The ability to create fire is one of the biggest developments in our history as a species.
Holika or Holi is celebrated as a festival representing the victory of good over evil. This festival commemorates the combined celebration of two different festivals- Choti Holi (Holika Dahan) and Badi Holi (Rangwali Holi/ Dulandi). This year, Choti Holi or Holika Dahan will be celebrated on March 1.
Uses of Bonfires
In time, bonfire was also applied to other large conflagrations, such as those for the burning of yard refuse or unwanted possessions
Divine knowledge will make a man rejoyce, when his enemies makes a bonfire of his good
— Thomas Brooks, Heaven on Earth, 165
4s..1654
Other than the United Kingdom, which other countries celebrate 'bonfire night' or 'Guy Fawkes Night/Day' on the 5th of November each yearGuy Fawkes Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Day, Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual commemoration observed on 5 November, primarily in the United Kingdom. Its history begins with the events of 5 November 1605 O.S., when Guy Fawkes, a member of the Gunpowder Plot, was arrested while guarding explosives the plotters had placed beneath the House of Lords. Celebrating the fact that King James I had survived the attempt on his life, people lit bonfires around London; and months later, the introduction of the Observance of 5th November Act enforced an annual public day of thanksgiving for the plot's failure.
Lewes Bonfire or Bonfire, for short, describes a set of celebrations held in the town of Lewes, Sussex that constitute the United Kingdom's largest and most famous Bonfire Night festivities,[1] with Lewes being called the bonfire capital of the world.[2]
The Sussex Bonfire Societies are responsible for the series of bonfire festivals concentrated on central and eastern Sussex, with further festivals in parts of Surrey and Kent from September to November each year
Beltane or Beltain (/ˈbɛl.teɪn/)[5][6] is the Gaelic May Day festival. Most commonly it is held on 1 May, or about halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In Irish the name for the festival day is Lá Bealtaine ([l̪ˠaː ˈbʲal̪ˠt̪ˠənʲə]), in Scottish Gaelic Là Bealltainn ([l̪ˠaː ˈpjaul̪ˠt̪ɪɲ]) and in Manx Gaelic Laa Boaltinn/Boaldyn
This weekend, thousands of Israelis are trekking to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai at Mount Meron to celebrate Lag BaOmer, the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer. The annual pilgrimage turns the slopes of the mountain into a tent city dotted with bonfires. Like many religious celebrations, the holiday attracts those who come to pray, and those who come to party. Yet neither prayers nor parties on this popular day have their origins in Jewish law or custom.
In Greek mythology, Hestia is the goddess of hearth and home and was known to attend to the comfort of others. She considered it wrong to send strangers away and welcomed them as guests at her hearth, which is the fire located in a central area of the home.
The word Hestia in Greek means ''hearth'' or ''beside the hearth.'' She always made sure the home-fire or hearth was burning and that there was plenty of food and drink ready when her siblings returned. She was devoted to her family and community.
In the present time, the concept of Lohri is all about bonfire, fancy foods, food baskets, and dancing to the tunes of hit chartbuster. But, do you know the traditional meaning of holy bonfire and why people together take revolve around it post sunset? Well, it has a deeper meaning which is all about paying gratitude to the almighty and dancing to the beats of the dhol and enjoying a scrumptious feast. It is a festival that belongs to the region of Punjab and mostly celebrated in northern part of India. On this day foods like til (black sesame seeds), gajak, gur (jaggery), peanuts, and popcorn are fed to the fire as part of the harvest ritual. Lohri is also linked to ‘Winter Solstice’ - the shortest day and the longest night. It, in fact, marks the end of winters and the onset of spring. Here are 5 important things that you need to know about Lohri.
Festival of harvest
New Year's Eve Winter Carnival - Norse Mythology Beastly Bonfire. Newcastle upon Tyne, Town-Moor, UK, Credit: David Whinham/Alamy Live News
San Juan was a festivity of pagan origin and of course it was not so called, and was popular among the Aztec, Celtic or Greek peoples. As with many festivals, before being adopted by Christianity, Hindus and many primitive peoples and each of them celebrated in a different way.
San Juan was a festivity of pagan origin and of course it was not so called, and was popular among the Aztec, Celtic or Greek peoples. As with many festivals, before being adopted by Christianity, Hindus and many primitive peoples and each of them celebrated in a different way.
In greek culture the arrival of summer was as important event or even more so than in the celtic. For them the Sun was a divinity , Helios, son of two titans, Hyperion and Tea and brother of Selene ( female divinity representing the Moon). Helios was represented as a strong man with golden hair who ran the solar vault in a carriage pulled by two black steeds that threw fire through their jaws. This God transmitted through his hair the light and the hot necessary for humans and animals to live, as did his contrapart, Selene, during the night. Specifically at the summer solstice, the Greek believed the Helios light entered the human spirit, so in his temples offered offferings in honor of Helios or Apollo, considered the God most related to the Sun, as well as the musical arts and the light, in many of whose versions he played a similar rol to Helios. The Romans did something similar with Phoebus, who was the divinity equivalent to Apollo in Greek mythology.
May is the month when Venus, the ruler of Taurus comes to earth to grace us with love, desire, fertility and creativity of all kinds … The Goddess of love annoints the earth with blossoming flowers and trees and delights the senses with summer fruits and the bounty of nature’s garden. She is celebrated with rituals of fertility and harvest, with fire, which symbolizes the fire that burns within each one of us … in our hearts and in our souls, the fires that keep us alive and urge us forth to bring what we carry inside into the light of day.
May is the magic month of The Beltane, the festival of fires that burn with the light of transcendent love that can blossom here on earth …
The fires that honor all that is sacred and other-worldly.
The Beltane is the most perfect combination of love and fire, of the sacred and the divine, of the world we see and the world beyond; it is a time when the “veil between the worlds is thinnest,” when we have access to times past, and when we can manifest the life we were meant to live.
Beltane comes from Gaelic and means “brilliant, or bright and sacred fire,” and this is the time of fecundity, transformation and ecstasy.
It is the season of maturing life and deep found love
No stranger to fiery celebrations (there are 3 major ones alone), Japan is also home to the Oniyo Fire Festival which takes place at the at the Daizenji Tamataregu Shrine. This ceremony marking the end of the “Oni-kai” festival, a 7 day event that begins on New Year’s Eve, sees the “devil fire” (previously guarded at the temple) moved to six colossal wooden torches. Measuring up to one meter in diameter and 13 meters in length, the torches are burned to exorcise evil spirits from the town, in a tradition that reaches back 1,600 years.
Quema del Diablo, Guatamala
Every 7th December in Guatamala, crowds gather to watch La Quema del Diablo: The Burning of The Devil. It’s a tradition that dates back to colonial times when, in anticipation of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, those who could afford it would decorate the front of their houses with lanterns. Those who couldn’t would gather up any rubbish and burn it in front of their homes, a practice that was eventually formalised when communities began to burn an effigy of the Devil. Many other Latin American countries share a similar tradition, where human-sized ‘demons’ are burned as a symbolic way to clear out the bad and start afresh.
Up Helly Aa, The Shetlands
Up Helly Aa is an ode to Vikings and beards and celebrates the The Shetlands’ close proximity and cultural connection to Scandinavia. The islands had originally been ruled by the Norse until 1468, until they became part of Scotland. First taking place in 1870, the event is held come rain or high water and culminates with the burning of a Viking longship.
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