Keeping the Fire: Stories from our Hearths
Online
Saturday, August 1st, 2 pm EDT | 7 pm UK
Register Here
Keeping the Fire:
Stories from our Hearths
This new online offering brings together voices from our global network and international community of Firekeepers, sharing personal stories of walking this path.
Through intimate conversations, our Firekeepers speak about tending community, navigating deep personal transformation, and discovering what it means to dedicate themselves to something greater than the individual self. Their journeys reveal how this work fosters growth, resilience, and a profound sense of purpose.
These stories remind us that when we come together to keep the fire—within ourselves and within our communities—we help nourish the collective flame that supports humanity during these times of deep change.
Facilitated by our longstanding Firekeeper and Speaker for Sacred Fire, Lawrence Messerman, we will be inviting you to connect with our Firekeepers and sharing stories from their hearths from all around the world.
Registration
Register HereSchedule
August 1st, 2026
2-3 pm EDT | 7-8 pm UK
Please join the call at least ten minutes before start time in order to ensure your connection is complete.
If you know someone who could benefit from more fire and heart in their life, invite them to join us!
Price
We want this offering to be affordable to all and are offering a sliding scale registration fee. Please pay what works for your budget.
$10 USD (approx. £8.00, 6.65 AUD)
$15 USD (approx. £12.00, 9.98 AUD)
$20 USD (approx. £16.00, 13.30 AUD)
$25 USD (approx. £20.00, 16.63 AUD)
For more information
For more information, contact Sylvia Edwards at sylvia.edwards@sacredfire.org
Featuring
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Ana Cortés is a Firekeeper for The Tlacuaches Fire Community in Tepoztlán. She was initiated as a firekeeper in 2005. She was born in the north of Mexico, in Monterrey. She spends her time between her firekeeper work in Casa Xiuhtecuhtli organizing fires and ceremonies, and running a tourist bar in Tepoztlán. She is also an anthropologist. Next year she will be a “jicarera”, traveling to sacred sites with the Huichol (Wixárika) tradition Tatewari group of Mara’akate, to deliver offerings and bring back blessings for her community.
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Karen Smith Fernandez, Karen has been involved with the formation of the Sacred Fire organization since its inception 25 years ago, and holds a historical view of the formation and evolution of the great endeavor given to the organization by the Spirit of Fire. She currently serves as a trustee on the board of directors for the organization.
She also worked to locate and purchase the Blue Deer Center, a beautiful, sacred land and retreat center in the Catskill Mountains, continuing as their fundraiser and program director for several years.
She trained as a plant spirit medicine practitioner under Eliot Cowan and spent 14 years as an apprentice in the Wiratika or Huichol tradition. In 2012 Karen was initiated as a granicera or weather worker in the Nahua tradition making a life commitment to restoring relationship with the weather beings. She is an apprentice in the Tepahtiani healing tradition, going on pilgrimage to sacred sites in Mexico annually as part of this training.
Initiated as a Firekeeper in 2023, Karen hosts community fires in Hillsborough, North Carolina.