Could someone please give information on the 4th century Cappodocian Fathers’ Sacred Fire Dance? It is a union of trinity and a creation of the sacred in dance, art and spirit. What is the movement...the clothing...the focus. — Jill H.

Dear Jill,

Thank you for your e-mail and question about the Cappadocian Fathers and the Fire Dance. It isn’t a fire dance but a round dance. Brother David used this image in a talk given to the Parliament of World Religions calling his talk "The Great Circle Dance." He says that the 4th-century Cappadocian Fathers spoke of the Holy Trinity using the metaphor of the round dance, where each person turns towards the others in a flowing inter-relationship:

From the great theologians of the fourth century to the Shakers in the nineteenth, Christian tradition has conceived these innertrinitarian relationships as a great circle dance. Christ, the great leader of the cosmic dance, leapt from the heavenly throne, "when all things were in deep silence," and, dancing, leads all creation in the power of the Holy Spirit back to God. One way of looking at the interrelationship of the world's religions from a Christian point of view sees them as mirroring on earth God's own great circle dance of Silence, Word, and Understanding.

It doesn’t refer to an actual dance but perhaps this information will lead you to develop a way of dancing this reality in your life. If you would like a more in-depth understanding of the definitions from which this concept flowed, you may find this article by Randy Pospisil helpful.

In the joy of this great Dance,
Sr. Michaela Terrio
Sky Farm Hermitage