Fire-walking
Encyclopedia
Firewalking is the act of walking barefoot
over a bed of hot ember
s or stones.
Firewalking has been practiced by many people and cultures in all parts of the world, with the earliest known reference dating back to Iron Age India
– c. 1200 BC. It is often used as a rite of passage
, as a test of an individual's strength and courage, or in religion as a test of one's faith.
Today, it is often used in corporate and team-building seminars and self-help workshops as a confidence-building exercise. Firewalking implies the belief that the feat requires the aid of a supernatural force, strong faith, or on an individual's ability to focus on "mind over matter". Modern physics has largely debunked this however, showing that the amount of time the foot is in contact with the ground is not enough to induce a burn, combined with the fact that coal
is not a very good conductor of heat.
Walking on fire has existed for several thousand years, with records dating back to 1200 B.C. Cultures across the globe, from Greece to China, used firewalking for rites of healing, initiation, and faith. Firewalking became popular in America during the 1970s when author Tolly Burkan
began a campaign to demystify the practice. He offered evening firewalking courses that were open to anyone in the general public. The demand for firewalking classes became so great that in 1984 Burkan began training instructors. Recently, in the United States, firewalking is used by businesses to build teamwork and as a so-called alternative health remedy.
, density
, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity
.
The square root of the product of thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat capacity is called thermal effusivity, and tells how much heat energy the body absorbs or releases in a certain amount of time per unit area when its surface is at a certain temperature. Since the heat taken in by the cooler body must be the same as the heat given by the hotter one, the surface temperature must lie closer to the temperature of the body with the greater thermal effusivity. The bodies in question here are human feet (which mainly consist of water) and burning coals.
Due to these properties, David Willey
, professor of physics
, says he believes firewalking is explainable in terms of basic physics and is not supernatural or paranormal. However, he adds, "The 120 foot walk done by Sara Raintree and Jim Jarvis, and reports of longer walks and people remaining stationary for extended periods on the coals are currently under investigation by the author." Willey notes that most fire-walks occur on coals that measure about 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (550 degrees Celsius), but he once recorded someone walking on 1,800-degree (1,000 °C) coals.
Additionally, Jearl Walker
has postulated that walking over hot coals with wet feet may insulate the feet due to the Leidenfrost effect
.
Notably in 2002, twenty managers of the KFC
fast food chain in Australia
received treatment for burns caused by firewalking. However, this exercise in firewalking was practiced over timber, a more efficient heat conductor than charcoal.
Barefoot
Barefoot is the state of not wearing any footwear. Being barefoot is regarded as a human's natural state, though for functional, fashion and social reasons footwear is worn, at least on some occasions...
over a bed of hot ember
Ember
Embers are the glowing, hot coals made of greatly heated wood, coal, or other carbon-based material that remain after, or sometimes precede a fire. Embers can glow very hot, sometimes as hot as the fire which created them...
s or stones.
Firewalking has been practiced by many people and cultures in all parts of the world, with the earliest known reference dating back to Iron Age India
Iron Age India
Iron Age India, the Iron Age in the Indian subcontinent, succeeds the Late Harappan culture, also known as the last phase of the Indus Valley Tradition...
– c. 1200 BC. It is often used as a rite of passage
Rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. It is a universal phenomenon which can show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures....
, as a test of an individual's strength and courage, or in religion as a test of one's faith.
Today, it is often used in corporate and team-building seminars and self-help workshops as a confidence-building exercise. Firewalking implies the belief that the feat requires the aid of a supernatural force, strong faith, or on an individual's ability to focus on "mind over matter". Modern physics has largely debunked this however, showing that the amount of time the foot is in contact with the ground is not enough to induce a burn, combined with the fact that coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
is not a very good conductor of heat.
History
Firewalking is practiced- by the Sawau clan in the Fijian Islands ;
- by the followers of Shia sect in Islam on the 9th and 10th days of the MuharramMuharramMuharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year in which fighting is prohibited...
(First Month in the Islamic CalendarIslamic calendarThe Hijri calendar , also known as the Muslim calendar or Islamic calendar , is a lunar calendar consisting of 12 lunar months in a year of 354 or 355 days. It is used to date events in many Muslim countries , and used by Muslims everywhere to determine the proper day on which to celebrate Islamic...
), to mourn the death of Hussain Who was the son of Hazrat AliAli' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
and Sayyeda FatimaFatima-People:* Fatima , a female given name of Arabic origin* Fatima bint Muhammad, daughter of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad* Fatima Jinnah, the younger sister of Muhammad Ali Jinnah...
(The daughter of MuhammadMuhammadMuhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
) - by Eastern Orthodox ChristiansEastern Orthodox ChurchThe Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
in parts of GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
(see AnastenariaAnastenariaThe Anastenaria is a traditional fire-walking ritual performed in some villages in Northern Greece and Southern Bulgaria. The communities which celebrate this ritual are descended from refugees who entered Greece from Eastern Thrace following the Balkan Wars of 1911–12 and the exchange of...
) and BulgariaBulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
(see nestinarstvoNestinarstvoNestinarstvo is a ritual originally performed in several Bulgarian- and Greek-speaking villages in the Strandzha Mountains close to the Black Sea coast in the very southeast of Bulgaria. It involves a barefooted dance on smouldering embers performed by nestinari...
), during some popular religious feasts. - by fakirFakirThe fakir or faqir ; ) Derived from faqr is a Muslim Sufi ascetic in Middle East and South Asia. The Faqirs were wandering Dervishes teaching Islam and living on alms....
s and similar persons, - !Kung!Kung peopleThe ǃKung, also spelled ǃXun, are a Bushman people living in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Botswana and in Angola. They speak the ǃKung language, noted for using click consonants, generally classified as part of the Khoisan language family...
Bushmen of the African Kalahari desert have practiced firewalking since their tribal beginnings. (The !Kung use fire in their healing ceremonies.) - by (mainly) HinduHinduHindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
Indians in South AsiaSouth AsiaSouth Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
and their diaspora in South AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, Malaysia and SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
who celebrate the ThimithiThimithiThe Tīmiti or firewalking ceremony is a Hindu festival originating in Tamil Nadu, South India that is celebrated during the month of Aipasi of the Tamil calendar. This occurs between the Gregorian calendar months of October and November...
festival - by little girls in BaliBaliBali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
in a ceremony called Sanghyang dedari, in which the girls are said to be possessed by beneficent spirits. http://www.baliforyou.com/bali/sanghyang_dance.htm - by Japanese Taoists and Buddhists
- by some tribes in Pakistan as 'justice system', where the accused is asked to firewalk, if he does firewalk unharmed then he is considered innocent, otherwise guilty. http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/pakistan/2010/04/05/feature-02
- by tribes throughout PolynesiaPolynesiaPolynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
and documented in scientific journal (with pictures and chants) between 1893-1953. http://www.umuki.com/articles/Te_Umu_Ti_A_Raiatean_Ceremony.html http://www.umuki.com/articles/Firewalkers_of_the_South_Seas.html - in management seminarMotivational speakerA motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...
s and motivational seminarMotivational speakerA motivational speaker or inspirational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. In a business context, they are employed to communicate company strategy with clarity and help employees to see the future in a positive light and inspire workers to pull...
s as in the case of Blaze Firewalking, Alan Lowis, Peggy Dylan, Tolly BurkanTolly BurkanTolly Burkan, also known as Bruce Burkan, is a firewalking spokesman. He is the founder of the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education in Twain Harte, California and claims there are over three million firewalkers globally, including 3,000 instructors on six continents...
, Martin Sterling, Motivation In Business, Anthony Robbins, Stu Wilde, Fred Shadian, Charles Horton, Kevin Montes, Scott Bell, Vincent j Kellsey.
Walking on fire has existed for several thousand years, with records dating back to 1200 B.C. Cultures across the globe, from Greece to China, used firewalking for rites of healing, initiation, and faith. Firewalking became popular in America during the 1970s when author Tolly Burkan
Tolly Burkan
Tolly Burkan, also known as Bruce Burkan, is a firewalking spokesman. He is the founder of the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education in Twain Harte, California and claims there are over three million firewalkers globally, including 3,000 instructors on six continents...
began a campaign to demystify the practice. He offered evening firewalking courses that were open to anyone in the general public. The demand for firewalking classes became so great that in 1984 Burkan began training instructors. Recently, in the United States, firewalking is used by businesses to build teamwork and as a so-called alternative health remedy.
Explanation
When two bodies of different temperatures meet, the hotter body will cool off, and the cooler body will heat up, until they are separated or until they meet at a temperature in between. What that temperature is, and how quickly it is reached, depends on the thermodynamic properties of the two bodies. The important properties are temperatureTemperature
Temperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
, density
Density
The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity
Thermal conductivity
In physics, thermal conductivity, k, is the property of a material's ability to conduct heat. It appears primarily in Fourier's Law for heat conduction....
.
