by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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Ritual Bonfires ( also called Bonefires, Balefires and Banefires) have been used
for as long as fire has been a servant of man.
Originally, there was no difference between the candle/torch and the bonfire as
both were essentially a pile of wood set on fire. Then as technology advanced and the
discovery of chromotherapy advanced with the dyeing of wax and parrafin, the two
separated into two distinct and useful forms of magick.
Bonfires are primarily a form of ritual purification, strength and luck. In the
olden days, there were two Bonfires set, one for good luck and one for bad. This was to
give each person a choice for themselves. There is even one story of man who could not
decide if he should jump over the good luck bonfire or the bad luck bonfire and so had no
luck at all that year.
Traditionally, Bonfires were lighted at certain Sabbats for differing reasons, but
all related to purity, strength and/or health:
Regardless of the reason, the bonefire had to be lit with at least three or nine
different types of wood. This wood was generally gathered at the previous Sabbat and
stored so that it would be dry and ready for the fire.
The actual use of bonfires was of differing methods: first, one could toss into the
fire all the negetiveity that you had developed over the past year and watch that evil and
those problems burn up. Or, you could toss into the bonefire your wishes so that the fires
would release the energy of your hopes and dreams that they may manifest on the
material plane. And second, you could chant a spell to make the Sun(God) stronger as
you jumped.
In either case, you could leap the bonfire, dance between two fires or write your
wishes on paper or voice and burn them in a small Cauldron or candle to symbolize the
actual Bonfire.
The most common use though, is to build the bonefire on the ground or in the
Cauldron and leap the flames until the fire goes out. If you leap in a group, all take turns
and leap the fire, alone or as a couple, singing songs, calling chants or generally enjoying
yourselves. Often, the jumpers show off with fancy jumps to demonstrate their skills and
abilities (a remanant of our Celtic ancestors). Large Bonfires are generally jumped for a
set number of times as a good Bonfire will last all night.
In ancient times all fires were extinguished and could not be relit until the Beltane
Bonfire had been lit. Then runners would take brands from this Bonfire to every home
and use it to light the family fire, thus partaking in the rite.
One of the stories about st. patrick, the grave robber, is that he lit a Bonfire near
Tara one day early in order to steal the Druid's power.
But, the last person or couple over the bonefire as it goes out are considered to
have absorbed all of the bad luck that the fire absorbed from the others or to have stolen
the strength meant for the Sun-God. Thus, this person needed extra purification at the
hands of the Gods.
Generally this purification was a triple scourging to drive out the evil luck from
that person or to return to the God the strength taken from Him.
There are traditional woods which are chosen be it for a three or nine wood
Bonfire however, it is possible that telling these woods may be a violation of my Oath so
other than to state that the woods used are common to Northern Europe, I wil not say
exactly what they are.
Unfortunatly, we of Desert Henge live in Arizona where rowan, dogwood and
elder are rare to non-existant. So, how do we build a proper bonfire to strengthen the
Sun? It soon became apparant that we must either spend far too much money to import
the proper wods or to adapt to local conditions and use local trees.
Most people in America are ignorant of the ritual uses of trees, much less the
reasons for the bonfires and so simply toss in whatever woods that they can grab, most of
which may be magickally or ritually counterproductive.
One day we were pondering this problem and Lee L. and I decided to develop a
set of woods that would be appropriate and local. We started out by listing each wood
traditionally used and locating their magickal/ritual coorespondences and relating these
to the reason for the bonfire for that particular Sabbat. Once that was done, we knew for
certain that any wood used at Beltane HAD to relate to purity while any wood burned at
Yule HAD to relate to strength.
Our next step was to list every tree native and introduced to Arizona. Once we
had that list, we searched out the coorespondences for each tree in Arizona and placed
each tree under the Sabbat for those coorespondences.
What we developed was a system that was not only Traditional but adapted to
local conditions WITHOUT loosing the flavors that are so important to Wicca.
Thus, for woods that live in Arizona we chose the following native and
introduced trees be used in as additions:
For YULE, IMBOLC and LITHA to strengthen the Sun:
Native trees:
*ash, willow, pine, cedar, oak, elder, acacia and juniper.
Introduced trees:
*cypress, lemon, mulberry, holly, eucalyptus, olive and apple.
For OSTARA and BELTANE for purity and luck:
Native trees:
*pine, cedar, oak, willow and juniper.
Introduced trees:
*holly, lemon, elder, olive and lemon.
You will notice that there are not nine native woods that are acceptable for a
Bonfire. The reason for this is that we have so little actual hard information on the
magickal uses of native Arizona trees. And lest you suggest asking the local Indians,
we thought of that. One day around 1978, my HPS, Nancy, mentioned that the Medicine
man for the Papago Tribe had contacted her. I said, "Great! Now we can learn the
magickal uses of the local plants!" She replied, "That was what he wanted us to tell
him." As we learn more, this list will change. And we encourage each person to
develop their own lists for their own areas.
When you do so, please let us know what you chose and why.
HELPFUL HINTS FOR BONFIRES
Most Wiccans are from the city and have no idea of the proper way to build a fire.
Wood burns at 451 degrees F. and the temperature of the entire piece of the wood from
center to the outside edge must reach that temperature or it will not burn.
Thus, thick pieces, because of the insulating characteristics of wood, will not
burn for quite a while wheras the smaller pieces will catch quickly. Because of this, it is
impossible to start a log burning with one match,
Instead you start the fire by burning small fragments of shaved wood or grass,
then add small twigs (called kindling) then slowly add larger pieces until you can
produce a temperature hot enough to ignite that log you want to burn.
The ideal Bonfires is composed of a teepee shape of kindling or very thin scraps
of wood about the thickness of a matchstick. Over this is a teepee-shaped pile of thicker
wood and the wood that is to be the actual bonfirs will be piled in a teepee shape over
this. Your bonefire will then be a series of layers of wood from small and thin in the
center to thick on the outside. This wood is very loosely spaced to allow free air to
circulate about the pile. Light the thin pieces and allow these to light the larger woods.
If you burn your Bonfire in a Cauldron, as do many Wiccans, the fire will not
easily light because the heat from the fire rises and there is little opportunity for fresh air
to enter the fire from the bottom. Thus the fire goes out unless the fire starts above the
rim of the Cauldron and the tremendous heat forces air into the flames. So it is necessary
to have an opening in the bottom of the Cauldron to allow air to enter in as the heat
causes air and flames to rise. Look at a hibachi or bar-b-que grill to see how this
happens.
If you place your Cauldron or fire indoors, cover your fire alarm with a damp (not
wet) cloth to absorb the smoke before you start the fire. A plain cloth will not filter out
the smoke and you will have the problem of trying to cut a doorway to turn the smoke
detector off during a ritual, often while franticaly dressing to answer the door which is
being broken down by the fire department. Also, place a thick piece of plywood under
the Cauldron to insulate the rug or floor from the heat of the Cauldron. Keep a lid handy
to smother the flames if necessary. DO NOT place a candle into the Cauldron and
attempt to extinguish the flame with water. If skyclad, you will do this only *once*!
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To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
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