182 BULLETIN 139, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



A suggestion of the fire walk or of fire jugglery is contained in the 

 narrative accompanying the Song of the Fire Charm of the Chippewa. 

 The episode relates to the medicine rubbed on the feet, preventing 

 injury when a man stood in the fire.^^ 



PYROMANCY 



Belief in the magic power and properties of fire appears in the 

 many curious methods of applying this behef . Pyromancy, or the 

 divination by fire may be treated here in connection with a number 

 of more or less related customs, and a few of the many typical 

 instances given. 



Lafitau states that the Abenakis and the Algonkians are much 

 addicted to pyromancy. They make charcoal of cedarwood, which 

 they pound and reduce to an almost impalpable powder and which 

 they spread out in a certain way, after which they touch fire to it 

 and divine by the way in which the fire runs.^" 



This is a common and almost universal form of pyromancy, and 

 sometimes unconsciously used by cultivated folk. 



The Hutchin Kutchin Indians of Canada observed this supersti- 

 tion: "Yi/Tien the fire made a hissing noise they threw in some fat 

 and asked to be able to kill some animal." ^^ 



The Maoris of New Zealand believe that a jet of gas from burn- 

 ing wood is caused by a soul that has come to obtain fire.^^ 



It is seen that the various noises made by combustion of fuel in 

 the fire are supposed to be voices of the fire spirit. Such beliefs of 

 the folk are often embalmed in Hterature and serve to make senses 

 of foreboding more terrifying and impressive. 



George Brown says: "There is one supreme evil spirit who is called 

 Sakusaku, and he is supposed to be specially active from sunset 

 to midnight, after which hour he is not so dangerous. Fire is sup- 

 posed to be a safeguard against him. Evil spirits are supposed to 

 make a whistling sound, and if such a sound is heard at night the 

 people in the house will cry out to poke up the fire and make it burn 

 bright." 23 



Among many tribes fire is consulted before various undertakings 

 the outcome of which is doubtful, as in war by the Mexicans and 

 South African Bantu. This and many other customs are strongly 

 held as a stage of culture when reverence for fire is deeply ingrained. 



The Siberians use a form of pyromancy with flint and steel. Luck 

 is determined by the way the sparks fly. 



» Frances Densmore. Chippewa Music, Bull. 45. Bur. Amer. Ethnol., 1910, p. 103. 



»« Lafitau. Moeurs des Sauvages Americaines, vol. 1, Paris, 1724, p. 387. 



«B. R.Ross. Ann. Rept., Smith. Inst., 1886, p. 325. 



"Elsdon Best. Spiritual and Mental Conceptions of the Maori, Dom. Mus. Monog. 2, Wellington 

 1822, p. 11. 



"George Brown. Melanesians and Polynesians; Their Life Histories Described and Compared, 

 1910, p. 210. 



