocking the boat

I love the time we spend at the coalbed, listening for the inner voice to say YES, waiting for the moment to go over the coals. This waiting time is becoming more and more precious to me. It’s an open time, a free time, feeling the wheels of the decisionmaking rotating in the soul knowing I’ll be ready when it’s time to go. It’s not just the moment in itself; it’s also the knowledge to wait for the decision. Not acting to early, not to late, learning to trust the sense of timing and flow.

Having the fires going for five days in the Firewalking Intensive Training sets a milieu where enhanced learning seems to be possible. Thus the Fitskis go home with knowledge that would seem impossible to obtain is such a short time. One of these know-hows, perhaps more of a secret to most people, is the knowledge to wait or sit still.

Walking the dog in the black December’s night I realise how I, when being just a little boy, learned not to fear the dark. If it was black I realized I just had to be still and – voila! - I’m invincible! No one sees me if I’m still in the dark, an exquisite feeling of excitement and safety at the same time.
A few moments ago I was in the shadows, at one with the night, creation silently unfolding before my eyes. Focusing on not messing with it. Trusting it will unfold as it should. If necessary strike as the owl; not too soon, not too late, just in time to catch this nights dinner.

I decide to take this to my workplace tomorrow; be still and let it all be great. No effort at all.

Waiting for the goodies!