Firewalking Is Common Today
(Sylvia Engdahl's background information for her novel Stewards of the Flame)
BACKGROUND ON CONTROVERSIAL
TOPICS DEALT WITH IN
STEWARDS OF THE FLAME
Truer than you may realize
Fire immunity
Worse than you may know
Of course it is not supernatural -- nothing is supernatural; we simply do not yet understand the powers of the human mind. But neither, according to experiencers and qualified observers, does it have an adequate physical explanation apart from whatever physical changes in the body the mind produces. Also, I personally believe, as I said in the novel, that it depends on the instructor's telepathic charisma and on telepathy within the group, though at present this occurs largely, if not entirely, on an unconscious level; and that contrary to the assertions of some, it does involve an altered state of consciousness -- not necessarily a mystical one, as there are many different states of consciousness that occur during normal experiences. Even experienced firewalkers do not go off by themselves to walk on hot coals -- which, if the skeptics' explanations were true, could be done as easily alone as among others whose enthusiasm is aroused.
Some videos and links about firewalking.
Blaze Firewalking Experts. The British organization that produced the above video.
Dr. Weil on Firewalking by Andrew Weil,M.D. Firewalking Institute of Research and Education. A well-known doctor and author of bestselling books describes his own experiences with firewalking and states that it demonstrates "how, through nonordinary states of consciousness, we can modify our body’s responses to ordinarily harmful external stimulation."
Firewalk by Charles C. Tart. New Realities, November/December 1987. An eminent pyschologist/ parapsychologist and author discusses his personal experience with firewalking.
The Neurological Side of Firewalking by Andy Mittleman. Serendip Studio, April 6, 2010. An unusually good explanation of how psychological state may explain firewalking and immunity to pain, more in accord with my own conception of it as presented in my novels than any other I have seen.
Tolly Burkan’s Theory of Firewalking by Tolly Burkan. The Firewalking Center. The founder of the international firewalking movement explains why, in his opinion, the vast majority of firewakers do not get burned.
The History of Firewalking by Peggy Dylan. Sundoor. The woman who first offered firewalking events to the American public discusses the history of the practice in other cultures.
About Firewalking by Stephanie Foy. Dimensions in Healing. Information about what it is and why people do it . A typical promotional site by a firewalk instructor.
Firewalking Physics: The Wrong Way to Walk on Hot Coals by Natalie Wolchover. Live Science, July 25, 2012. Explains why, in the opinion of a physicist, 21 out of 6000 people were burned at a motivational firewalking seminar.
Why Fire Walking Doesn't Burn: Science or Spirituality? by John Roach. National Geographic, September 2005. "No amount of debunking can take away from the empowerment a fire walker can feel."
Firewalking: A Contemporary Ritual and Transformation by Emily D. Edwards. MIT Press, 1998. A formal paper by a professor of media studies giving a detailed account of a firewalk in she attended and an analysis of what firewalking means to contemporary participants.
Hearts Beat as One in a Daring Ritual by Pam Belluck. New York Times, May 2, 2011. Researchers found that the hearts of relatives and friends, but not other spectators, beat at exactly the sme rate as the firewakers' hearts. [Though the researchers didn't consider it, in my opinion this indicates a subconscious telepathic connection.]
Some books about firewalking.
Firewalking and Religious Healing by Loring M. Danforth. Princeton University Press, 1989.Dancing With the Fire: Transforming Limitation Through Firewalking by Michael Sky, Bear & Co., 1989
Firewalk: The Psychology of Physical Immunity by Jonathon Sternfield. Berkshire House, 1992.
Firewalking: A New Look at an Old Enigma by Larissa Vilenskaya & J. Steffy. Bramble Books, 1991.
Firewalking: Footprint Reading Library by Rob Waring. National Geographic, 2009.
The Burning Saints: Cognition and Culture in the Fire-walking Rituals of the Anastenaria by Dimitris Xygalatas. Routledge, 2014.
Fire Handling Has Also Occurred
When I wrote Stewards of the Flame, I believed the handling of fire, as distinguished from walking on coals, to be a futuristic extension of present reality, symbolic of powers we cannot yet even imagine, just as I did when I included it in Enchantress from the Stars. I later learned that it does actually happen on some occasions, though not in the calm, deliberate way that my characters are able to do it. There are many reports of its occurence in ancient cultures.In 2012 I discovered a video on YouTube showing a young black man touching fire with his bare hands, which I posted on this page. Seeing is believing! To be sure, this man was handling burning paper, not a torch -- but it was open flame, and he did it calmly and repeatedly. YouTube made me sign in to confirm my age in order to watch it, and it has since been taken down, presumably because foolhardy kids might try to do it themselves.
