The horse-shoe is a product of the artisan’s skill by the aid of fire.
This element has in all ages been considered the great purifier, and a
powerful foe to evil spirits.[111]
The Chaldeans venerated fire and esteemed it a deity, and among primitive
nations everywhere it has ever been held sacred. The Persians had
fire-temples, called _Pyræa_, devoted solely to the preservation of the
holy fire.[112]
In the “Rig-Veda,” the principal sacred book of the Hindus, the crackling
of burning fagots was listened to as the voice of the gods, and the same
superstition prevails still among the natives of Borneo.[113]
In a fragment of the writings of Menander Protector, a Greek historian
of the sixth century, it is related that when an embassy sent by the
Emperor Justin reached Sogdiana, the ancient Bokhara, it was met by a
party of Turks, who proceeded to exorcise their baggage by beating drums
and ringing bells over it. They then ran around the baggage, bearing
aloft flaming leaves, meantime, by their gestures and movements, seeking
to repel evil spirits; after which some of the party themselves passed
through fire as a means of purification.[114]
Fire is especially potent against nocturnal demons, and also against the
evil spirits which cause disease in cattle. Hence the utility of the
ancient “need-fires,” produced by the friction of two pieces of wood,
which were thought to be an antidote against the murrain and epizoötics
generally,—a custom until recently in vogue in the Scottish Highlands,
and formerly practiced in many other regions.
The midsummer fires kindled on Saint John’s Eve, in accordance with an
ancient British custom, were regarded as purifiers of the air. Moreover,
the whole area of ground illuminated by these fires was reckoned to be
freed from sorcery for a year, and, by leaping through the flames, both
men and cattle were insured safety against demons for a like period.[115]
In Ireland it was customary for people to run through the streets on
Saint John’s Eve carrying long poles, upon which were tied flaming
bundles of straw, in order to purify the air, for at that time all kinds
of mischievous imps, hobgoblins, and devils were abroad, intent on
working injury to human beings.[116]
Midsummer fires were still lighted in Ireland in the latter half of the
nineteenth century, a survival of pagan fire-worship. In many countries
people gathered about the bonfires, while children leaped through the
flames, and live coals were carried into the cornfields as an antidote to
blight.[117]
Sometimes the remaining ashes were scattered over the neighboring fields,
in order to protect the crops from ravaging vermin or insects; and in
Sweden the smoke of need-fires was reputed to stimulate the growth of
fruit-trees, and to impart luck to fishing-nets hung up in it.[118]
When a child is born, the Hindus light fires to frighten demons; and
for the same reason lamps are swung to and fro at weddings, and fire is
carried before the dead body at a funeral.[119]
Devout Brahmins keep a fire constantly burning in their houses and
worship it daily, expecting thereby to secure for themselves good
fortune. The origin of the respect accorded to fire among these people
has been attributed to its potency in alleviating or curing certain
diseases,[120] as, for example, when applied in the actual cautery, or by
means of the moxa; for, wherever a belief exists in demoniacal possession
as the cause of bodily disorders, the cure of the latter is evidence
that the malignant spirits have been put to flight.
The fire-worshiping Parsees also keep a fire continuously in the lying-in
room; and when a child is ailing from any cause, they fasten to its left
arm a magical charm of written words prepared by a priest, exorcising the
evil spirits in the name of their chief deity, Ormuzd, and “binding them
by the power and beauty of fire.”[121]
On the birth of a child among the Khoikhoi of south Africa a household
fire is kindled, which is maintained until the healing of the child’s
navel; and when a member of the tribe goes a-hunting, his wife is careful
to keep a fire burning indoors; for, if it were allowed to go out, the
husband would have no luck.[122]
The conception of a mediæval smith as a master and controller of fire
was embodied in a group of figures modeled by the Austrian sculptor,
Karl Bitter, and placed at the southern entrance of the Administration
Building at the World’s Fair, Chicago, in 1893. This group, which was
called “Fire Controlled,” consisted of a female figure, whose uplifted
right hand carried a torch, while at her feet stood a brawny smith
resting a sledge hammer upon the prostrate form of a fire demon.
Above this group stood a single figure, by the same artist, representing
a blacksmith standing at his anvil, with hammer resting against it, and
in his belt hung a pair of pincers. In his left hand was a horse-shoe,
which he was examining.[123]