FIRE DANCING
EXCERPT FROM EUROTRIPPING ©JR DAESCHNER
Having witnessed the Miracle of the Virgin's Snakes on Kefaloniá, I've come across a ritual on the mainland that sounds even more mysterious.
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Every year in northeastern Greece and southern Bulgaria, villagers from the ancient region of Thrace sacrifice a lamb or a bull at a holy well and then pray themselves into a trance before walking-and even dancing-barefoot across burning coals. |
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Although the firedancers swear they're devout Christians, the Greek Orthodox Church has repeatedly condemned the ritual of the Anastenariá as latter-day idolatry, a relic of 'the orgiastic worship of Dionysus'.
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What makes this pagan link promising is the ritual's location. Thrace was supposedly the birthplace of Dionysus, a son of Zeus, who lived just a lightning bolt away on Mount Olympus. Originally a naughty god of fertility, Dionysus was later rebzanded Bacchus and became synonymous with full-blown hedonism, the god of wine, women and song. More intriguingly, he was also associated with fire. Eureka! It's not really the done thing to strip off and streak through the reading room of the British Library, but in my mind, I'm only wearing sneakers. |
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