The Fire Temple or Agiary

While I completely and freely admit my ignorance of Zoroastrianism I am really very impressed by their temples. The concept behind the Fire Temples (also called Fire Cathedrals, Dar-e Mihr, or Atash Kadeh) is that the ancient fires that so influenced the early religion are preserved and revered in sacred spaces. The fires also were critical parts of ancient legends and the development of heroic figures throughout Persia. (Luckily, for me, there's a comic-book version of one of these legends in English.) Unfortunately I'll never be able to visit one since non-Zoroastrians are not allowed into the Agiary.

The only parallel I can picture in North America is the Eternal Flame for JFK. Although there are apparently other fire-related monuments for 9/11 and whatnot, I would guess that JFK's is the only one that is nationally and perhaps internationally known. So it brings me to this: when does a culture decide to use fire to commemorate somebody or an event? What is the secret thread here that leads us to this insight. I can't yet grasp it but I think fire is one of the serious boundary-crossing mechanism that can break, and nurture every human on this planet. It is a force unlike gravity, erosion, or biology - it is pure chemistry that is essential to human survival. Thus Prometheus. (Long story short: P. makes people in the image of the gods, steals fire from gods to keep humans alive, tells them to cook up a bull as a way of commerating the event.)

What of the fires that have torn apart Oklahoma and other parts of the American South. Fire's can be thought of in two ways: as an end and as a beginning. Fire can be tragic and deadly but warm and nurturing - there must be a cultural or psychological divide somewhere here because humanity cannot go on without fire, yet it is so often used as a weapon. We are constantly barraged with images of fire's destructive power, but it can also be harnessed to do amazing and comforting things.

Image notes: 1 I consider nuclear power the modern chemical equivelant to the antiquated use of fire for war - they are both truly chemical processes that parallel. Both are natural and all around us. Radioactive energy, however, has only recently been discovered and harnessed unlike fire. 2 The Black and White picture is of FDR in front of a fireplace. I tried to find one where he was giving his "fireside chat" that also included a fire, but that didn't pan out.