Vital Roles for Fire Souls

It's alarming to experience what is happening to so much that we deeply care about. What now? Can the quantum coherence of "fire souls" help us burn brightly rather than burn out?

Not okay

“This is not okay.” I mumble these words every time I hear about the latest decision, decree, or derision coming from the U.S. regime. Arresting protesters and activists on college campuses? Not okay. Slashing research funding for universities? Not okay. Deleting data and information about climate change from government webpages? Not okay. Dismantling NOAA? Not okay. Destroying the Department of Education? Not okay. The list goes on and on and on.

These actions are not okay for so many reasons, not the least because they go against what I and so many others deeply care about, including oneness, integrity, fairness, and compassion. They blatantly undermine the IPBES principles of transformative change, which emphasize equity, justice, pluralism, inclusion, and respectful and reciprocal human-nature relationships. They have devastating consequences for the global climate, and for the diversity of life on this planet. Both current and future generations are profoundly affected.

Cruelty is not okay.

Energy and vitality

What is happening in the world today affects my energy and vitality. It is wearing me down. I’m not the only one! I can hear the collective sigh, “what now?”

We can avoid reading or listening to the heart-“breaking” news, but we can’t ignore it. We are called to respond to this crisis strategically and wisely, and at the same time design equitable and enduring systems that work for both people and the planet. Why? Because it matters. And how we show up matters.

How do we maintain our energy and vitality so that we can resist oppression and engage with solutions— without burning out?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and the Norwegian word ildsjel comes to mind.

Fire souls

Ildsjel roughly translates to “enthusiast,” but it literally means “fire soul.” Ildsjel was my contribution, co-authored with Ann Kristin Schorre, to An Ecotopian Lexicon. This is a collection of “loanwords to live with” edited by Matthew Schneider-Mayerson and Brent Ryan Bellamy.

The lexicon is full of words adopted without translation from other languages, from speculative fiction, or from subcultures of resistance. According to the editors, words help us to imagine how to “adapt and even flourish in the face of the socio-ecological adversity that characterizes the present moment and the future that awaits.” In the introduction to the lexicon, they recognized that “dark clouds have been massing on the psychic horizon” as the web of life comes undone:

Fascists and totalitarians understood that by restricting the imagination and consideration of alternative possibilities—of politics, policy, and social life—citizens would resign themselves to the order of things, thereby enabling further manipulation by political and financial elites.

They emphasize that at such a moment, “imagination is not frivolous but crucial.” We need to use words, language, and stories to jump-start the process of imagining and realizing better futures.

Ildsjeler

This is why the Norwegian word ildsjel is especially important right now. It describes a burning force within us that connects us to others and can activate change at all scales. Furthermore, “it adds to our conception of the human potential for transformation by conveying how individuals can and do make a difference.”

It’s a word that communicates both energy and spirit; it describes a burning force that is both powerful and productive, and that adds human vitality to the rather flat and uninspiring concept of “agent.” Ildjeler or fire souls “work against the odds, striving for goals that they—and their communities—consider important, regardless of the economic, social, and structural obstacles.”

With obstacles appearing faster than we can hurdle them, this is the time for ildsjeler to work together for what they deeply care about. In other words, what they burn for. Yet “[b]urning passionately to create positive change without strong economic, institutional, and civic support brings with it the risk of burnout.”

How do we keep the fire within us glowing and growing, without burning out? How do we focus our energy on what is important and retain a sense of both individual and collective agency? In uncertain and dangerous times, “[e]ven a single voice of encouragement or a small sign of support can keep the fire burning in an ildjel.”

However, given the scale of the crisis, we need more than encouragement. We need collective action and coherence, which is the quality of forming a unified whole.

My current strategy is to focus on vitalism and coherence, for myself and others. “Quantum coherence” captures this beautifully — it’s a concept that points to the vital roles of fire souls.

Vitalism

The word vital describes something absolutely necessary or essential, or something that is full of life. Vitality refers to a power or energy that is present in all living thing. It’s associated with vitalism, a theory that recognizes a nonmaterial life force that’s neither chemical nor physical. It is this life force, or an elán vital, that powers the ildsjel or “fire soul.”

Although vitalism has been rejected based on research in genetics and biology, the concept is making a comeback in some fields. As Ann Kristin and I wrote in the Ildsjel piece:

[I]n recent years scholars in the environmental humanities and social sciences have re-engaged with vitalism, with some even arguing that there is a vibrant life force in all material things. For example, political theorist Jane Bennett (2010, p. 112) describes a materialism which, in contrast to a mechanistic or deterministic materialism, recognizes matter as “vibrant, vital, energetic, lively, quivering, vibratory, evanescent, and effluescent.”

Vitalism also comes to life through Alexander Wendt’s interpretation of quantum coherence, which he equates with “the essence of life.”

Quantum Coherence

Quantum coherence is turning out to be my go-to strategy for thriving in challenging times. As Wendt describes it, quantum coherence in physics is:

a situation in which the wave functions of two or more particles are entangled, such that they form a superposition … Concretely, this means the properties of the system’s elements are correlated non-locally, so that a measurement on one instantly tells us something about the others.

Wendt’s quantum social theory goes further; he argues that human beings and our social life exhibit quantum coherence “In effect,” he writes, “we are walking wave functions.” He’s not using this as an analogy or a metaphor, but as a realist claim that’s based on Stuart Hameroff and Roger Penrose’s quantum brain theory. Wendt argues that our brains have “an internal structure that continuously produces quantum coherence, even in the face of its constant decoherence in its interaction with the environment.” Quantum coherence, according to Wendt, is “the elusive elán vital.” It is what distinguishes life from non-life, he says. And it’s an entangled life!

Fire Souls

Quantum coherence suggests that collective action is entangled. When we nurture the fire in our souls and retain coherence within ourselves, with each other, and with nature, we affect the whole.

We need the fire in our souls to be activated in response to moral outrage about the current social and environmental conditions and risks. We also need empowering expressions of humanity’s potential to contribute to a healthy and thriving world. Ildsjeler have the capacity to light the fire in others and unleash the potential we all have to generate transformations to a more just and sustainable world.

What’s going on today is not okay. Instead of burning out, we need to burn strongly and brightly for what we care about. Taking care of ourselves means taking care of others, and taking care of others means taking care of ourselves. Quantum coherence means that fire souls never work alone. Instead, we are part of an entangled movement. And I feel the energy returning!

Speaking of ildsjeler or fire souls, next Thursday, March 27th at 8pm CET, I will be holding the first of a series of “Conversations That Matter” with Desmog climate journalist Matthew Green, who also writes the “Resonant World” Substack Newsletter about healing collective trauma. For integrity, live participation will be open to paid subscribers and for equity, there will be ten places available for non-paying subscribers to join as well. Recorded highlights will be available to all - more information is coming soon!

The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.

— Ferdinand Foch

The Ildsjel artwork above is by Lori Damiano. It is published with permission of the artist . Here is an excerpt from Lori’s wonderful artist statement:

"Upon my introduction to the word ildsjel, a series of faces flashed in my mind: the ildsjeler in my own life. There was no ambiguity in locating them—they are truly the brightest lanterns and swiftly emerged as a constellation in my mind. I knew I wanted to paint some kind of human architecture. The ildsjel was to be the foundation linking all of the individuals to each other and grounding them to the earth. … There is a quiet legacy of ildsjeler who have been able to refocus and redirect us with their actions. Their footsteps illuminate a previously unmarked path on which the rest of us may find better footing, widen our vision, and become more aware of the impact of our actions. In creating this image, I wish to honor the fire spirits of the ildsjel, past, present, and future."