No, I'm not suggesting anyone embarks on a bout of fire-starting. Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night as it is often called, is traditionally a celebration of preventing acts of arson, not encouraging them.
Pyromancy is the ancient magical art of divination by fire. It is one of the earliest forms of divination, probably practised soon after fire was first discovered by man. One can imagine ancient shamans staring into the burning embers of the fires that warmed our Neolithic ancestors, foretelling a good hunt or how well the tribe would fare through the winter to come.
In Classical Greece, virgins at the Temple of Athena in Athens used pyromancy and it is likely that followers of Hephaestus, the Greek god of fire, or Vulcan, his Roman equivalent, did too. In Renaissance times pyromancy was a "forbidden art" along with necromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, hydromancy, chiromancy and spatulamancy.
The most basic form of pyromancy involves staring into a fire or flame to watch for patterns and shapes that form. The magical art is in interpreting what these mean. In modern homes without real fireplaces it is usually easier and safer to scry into a candle flame, but Bonfire Night provides a great opportunity to have a go at pyromancy with a proper fire outdoors under the stars.
There are several variations on pyromancy, including:
- Alomancy: Divination by salt, by casting salt into a fire
- Botanomancy: Divination by burning plants
- Capnomancy: Divination by smoke. Thin smoke that rises straight upwards is a good sign; smoke that wavers, drifts or billows is a bad omen.
- Lychnomancy: Divination by the light of a candle flame (from the Latin ‘lychus’ meaning ‘light’).
- A bright, steady flame is considered a good omen.
- If it burns low and dim, the future could be tough.
- One that goes out is bad and indicates some sort of ending.
- A flame that flickers and flutters indicates there are forces acting against you, uncertainty is holding you back, or you might struggle to get what you desire.
- A twisting flame warns you to beware of treachery or unscrupulous people.
- A spark means an important message will be heading your way.
- If a candle or other fire burns much more strongly than you expect, is hotter, brighter or burns down extremely fast, you can expect something extraordinary to happen. It might even indicate your wishes will come true in the most unexpectedly good way. Do be careful, because a sudden rise to success can sometimes then be followed by a crash.
Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/11/bonfire-night-and-black-magic.html http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/09/pagan-eye-fire-breather.html http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/02/fire-walking-facing-ones-fears.html http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/god-of-week-vulcan.html
3 comments:
I just discovered your blog only I can't figure out how to follow. Is this just me, being new to the blog world - or do you not allow followers? Thanks, S
Samantha, you can follow it in a few ways. If you have a blogger account, then you just add www.badwitch.co.uk to your list of followed blogs. If you are on Facebook then you can follow it using the networked blogs app. If you are on LiveJournal then you can follow it as a feed. You can also follow me on Twitter @badwitch1234 - I usually tweet my daily blog posts. on Halloween Reading: The Witch's Handbook
Hi there
My name’s Liza and I work for a BBC Three show called Russell Howard’s Good News. We’re looking for people to take part in a new feature on the show called Headliners where two people with unusual hobbies or occupations pitch to Russell why their hobby is so great and they should be on the front page of his newspaper. It’s quite a short segment and normally takes the form of a chat with Russell, although sometimes if you’re able to bring any props he will get involved!
I’m looking for someone with an interest in witchcraft who may be interested in taking part and was wondering if you or someone you know might be interested.
Please email me on lizac@avalonuk.com or 02075987342 if you want to get in touch
Many Thanks
Liza
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