ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Lifestyle: Fire walking - face the fear and do it anyway

Updated on May 18, 2014
Firewalking ritual
Firewalking ritual | Source

While walking on air may not be something that can be seen every day, firewalking is an ancient tradition that has been gathering pace since the 1990s. The firewalking practice began as religious ritual for shamans, priests and rite celebrants many centuries ago and is also a healing ceremony.

Early history of firewalking

The earliest reference to firewalking dates back to 1200BC and occurred in India when two Brahmin priests competed to see who could walk the furthest. In Roman times, people were exempted from paying taxes if they could show that they could walk on fire without burning. While in Africa the Kung bushmen used fire dances as a tribal healing ritual, which included walking and rolling on the fire. A coming of age ritual for seven-year-old girls in Bali is a ritual fire dancing ceremony. From the ancient Greeks, to the Kahunas of Hawaii, and with rites in Argentina, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore,Trinidad and other far-flung corners of the globe, firewalking ceremonies have a long history.

Global firewalking movement

A global firewalking movement was started by Tolly Burkan in 1977 and began to grow in popularity, following a “how to” guide published in an edition of Scientific American. Burkan’s research into firewalking revealed that although there was no definitive theory on firewalking, there was also no scientific agreement as to why firewalkers received no burns from the red-hot embers. From 1979 onwards, Burkan began to offer firewalking classes in an attempt to study the experiences further and offering his students a personal growth opportunity. He managed to persuade his students that firewalking was safe and that walking on coals with temperatures in excess of 1200˚F would cause no harm. Many of Burkan’s students now state that their firewalking experiences gave them a “radical transformation in consciousness” that had changed “their lives forever.”

Face the fear....
Face the fear.... | Source

Firewalking after the 1980s

From 1982 onwards Burkan’s stated aim was to create a “global firewalking movement.” His protégé Tony Robbins became adept at generating publicity for the movement and by 1984 Robbins’ classes were connecting with hundreds of firewalking students.

By the end of 1984 Burkan had begun to train firewalk instructors, with a view to utilising the firewalk as a challenge to overcome limiting beliefs and fears in all areas of life. By the beginning of 1985, Burkan had streamlined the firewalk instructor course to a one-week session that involved carrying out firewalks at least once a day. By the early 1990s Burkan’s dream had become reality as corporate bodies began to perceive that firewalking would inspire their employees’ creativity and open higher horizons. Throughout the decade Burkan and his wife trained more than 1,000 firewalking instructors, via the Sundoor Foundation and the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education (FIRE). By 2006 firewalking had become so ensconced into mainstream culture that the US military contacted Burkan to discuss adding firewalking into the Basic Training regime.

Firewalking for self realisation

For Burkan the dream has now become a reality, firewalking is a recognised tool to use towards self-realisation and empowerment and his vision of a global firewalking movement is becoming more and more prevalent.

Source

© 2014 Dawn Denmar

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)