Walking Through Fire!

Ms.L. Elizabeth Lewis was visiting a teacher-friend in Singapore, east Asia, in 1931, when they had the opportunity to watch a Treemiri (fire-walking ceremony). She gives us her account in "The Fire-Walking Hindus of Singapore," National Geographic Magazine, April, 1931.

At that time, the ancient rite was "as vital to-day in the life of Hindus as it was at the time of its inception."  Those who would fire-walk first "prepared their bodies for torture. . .the devotees, including quite a number of women, approximately  400.  Some were kneeling and touching the earth with their foreheads, while others, more devout, were literally groveling in the dirt" (p. 513).

Meanwhile, a bed of coals 24 feet long was being prepared by burning large piles of wood.  "At the end of the mass of live coals was dug a pool, which was filled with milk brought to the spot in earthenware jars. . .the priest who held back the devotees began to lash them with whips and one by one they made a dash, barefooted, across the red-hot coals into the pool of milk" (p. 513).

"Some ran and some walked slowly through the coals.  The women seemed much calmer than the men. Some of them carried babies in their arms" (p. 516).

The custom originated from an ancient legend.  "Walking through fire has become a custom for the curing of bodily ills or the overcoming of other calamities" (p. 517).

The author was then "easily persuaded" to stay with her friends till the next Hindu festival, Tai Pusam, a three-day ceremony in which needles are thrust into the flesh of participants.  Torture, indeed, this involves!  There is a photo of a man "pierced both back and front with metal shafts" which appear to be at least three feet long.  He walked three miles in this condition (photo caption, p. 518).

The bodies of participants are prepared by bathing and being covered by powdered ashes.  Ms. Lewis reports on one man  "His chest, his back, his forehead, his arms and thighs, were entirely covered with small shining V-shaped pins.  He seemed almost in a state of coma and his eyes rolled in their sockets until at times only the whites were visible" (p. 519).  Women and children also took part.

"The two men . . . are convinced that by piercing their flesh with needles and walking on cruelly spiking shoes they will earn a absolution from all their sins and be rewarded with eternal happiness" (photo caption, p. 520).

At the end of the ceremony honoring the Hindu god, Subramanya, "the needles, spears, or hooks . . . are removed.  After thus fulfilling his vow he proceeds on his way, apparently none the worse for the ordeal, no trace of blood appearing at any time during the procedure" (p. 522).

Ms. Lewis concluded, "All were in holiday mood and the scene was closely related to a county fair.  It is a great day for the hawkers and proprietors of these stalls" which sell food to the assembled crowd. (p. 522).  I made a quick google search and only found references dating to 1933.  Then I called my daughter's fiance, Raj, an Indian native, a Hindu.  Today, 2013, he says the ceremonies are "rare, only in remote villages" in India.  "The authorities are trying to stop the torture.  But no meds were taken for pain."