If you haven’t yet read about Life First, please click here – it is inspired by the Children’s Fire.
What is the Children’s Fire?
The children’s fire is an ancient, yet highly relevant concept, that enabled our ancestors to live in balance and harmony with the natural world – that they realised, they were an integral part of. It prioritised the continuation of Life and assisted them in safeguarding what was most dear to them – their children and their future generations, and ultimately…
…us!
Our ancestors understood that the balance and wisdom observed in nature should be reflected by our systems of governance and institutions of power. The Children’s Fire comes from such a system – a system that flourished long ago predating the Mayans of Central America and, as hundreds of years past, extended as far north as Canada (now globally). Ironically, this system even inspired the original constitution of the USA! These people established a deep democratic system of governance known as the Circle of Law and implemented a circular wisdom gathering/decision making structure, known as the Council, to facilitate this.
In the very centre of this structure they placed a small fire which was to remind the eight pairs of representatives (or Chiefs as they were known) that the primary consideration should always be the continuation of life when making decisions of any kind. They called this seemingly insignificant fire, The Children’s Fire. The Children’s Fire represented two nature-aligned ‘laws’ that were held sacred by the people (you can read about these later – see the link below). For accessibility the Children’s Fire Movement has condensed these laws into one statement – one simple, yet profound way of being…
…Life First!
We use this phrase as a foundational principle of the movement – to bring focus to our future generations. To hold the question, “what kind of world do we want our children, and our children’s children, to inherit?”.
Please note: the Life First principle should not be confused with pro-life. We state this as it is a common concern raised by our supporters. The Children’s Fire Movement encourages self-responsibility and self-authorship of our lives.
