 Ignite:Â
 The Fire of Sacred DesireÂ
Guided by Mirabai Starr
with Willow Brook
Saturday, April 11, 2026 • Free Online Gathering
Reclaim the holiness of your mystical longing
 The Living Flame of LoveÂ
Across the spiritual traditions, mystics have engaged the metaphor of fire to evoke the power of longing. Love is a blaze that ignites the heart of those who dare to turn toward the divine, and if we are lucky, it consumes us.
"The exquisite risk," John of the Cross called it, when the soul slips away from the confines of sense and reason for a secret rendezvous with the Beloved in the depths of the night. "The only light, the only guide, than the one burning in my heart," he said. This "living flame of love" leads us to the garden where we merge with the object of our heart's deepest desire, the One to whom we once belonged, from whom we have been separated, to whom we yearn to return.
Union turns out to be reunion. We have never been apart.
In this gathering, we explore images of fire in the poetry of the mystics and stories from the lives of such saints as Clare of Assisi and Rabia of Basra. Through poetry, contemplative reflections, writing practice, small group dialogue and ecstatic movement, we reclaim the holiness of our own mystical longing.
 This Gathering Is For You If...Â
- You long to understand mystical desire as sacred rather than shameful
- You're drawn to the fire imagery in mystical poetry and want to explore it more deeply
- You want to reclaim spiritual longing as a pathway rather than an obstacle
- You're curious about the feminine mystics and their radical embrace of desire
- You seek practices that honor both contemplation and embodiment
- You're ready to let your heart's deepest yearning guide you home
 What to ExpectÂ
Mystical Teachings with Mirabai
Mirabai guides us through the poetry and stories of mystics who understood longing as the path itself. We'll explore the lives of Clare of Assisi and Rabia of Basra, the light of the Shekinah, and discover how spiritual longing doesn't have to hurt, but can instead become the living flame that guides us.
Contemplative Writing Practice
Through evocative prompts, you'll explore your own experiences of sacred desire and mystical longing, discovering the poetry that lives in your own heart.
Embodied Practice with Willow
Willow leads us in an ecstatic movement that brings the wisdom of love longing into the body, working with the element of fire to awaken and channel sacred desire.
 Through This Gathering, You Will...Â
- Explore fire as a sacred metaphor across mystical traditions
- Discover the lives and teachings of Clare of Assisi and Rabia of Basra
- Learn how spiritual longing can guide rather than torment you
- Experience embodied practices that honor mystical desire
- Connect with a community that celebrates sacred yearning
- Reclaim your own capacity for ecstatic longing
- Understand union as reunion with what has always been yours
 Your GuidesÂ
 Mirabai StarrÂ
Mirabai is an award-winning author, internationally beloved spiritual guide, and translator of the mystics. Her translations and teachings have brought the voices of mystics like Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, and Julian of Norwich to contemporary seekers. She is the author of Wild Mercy, Caravan of No Despair, and Ordinary Mysticism. For decades, Mirabai has explored the mystical traditions, revealing how the language of longing and desire points us toward the divine.
 Willow BrookÂ
Willow Brook is a love coach, grief guide and interspiritual companion who supports individuals in awakening to deeper intimacy, presence, and embodied aliveness. As co-creator of Wild Heart, she facilitates gatherings rooted in the divine feminine, weaving somatic practices, ritual, meditation, and song to support people in alchemizing old wounds into nourishing connection. Willow invites those she walks with to return to their bodies as vessels of wisdom and to come home to the love that has been waiting within them all along.
 What Our Community Is SayingÂ
"More than anything, I received the gift of permission to explore and embrace, with curiosity and passion, the desires of my heart. I so appreciated Mirabai blowing my mind with her encouragement that all my desires deserve to be honored."
— Diane C., Fire of Desire Participant
"Oh my goodness! I just finished the Fire of Desire recording with Mirabai and Willow It took me almost two hours to finish the recording because I stopped so many times to write notes, to text friends ideas that were popping in my head, to think and reflect, and to cry many times.. ♥️ wow, what was shared in that call resonates SO deeply.. the way Mirabai speaks and writes lights a fire in me that I've never quite been in touch with before 🔥 truly."
— Angelina K., Fire of Desire Participant
"What [Mirabai] gave us was openness, expanded awareness, growth, finding and creating both searching and peace, and helping us to see now with broader awareness. Very nourishing, I found, this whole meeting."
— Grietje S., Fire of Desire Participant
 Gathering DetailsÂ
Date: Saturday, April 11, 2026
Format: Free LIVE Online Gathering via Zoom
Investment: Free
Recording: Available to all registrants
Materials Needed: Journal and pen (or digital equivalent), candle (optional), comfortable space for movement
 The Fire That Consumes and IlluminatesÂ
Your longing is not a lack. It is the very presence of the divine, burning in your heart, calling you home.
The mystics knew this. They wrote of fire and flame, of burning and being consumed, of the exquisite risk of following desire all the way to union.
Join us to reclaim the holiness of your own mystical longing.
Ignite: The Fire of Sacred Desire
Saturday, April 11, 2026
Free Online Gathering
