Fire Walker, this way...

Fire walking this week?  Let confidence be your guide. What rituals boost your attitude and outlook?

"Perhaps the best scientific studies of fire walking were conducted at the University of London in 1935 and 1937. Thermocouples were available to measure temperatures and the experiments were witnessed by several scientists and medical men.

In the 1935 walk, the surface temperature of the bed of coals was 430 degrees C. and the interior temperature, 1400 degrees. The walk was made by an Indian fire walker who traversed a 20-foot trench of coals four times without blistering. The English editor of the St. Bartholomew's Hospital Journal then walked half the distance before he jumped out and blisters formed on his feet.

In the 1937 experiment an Indian fire walker traversed a bed of coals with surface temperature of 740 degrees C. and was badly burned, while an English volunteer crossed the same trench with only slight burns.

On the basis of these experiments, Rawcliffe concluded that absence of fear is a vital point in fire walking. 'It is necessary to keep one's wits; for poise, correct pacing, and timing are all important. . . . Fear, by undermining confidence, spoils the walker's judgement. The initial rites therefore play a big role in bolstering up confidence'.

Other conclusions included:
(1) in the successful fire walk, skin surfaces should be in contact with the hot coals for only a few seconds
(2) that moisture is a disadvantage because hot coals may adhere to the skin and cause burns
(3) fear often produces sweaty feet so that once again absence of fear is important
(4) the untrained and inexperienced may fire walk as well as the experienced
(5) fasting, sexual continence, trancing, and other ritual preparations are unnecessary, except in that they may increase confidence and alleviate anxiety."

From footnote in:
Shamans and Endorphins: Hypotheses for a Synthesis
Author(s): Raymond Prince
Source: Ethos, Vol. 10, No. 4, Issue Devoted to Shamans and Endorphins (Winter, 1982), pp.409-423
Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the American Anthropological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3696950 .