What is the symbol of fire?

Answer 1

Symbolism of Fire If there ever was a dichotomous element it would be Fire. Fire is the bringer of destruction; the symbolism of chaos and war. Fire burns everything, bringing nothing but ruin. And yet, Prometheus risked the wrath of the Titans to bring fire to man. Fire banishes the darkness. Fire cleanses and purifies. Lastly, sometimes Love is spoken of as an eternal flame. Fire can be shown as an agent of destruction. Everyone can imagine the scene where the heroine looks down and the town is awash in flames. Fire is also usually used for strong emotional feelings (such as love, hate, desire, and determination). Fire can also be used to express determination or a strong desire as well. Characters and things that are shown to have a 'fire-esq' quality to them usually have a red-coloured theme to them. Red because flames and coals have a red coloration to them. They are also more likely to be violent (in this case violent meaning extreme and chaotic) in their response and more likely to rush into a situation without completely thinking the consequences through. For example, Hino Rei / Sailor Mars (from Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon) is Fire personified, but she is hardly evil, nor does she have evil intents. She is strong-willed, hot-tempered, and incredibly determined and independent, that's all.

Among the four basic elements fire has been called is the "ultra-living element." One of the most brilliant analyses of fire symbolism ever undertaken is Gaston Bachelard's Psychoanalysis of Fire. In the book, Bachelard makes this point about this unique "lifeness" of fire: "It is intimate and it is universal. It lives in our heart. It lives in the sky. It rises from the depths of the substance and offers itself with the warmth of love. Or it can go back down into the substance and hide there, latent and pent-up, like hate and vengeance." The conception of a hidden interior world of fire, Bachelard notes, is the basis of Dante's Inferno. Traditionally, fire has represented the active and masculine or the Yang of Chinese symbolism. Its major symbolism is related to the sun and the powers of transformation and purification. Its basic movement is upward rather than downward like water. Traditionally, the basic symbol for fire is an upward pointing triangle or pyramid. Colours of fire are the advancing colors of red and orange and the aspects of fire are flames and rays. Whereas water has different states related to movement or rest fire is always moving and consuming. The place of fire in natural systems is represented by deserts and mountains. The deserts symbolize the quality dryness and heat associated with fire and the mountains symbolize the upward pyramid shape of fire. Similar to the element of fire which they represent, deserts have tradionally been associated with purification. Elements of place symbolism associated with fire are day time and specifically noon when the sun's light and heat is the greatest. The association with the sun makes fire an above space phenomena rather than a below or within space phenomena. A natural phenomenon which represents fire is lightning, and the phenomenon of fire out of control is symbolized by the forest fire. There is an interesting relationship of fire with the symbolic place of Paradise. In An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols, J.C. Cooper discusses the origin of the expression "baptism by fire." The term is associated with an experience which restores primordial purity by burning away the dross of life by passing through fire to regain Paradise. Since Paradise was lost it has been surrounded by fire or protected by guardians with swords of flame. These guards and their fire symbolize understanding barring the way to the ignorant or the unenlightened. To Gaston Bachelard, fire holds a central place in the experience of mankind. In Psychoanalysis of Fire he notes that "fire has been an occasion for unforgettable memories" and that there is a "...slightly hypnotized condition that is surprisingly constant in all fire watchers." This hypnotized condition is related to a state of "reverie": "...the reverie in front of the fire, the gentle reverie that is conscious of its well-being, is the most naturally centred reverie. It may be counted among those which best hold fast to their object or, if one prefers, to their pretext." To Bachelard, fire is the prime element of reverie. "If fire," he says, "was taken to be a constituent element of the Universe, is it not because it is an element of human thought, the prime element of reverie?" It is almost certain, Bachelard says, that "fire is precisely the first object, the first phenomenon, on which the human mind reflected." Interestingly enough, a number of modern observers have compared television to fire calling it the "electronic fireplace." Fire and heat have been used to symbolize human emotions and particularly emotions associated with sexual power. This association can be seen in popular clichés such as "they warmed up to each other" or "she gave him a cold shoulder" or in "the heat of passion." Bachelard makes some interesting and unusual observations about the relationship between fire and sex observing that the "love act is the first scientific hypothesis about the objective reproduction of fire" and that "...the conquest of fire was originally a sexual conquest." Bachelard writes about the surprising dichotomies of fire. "Among all phenomena," he notes, "it is really the only one to which there can be so definitely attributed the opposing values of good and evil. It shines in Paradise. It burns in hell. It is gentleness and torture. It is cookery and it is apocalypse." Fire is also related to the process of change. Bachelard notes that slow change is defined by the process of life and quick change is explained by the process of fire. As he notes "fire suggests the desire to change, to speed up the passage of time, to bring all life to its conclusion, to its hereafter." In this sense, all that changes slowly can be explained by life while all that changes quickly can be explained by fire." As Bachelard says, "through fire everything changes." Bachelard reminds us that when we want everything changed we call on fire.

Answer 2

the symbol of fire is pretty much fire. it looks just like it. except its cartoon.