Volume 1 — CHAPTER V
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THE INTERPRETATION OF THE FIRE-FESTIVALS
§ 1. On the Fire-festivals in general
[General resemblance of the European fire-festivals to each other.]
[Two explanations suggested of the fire-festivals. According to W. Mannhardt, they are charms to secure a supply of sunshine; according to Dr. E. Westermarck they are purificatory, being intended to burn and destroy all harmful influences.]
[The two explanations are perhaps not mutually exclusive.]
§ 2. The Solar Theory of the Fire-festivals
[Theory that the fire-festivals are charms to ensure a supply of sunshine.]
[Coincidence of two of the festivals with the solstices.]
[Attempt of the Bushmen to warm up the fire of Sirius in midwinter by kindling sticks.]
[The burning wheels and discs of the fire-festivals may be direct imitations of the sun.]
[The wheel sometimes used to kindle the fire by friction may also be an imitation of the sun.]
[The influence which the fires are supposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may be thought to be due to an increase of solar heat produced by the fires.]
[The effect which the bonfires are supposed to have in fertilizing cattle and women may also be attributed to an increase of solar heat produced by the fires.]
[The custom of carrying lighted torches about the country at the festival may be explained as an attempt to diffuse the Sun's heat.]
§ 3. The Purificatory Theory of the Fire-festivals
[Theory that the fires at the festivals are purificatory, being intended to burn up all harmful things.]
Thus far we have considered what may be said for the theory that at the European fire-festivals the fire is kindled as a charm to ensure an abundant supply of sunshine for man and beast, for corn and fruits. It remains to consider what may be said against this theory and in favour of the view that in these rites fire is employed not as a creative but as a cleansing agent, which purifies men, animals, and plants by burning up and consuming the noxious elements, whether material or spiritual, which menace all living things with disease and death.
[The purificatory or destructive effect of the fires is often alleged by the people who light them; the great evil against which the fire at the festivals is directed appears to be witchcraft.]
[Amongst the evils for which the fire-festivals are deemed remedies the foremost is cattle-disease, and cattle-disease is often supposed to be an effect of witchcraft.]
[Again, the bonfires are thought to avert hail, thunder, lightning, and other maladies, all of which are attributed to the maleficent arts of witches.]
[The burning wheels rolled down hills and the burning discs and brooms thrown into the air may be intended to burn the invisible witches.]
[On this view the fertility supposed to follow the use of fire results indirectly from breaking the spells of witches.]
[On the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructive intention of the fire-festivals seems the more probable.]
On the whole, then, the theory of the purificatory virtue of the ceremonial fires appears more probable and more in accordance with the evidence than the opposing theory of their connexion with the sun. But Europe is not the only part of the world where ceremonies of this sort have been performed; elsewhere the passage through the flames or smoke or over the glowing embers of a bonfire, which is the central feature of most of the rites, has been employed as a cure or a preventive of various ills. We have seen that the midsummer ritual of fire in Morocco is practically identical with that of our European peasantry; and customs more or less similar have been observed by many races in various parts of the world. A consideration of some of them may help us to decide between the conflicting claims of the two rival theories, which explain the ceremonies as sun-charms or purifications respectively.
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