Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/393

 The Magical and Ce^-enionial Uses of Fire. 365

the Tartars, who, when returning from a burial, step over a fire made for tliis purpose.^

Widows are also purified by fire. On the Slave Coast of West Africa stringent measures are taken. After being shut up for six months in the same room in which her husband is buried, a fire was lighted, into which red peppers were thrown. After the woman was nearly stifled in these pungent fumes, it was considered safe to allow her to mix again with the outside world. She would thus have been purified from the contamination of death.-

Fire as an Omen and in Divination.

Fire is also used as an omen and for divination purposes. Among the Banyoro of Central Africa no warrior will start on an expedition if his fire goes out during the night.^ Much the same idea occurs in British New Guinea. While a party is away on a sago-trading expedition a fire must be kept burning in certain houses ; should one of these fires go out the expedition would have bad luck.* In modern Greece omens are drawn from fire. The cracklings of logs on the fire generally mean that good news is on the way or that a friend is coming. On the other hand, troubles and anxieties may be expected if sparks and ashes fly out into the room. So, too, with a candle or lamp, should they splutter it is a prediction of misfortune. Marriage omens can also be obtained. If two leaves of basil are placed upon a hot coal and burn away quietly, the marriage will be a happy one ; but if they crackle to a certain extent, the lives of the couple, who are represented by the two leaves, will be ruffled by quarrels. If, however,

ij. G. Frazer, Balder the Beautiful, vol. ii. p. 17. -J. G. Frazer, Balder the Beautiful, vol. ii. pp. 18-19. ^J. Roscoe, The Northern Bantu, p. 83.

■*C. G. Seligman, The Melanesians of British Neiv Guinea, p. 309. See also A. C. Iladdoii, Neadkunlers, Black, H kite and Brown, p. 259.

2 A