Universal silence now reigned. Then the high priest made
the new fire by the friction of two pieces of wood, and placed it on
the altar under the green arbour. This new fire was believed to
atone for all past crimes except murder. Next a basket of new fruits
was brought; the high priest took out a little of each sort of
fruit, rubbed it with bear's oil, and offered it, together with some
flesh, "to the bountiful holy spirit of fire, as a first-fruit
offering, and an annual oblation for sin." He also consecrated the
sacred emetics (the button-snake root and the cassina or
black-drink) by pouring a little of them into the fire. The persons
who had remained outside now approached, without entering, the
sacred square; and the chief priest thereupon made a speech,
exhorting the people to observe their old rites and customs,
announcing that the new divine fire had purged away the sins of the
past year, and earnestly warning the women that, if any of them had
not extinguished the old fire, or had contracted any impurity, they
must forthwith depart, "lest the divine fire should spoil both them
and the people.
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