Up: [[Symbols]] Created: 2024-11-02 The hearth is the centre, the point of focus (the Latin word for hearth) in an individual, a home, a city in ancient times, a nation. A hearth used to be a simple stone slab or a clay pit at the centre of a cave or a single room house. In medieval times it moved from the centre to the wall of the house. In the 16th century, the hearth included a grate. Today, the hearth is an image that applies to any number of places. Interior design shows and realtors will tell you that the kitchen is the heart of the home. For some it’s a holiday table. For others, it’s the big screen tv. The hearth is usually associated with the feminine, I imagine because, for millennia, a fire on the hearth would require constant tending and it was women who did that. The hearth is the symbol of [[Hestia]], known as Vesta in ancient Rome. While Hestia is no longer directly acknowledged or honoured, she and the hearth are important to me because of their meaning as the centre of the individual. When we honour the hearth, we’re holding both our inner and outer worlds simultaneously. When we do that well, we feel ‘at home’ in ourselves and we release the energy that allows and inspires the flame of creativity.