ABSTRACT
The application of water and the application of fire are thus regarded as interchangeable or complementary. They have the same purpose, and differ only in the element used. The nature of the element, of course, conditions the application: fire destroys, so that total immersion is impossible for those of the living who do not value consistency above their earthly lives. Fire-walkers come as near as possible to solving the problem of total immersion in fire without hurt, so near that fire-walking is considered miraculous and therefore sensational. This is unfortunate, because i t has fallen into the hands of the journalists, and so has been lifted out of its context. It is not therefore generally realised that i t is merely one episode in a ritual of the usual pattern. Inanimate objects and the dead bodies of men and animals can, of course, be freely immersed in fire, and so are.
