FIRE, CULT, THE. — The importance of fire for human life explains the formation and development, among many ancient and modern peoples, of an abundant mythology that exalts its mysterious destructive and at the same time purifying power, seeking its origin in the world of the sacred and the divine. And from the feeling of admiration, fear, and veneration that arose around the sacredness of this element came
the religious need to honor its nature and solemnize its function, as well as the practice of kindling it with particular worship ceremonies.
The ancient Mesopotamians venerated certain deities of fire and light: Gibil and Ishum are recalled among the Babylonians, Nusku among the Arameans.
In the ancient Indian religion it was Agni (pron. Aghni), the greatest of the terrestrial gods, invoked two hundred times in the Rg-Veda to personify fire in its threefold nature: celestial (the sun), terrestrial (the flame which, kindled by two pieces of wood rubbed against one another, shines on the hearth), and aquatic (the lightning that darts from the cloud). Agni was omnipresent. In sacrifices—as the Vedic texts testify—fire had great importance. Beside a kind of altar, three fires were placed at the three cardinal points: to the west, that of the « pater familia », obtained by rubbing two pieces of wood together and kept perpetually alight, which served for cooking food; to the east, the fire kindled from a domestic hearth, intended to receive the offerings, so as to make them volatilize and thus convey them to the gods; to the south, the third, also kindled from a domestic hearth, which served to keep evil spirits away and to receive offerings addressed to the manes; it was therefore also the fire of funerary ceremonies. The domestic rites of the Indians, too, were performed before the fire, that of the domestic hearth, the center of family intimacy and worship perhaps from the time of the most ancient Indo-European community; the flame had to be kept constantly alight by the « pater familia »; if it was allowed to go out, the fault was expiated through particular rituals of atonement.
In the Persian religion, the cult of fire flourished, as the Achaemenid sculptures attest. A day of every month was consecrated to it, as was the ninth month of the year, which bore its name; it was a pure creature of Ahura-Mazdāh. It was worshiped in each of its terrestrial or celestial manifestations, and also in the symbolic manifestation of the so-called « light of glory » (Xvarenah), which, according to ancient tradition, rested upon the person of kings and princes as a sign of protection. The cult of fire constituted the principal task of the Athravan, the priests who held the highest offices. Cremation was regarded as a horrendous crime because contact with the corpse contaminated the fire; indeed, for this reason, people even went so far as to remove the fire from a house in which someone had died. The ritual specified in detail the cases of profanation of fire and prescribed—and still prescribes among the present-day descendants of the ancient Mazdeans—the rites for securing its purification.
In the Greco-Roman world, fire was venerated in its domestic, industrial, and meteorological functions (v. VESTA E VESTALIA).
Among the Germans, the god Loki seems comparable to Vulcan. Among the Slavs, Lithuanians, and Letts, there is evidence of sacred fires, but not of particular fire deities.
Myths concerning the origin of fire and of the means of producing it are found among extremely primitive peoples, such as the Pygmies, the Tasmanians, and others. According to the Pygmies of Gabon (French Congo), it was the Creator who taught man how the « red thing »—that is, fire—springs from stones. A Tasmanian myth relates that they did not know fire and learned the means of producing it and its use from two black men. Many peoples believe that the acquisition of the art of kindling fire was due to the teachings of the culture hero, or of a mythical bird, or to a theft, chance, and so forth.
The practice of ritually preserving fire and the elaborate ceremonies for kindling a new one are probably connected with the difficulty of kindling II. According to Crawley, the ritual of perpetual fire cannot be regarded as a genuine cult of fire. Moreover, sacrifice by means of fire and various ceremonies in which this element is used show that it is a means and not the end.
The idea of purifying fire is universal. Fire also has the power to expel evil or prevent it from approaching. Among many peoples the smith has the role of culture hero. He, the man who possesses, along with the secret of fire, that of working metals, is often a sorcerer and magician.
Although fire deities are reported among various primitive communities, it can generally be said that they are figures of a demonic character.
Fire deities and ceremonies existed among the ancient Mexicans, the Maya, and the Peruvians.