But we naturally ask, How did it come about that benefits so great
and manifold were supposed to be attained by means so simple? In
what way did people imagine that they could procure so many goods or
avoid so many ills by the application of fire and smoke, of embers
and ashes? Two different explanations of the fire-festivals have
been given by modern enquirers. On the one hand it has been held
that they are sun-charms or magical ceremonies intended, on the
principle of imitative magic, to ensure a needful supply of sunshine
for men, animals, and plants by kindling fires which mimic on earth
the great source of light and heat in the sky. This was the view of
Wilhelm Mannhardt. It may be called the solar theory. On the other
hand it has been maintained that the ceremonial fires have no
necessary reference to the sun but are simply purificatory in
intention, being designed to burn up and destroy all harmful
influences, whether these are conceived in a personal form as
witches, demons, and monsters, or in an impersonal form as a sort of
pervading taint or corruption of the air.
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