The square root of the product of thermal conductivity, density, and specific heat capacity is called thermal effusivity, and tells how much heat energy the body absorbs or releases in a certain amount of time per unit area when its surface is at a certain temperature. Since the heat taken in by the cooler body must be the same as the heat given by the hotter one, the surface temperature must lie closer to the temperature of the body with the greater thermal effusivity. The bodies in question here are human feet (which mainly consist of water) and burning coals.
Due to these properties, David Willey
David Willey
David G. Willey is a physics professor at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Applied Physics from Aston University and a Certificate in Education from Birmingham University...
, professor of physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, says he believes firewalking is explainable in terms of basic physics and is not supernatural or paranormal. However, he adds, "The 120 foot walk done by Sara Raintree and Jim Jarvis, and reports of longer walks and people remaining stationary for extended periods on the coals are currently under investigation by the author." Willey notes that most fire-walks occur on coals that measure about 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (550 degrees Celsius), but he once recorded someone walking on 1,800-degree (1,000 °C) coals.
Additionally, Jearl Walker
Jearl Walker
Jearl Walker is a physicist noted for his book Flying Circus of Physics, first published in 1975; the second edition was published in June 2006...
has postulated that walking over hot coals with wet feet may insulate the feet due to the Leidenfrost effect
Leidenfrost effect
The Leidenfrost effect is a phenomenon in which a liquid, in near contact with a mass significantly hotter than the liquid's boiling point, produces an insulating vapor layer which keeps that liquid from boiling rapidly...
.
Factors that prevent burning
- Factors that act together to prevent the foot from burning
- Water has a very high specific heat capacity (4.184 kJ/K kg), whereas coals have a very low one. Therefore the foot's temperatureTemperatureTemperature is a physical property of matter that quantitatively expresses the common notions of hot and cold. Objects of low temperature are cold, while various degrees of higher temperatures are referred to as warm or hot...
tends to change less than the coal's. - Water also has a high thermal conductivity, and on top of that, the rich blood flow in the foot will carry away the heat and spread it. On the other hand, coal has a poor thermal conductivity, so the hotter body consists only of the parts of the coal which are close to the foot.
- When the coal cools down, its temperature sinks below the flash pointFlash pointThe flash point of a volatile material is the lowest temperature at which it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in air. Measuring a flash point requires an ignition source...
, so it stops burning, and no new heat is generated. - Firewalkers do not spend very much time on the coals, and they keep moving.
- Calluses on the feet may offer an additional level of protection, even if only from pain; however, most people do not have calluses that would make any significant difference.
- Water has a very high specific heat capacity (4.184 kJ/K kg), whereas coals have a very low one. Therefore the foot's temperature
Risks when doing firewalking improperly
- There are risks when doing firewalking improperly
- People have burned their feet when they remained in the fire for too long, enabling the thermal conductivity of the coals to catch up.
- One is more likely to be burned when running through the coals since running pushes one's feet deeper into the embers, resulting in the top of the feet being burnt.
- Foreign objects in the coals may result in burns. Metal is especially dangerous since it has a high thermal conductivity.
- Coals which have not burned long enough can burn feet more quickly. Coals contain water, which increases their heat capacity as well as their thermal conductivity. The water must be evaporated already when the firewalk starts.
- Wet feet can cause coals to cling to them, increasing the exposure time.
Notably in 2002, twenty managers of the KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
fast food chain in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
received treatment for burns caused by firewalking. However, this exercise in firewalking was practiced over timber, a more efficient heat conductor than charcoal.
External links
- The Power of Belief (Video includes explanation of firewalking) from ABC NewsABC NewsABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
- Firewalking from Skeptic's DictionarySkeptic's DictionaryThe Skeptic's Dictionary is a collection of cross-referenced skeptical essays by Robert Todd Carroll, published on his website skepdic.com and in a printed book. The skepdic.com site was launched in 1994 and the book was published in 2003 with nearly 400 entries. As of January 2011 the website has...
- Can you walk on hot coals in bare feet and not get burned? from The Straight DopeStraight DopeThe Straight Dope is a popular question-and-answer newspaper column published in the Chicago Reader, syndicated in thirty newspapers in the United States and Canada, as well as being available and archived at the .-Newspapers:...
- The Physics and Fantasy of Firewalking - by Robert NovellaNew England Skeptical SocietyThe New England Skeptical Society is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting science and reason. It was originally founded in January 1996 as the Connecticut Skeptical Society...
- Medical view of firewalking from Ask Dr. Weil
- Why Fire Walking Doesn't Burn: Science or Spirituality? from National Geographic
- In the Quest of the Kahunas an article on firewalking