In a burning bush, it marked the presence of God. In a volcano, Pele surges into raw life. Among the flames in a smithy, Bridgid and Hephaestus craft wonders of magic. Around ancient hearths, food was cooked, deities worshiped, songs sung, tales told, babies birthed, the sick and dying comforted. Ancient ritual originated in dance and drumming around sacred fire.
Fire hides in trees and hides in stars, and most of all, hides in hearts.
This process has been described allegorically in different ways, such as stealing the fire from the gods, for instance. And there is a host of type-figures symbolizing human intelligence itself. African traditions, as do those in other parts of the world, show intelligence to be divine in origin but, in man's case, of a dual character. For though it granted him self-awareness and thus elevated him above the beast, when he developed this new aspect of his consciousness he began to stray from Nature's ways and hew out his own path that led him along the rough byways of material existence. Yet the yearning to return to the source is ever alive in his soul.