Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour cleverly hidden at the intersection of religion and politics. This is an open thread where we can share our thoughts and comments about the day. Fire may also have played an important role in the development of religion. Some evidence of this may be found in the religious role of fire in some religious traditions. Many different mythologies tell of culture heroes, supernatural beings, and others who brought fire to the people. In many traditions, fire has a central role in ritual, with ceremonies held around fire pits and hearths. It is not uncommon to have ceremonies which begin with a ritual lighting of fire, including the lighting of candles. Marking the end of life, many religions cremate the body believing that the life force is released by fire.
From the archaeological record it is difficult to document when humans first began using fire as a type of religious symbolism. Anders Kaliff, in his chapter in The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of Ritual and Religion, reports:
“It is often difficult, based solely on material remains, to determine whether a fire was used for sacred, ritual purposes or had a secular function.”
The household hearth, for example, may serve both secular functions (warmth, light, cooking) as well as religious functions (the focus of household ceremonies, the preparation of religious feasts).
In one of the world’s oldest monotheistic religions, Zoroastrianism, fire is seen as a representation of God’s light or wisdom. In this religious tradition, fire is seen as the supreme symbol of purity and sacred fires are maintained in the temples. Fire is also a part of rituals in the home. In his book Religions, Philip Wilkinson reports:
“Another important act of worship is to light a fire in a ceremonial fire urn, feeding it with incense and reciting blessings as the smoke permeates the home. This fire symbolizes Ahura Maazda’s divine light, energy, truth, and law.”
In Europe, ritual fires in the Scandinavian traditions had to be lit with a fire drill. In a similar fashion, a fire drill had to be used to start the bonfire for the Celtic Beltane festival held on the first of May.
In their book Dictionary of Native American Mythology, Sam Gil and Irene Sullivan write:
“The qualities of fire—its resemblance to living things, its creation of light, and its relationship to the sun—make it an important element in many Native American stories and rituals.”
One of the common elements of spirituality among the Indians of the American Southeast is the sacred fire as a symbol of purity and the earthly representative of the sun. Among the Cherokees, for example, the fire and the sun were viewed as old women. Out of respect, the fire was fed a portion of each meal, for if she were neglected, she might take vengeance on them. Writing about the Cherokee in his book Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places, anthropologist Peter Nabokov reports:
“Fire was the medium of transformation, turning offerings into gifts for spiritual intercessors or the four quarters of the earth.”
The sacred fires are fed with the wood from the seven sacred trees: beech, birch, hickory, locust, maple, oak, and sourwood.
Among the Creek Indians in the American Southeast, all fires in the village were extinguished for the Green Corn Ceremony held in July-August. Then a new fire would be ceremonially kindled in the town square. Joel Martin, in his book Sacred Revolt: The Muskogees’ Struggle for a New World, writes:
“A pure fire enabled the people to communicate their wants to the Maker of Breath, the purifying power that rebalanced the cosmos.”
In many religious traditions that incorporate concepts of animism, fire is seen as an important spirit. In some hunting and gathering cultures, the person who cared for the fire, particularly when moving from one campsite to another, was a spiritual leader or shaman.
Sitting around a fire encourages storytelling and storytelling is often a part of religious ceremony and religious belief. In his book Human Evolution, Robin Dunbar explains:
“Story-telling forms an essential component of all religions: they all tell stories about long-dead ancestors or the beings that occupy the spirit world; hagiographies of their charismatic founder(s) and saints are often a central feature.”
Sitting around a campfire, either alone or with close friends, and focusing on the flickering flames it is possible to get a spiritual feeling that can be described as a mystical experience. Staring at the flames can also allow some people to enter into a trance state which is important in many religious traditions, particularly the shamanistic traditions.
Open Thread
Let’s imagine that we are sitting around a campfire, and, since this is an open thread, we can talk about whatever’s on our minds.