Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/395

 The Magical and Ce7'enioiiial Uses of Fire. 367

King- of Uganda died, the fire in the temple of the god Kibuka was extinguished, and it was not reh'ghted till the new king ascended the throne. Then new fire was made which was said to be obtained from a rock close by.^ When a death occurs among the Ba-Thonga of South Africa the fire in the hut of the deceased is carried out on to the square in the village ; here it is carefully protected and kept alight for five days. When the mourners disperse, it is put out by the medicine-man with sand or water. Meanwhile all the fires in the village are also put out, and, when a fresh supply has been made by the medicine-man, everyone takes embers from it to rekindle the fires on their own hearths. This, M. Junod says, is also a purification rite.-

Fires Lighted on Special Occasions.

Sometimes there are certain days in the year on which fire is lighted. It is not kept burning all the year, but only for special occasions, namely, at certain periodical festivals.

In ancient Egypt these lights sometimes take the form of burning candles. These candles are vari-coloured, sometimes red and white, and plaited. In the Tomb of Amenemhet at Thebes, dating from the period of the i8th Dynasty, one of the wall paintings depicts him and his wife seated with the usual table of offerings before them- Approaching them from the side of the entrance are seven men, each with a lighted candle in one hand and a jar of ointment in the other. In this instance the candles are red and white. The texts, translated by Dr. Alan Gardiner, are as follows :

" [The birthday of] Osiris. [Kindling a light] ; ointment [is given]."

" [The birthday of] Horus. Kindling [a light] ; receiving illu- mination."

^ J. Roscoe, The Baganda, p. 304.

■^H. A. Junod, Life of a South African Tribe, vol. i. p. 135.