Fire Magic

Think about fire—its flames and the light we see and the heat we feel. Think, too, about how fire can warm us and even burn down entire forests. We know that the process is a rapid chemical reactionin which oxygen molecules—two oxygen atoms bonded together—break apart, releasing energy, which we experience as the light and heat (see also pages 4–5). But to people in ages past, fire was mysterious, almost a living thing. And, some saw it as a link between the natural and the supernatural.

- Mark Rose

‘Burning Answers’

Records tell of the first-century B.C.E. magician Anaxilaus—we might call him an illusionist— making fire appear to dance above water. There were also people who believed that they could “see” visions that offered answers to questions or details about future events by patiently staring at flames or glowing embers of a fire. A Celtic tradition involved placing two hazelnuts in a fire to predict the success of a prospective marriage. If the nuts roasted quietly, it foretold a good match, but if they popped and jumped, it was a bad sign. In ancient China, the cracks caused by fire in ox shoulder blades or turtle shells were believed to foretell events to come (see also page 57).

The Dark Side