Fire Magic

 

Fire has always sparked religious awe. Its ever-shifting form, varieties of colors, heat, and light, plus the actual physical changes it produces are the stuff magic is made of.

Before the knowledge of fire making, it must have been a dark world, indeed. With the use of friction and flints, humans captured this divine essence and it changed the world forever.

While so-called fire worship is generally nothing more than a polite euphemism for the mystical reverence of sex, there have been several religions that worshipped fire as a symbol of divinity.

Who hasn’t heard of the eternal flames that the vestal virgins of rome tended on their altars? Even today, Jewish synagogues keep an eternal flame, and some tombs, like John F. Kennedy’s, are similarly equipped.

Though the religious significance of fire has been forgotten by most of us today, it is still in evidence upon the altars of many of the world’s leading religions. What Catholic altar would be complete without flaming candles? A candle’s shining flame or a roaring bonfire on a lonely mountain peak are both objects of power that can be utilized in magic.

The fact that fire is a powerful element caused the ancients to worship it. The placement of burning candles on the altar during mass isn’t accidental those candles release their own energies into the proceedings, as does the smoking frankincense in the brightly shining censers and the prayers of the devout.

Candle magic is once again becoming enormously popular, perhaps because it is simple and effective. Though this may be the only form of fire magic readily available, it is far from the only one known today. It is these other forms that shall be investigated here.

Fire magic can be performed wherever a fire can be safely lit. An indoor or outdoor fireplace, a barbecue, a cleared section of ground, or a specially dug pit lined with bricks or rocks— anything will work, as long as the fire can be safely lit in an area in which you have privacy to perform your magic.

For some spells you will need no more than a few pieces of kindling. For others, whole blazes or series of fires will be required. Any sort of fuel is fine, as long as it is clean, dry, and not too sappy.

Owing to its fiery nature, this sort of magic is best performed in the desert, but anywhere will suffice.

 

Source: Earth Power: Techniques of Natural Magic by Scott Cunningham