More significantly, in 2019 I obtained access to a long paper by Steven Kane in Ethos, the journal of the Society for Psychological Anthropology, which describes in detail the use of fire handling by some Christian churches in the twentieth century as a demonstration of the power of faith. Dr. Kane observed this on many occasions in Free Pentecostal Holiness churches in the rural south. Torches consisting of soda pop bottles filled with kerosene and cotton wicks are used, he explains, and "at the emotional peak of a religious gathering, amidst the din of vigorously strummed guitars, clashing cymbals and tambourines, shouting, and singing, communicants light the torches and put the flames to various body parts and articles of clothing."
He goes on to give accounts of some specific incidents. For example, "On two separate occasions, an elderly Kentucky preacher seized a burning torch with his right hand and slowly rotated his outstretched open left hand in the flame for about ten seconds. After alternating hands and repeating the procedure, he threw off his left shoe and applied the flame to his woolen sock for several seconds. He then removed the sock and slowly drew the flame along the entire length of his exposed foot, concluding the performance by closing his fingers around the wick to extinguish the blaze. . . . A West Virginia man, said by his fellow communicants to have 'good victory over fire,' alternately held each hand stationary in the midpoint of a flame for 10 to 15 seconds, then moved the flame up and down his shirt sleeves and over his shirt front. Once, he grasped the torch with both hands, held it at chest level, and permitted the tip of the flame to touch his neck and chin for five seconds or more. He handed the torch to another man, aged 19, the youngest fire handler I saw, who brought the flame into brief contact with his cheeks, neck, and chin. Following this, he consecutively held both hands in the middle of the flame for approximately ten seconds each."
According to Kane, these fire handlers believe that they are "annointed" -- that is, temporarily dominated -- by the Holy Ghost, and that their words and actions are impelled by the indwelling spirit. An annointed worshiper, he says, "is in an altered state of consciousness commonly designated 'trance' in the literature, whereas one who proceeds by faith is not. One of them told him, "A shield comes down over me. I know when it’s around me. It’s cold inside. My hands get numb and cold. Sometimes the cold goes as far as my elbows or shoulders. When that shield comes, it’s good for anything. It’s the best protection there is. Nothin’ can harm me when I’m inside."
Kane cites experimental evidence that subjects in hypnotic trance can "influence their neural activity in such a way as to augment or prevent damage in reaction to noxious stimuli," and suggests that "the entranced fire handlers’ belief in their own invulnerability mobilizes the same protective nervous system process," which is thought to be peripheral vasoconstriction. This is borne out by the fire handlers' reports of feeling numb and cold, and the fact that they apply the torch only to body areas that do feel that way, which they believe the spirit has made burn-proof. While Kane does not mention firewalking, it's quite probable that it also depends on this neural process. Firewalkers are frquently encouraged to expect that the coals beneath their feet will feel like cool moss.
There is no reason to doubt the testimony of this experienced professional anthropologist, which proves that my imagined fire handling is far from fantastic; the only difference appears to be that my characters have learned to enter altered states of consciousness at will instead of needing to be overcome by religious ecstasy. I feel that his paper's lack of wide notice is a typical instance of scientists closing their eyes to clear evidence that supposedly paranormal mind powers actually exist.
Steven Kane's paper Holiness Ritual Fire Handling: Ethnographic and Psychophysiological Considerations (Ethos, Winter 1982) is now available online (free registration is required).
Here are some other links:
Ordeal by Serpents, Fire and Strychnine by
Berthold E. Schwarz. Psychiatric Quarterly, September 1960 (abstract only). "Several different worshippers, during ecstasy, handled fuel oil torches, acetylene flames, and flaming coal without having either thermal injury to their bodies or clothing."
Fire Immunity from Encyclopedia.com -- historical reports that may or may not be true.
Last updated in June 2019
Text copyright 2019 by Sylvia Engdahl
This series of pages about background for Stewards of the Flame is not meant to be a comprehensive or balanced overview of the topics covered; it merely offers support for the ideas expressed in the novel.
BACKGROUND ON CONTROVERSIAL
TOPICS DEALT WITH IN
STEWARDS OF THE FLAME
Truer than you may realize
Fire immunity
Worse than you may know