On March 25^th, 2004 took place the lighting of the Olympic flame in ancient Olympia, Hellas. It was a very warm and sunny day, full of the light and smells of the Greek spring-time, when a solemn procession of Priestesses, dressed all in white in the ancient Greek way, 

lead by an old priestess sounding a hand drum, entered the Temple of Hera in ancient Olympia. Upon their arrival, seven of the Priestesses danced a small dance to cleanse the sacred place and then the High Priestess took her place at the altar, where she invoked Apollo, the God of Harmony and Light, to give his blessing in the form of the new Olympic Flame. She then ignited the Olympic torch using the sun’s own rays, lighting the Flame of Harmony and of Peace.

When the fire was lighted, three of the foremost priestesses danced around an olive-tree within the sacred precinct of the temple, where a boy was waiting for them. Upon the dance’s completion, the boy cut an olive branch from the tree (a symbol of Peace) and gave it to the Priestesses, who joined their sisters and together with the Flame they formed a procession to the ancient Olympic Stadium to meet with the people bringing them Fire and Olive, a message of Harmony and Peace.  

This is the first time that the Olympic Flame will travel from ancient Olympia, where the first Olympic Games were held in 776 BC, across the five continents, (symbolised by the five rings of the Olympic symbol), linking them together through Fire-KA, a universal symbol of the Soul and the Mysteries, removing political, religious, social and cultural barriers towards the highest ideals of Harmony and Peace for Humanity, ideals that our world needs desperately, especially today. After the Flame circles the globe, celebrating peace and Olympism around the world, it will return to Greece for the homecoming of the Olympic Games in Athens this August.

Frator Sirius Saonka of the House of the Kabiri