That is why initiatic tradition teaches that humans must pass through fire in order to be transformed – not physical fire, but Psychic Fire

Of the four elements, fire is the most radical medium for transformation; nothing resists it. That is why initiatic tradition teaches that humans must pass through fire in order to be transformed – not physical fire, of course, but psychic fire. And on the psychic plane there is the fire of suffering and the fire of divine love. All those who have become so hardened that only ordeals can make them reflect and force them to alter their behaviour are obliged to pass through the fire of suffering. In order to escape the fire of suffering, we must work with the fire of love, which will transform us, rendering us luminous and radiant; it will envelop us in its flames without burning us. And even if we still have to suffer, since we are still on earth, we will know how to pass through this suffering. The fire of suffering constrains and enslaves humans; the fire of divine love liberates them.