Many of the natural environments of our planet are dependent on the cleansing and purifying aspects of fire. Fire produces nutrients more quickly than decay, many pine cones require the heat of a fire to pop open to free their seeds, grasslands burn to get rid of the stubble which shades and crowds new life, and birds like the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker thrive only in areas regularly burned. The Native Americans used fire to herd deer and bison and kept grasslands green by burning young trees and dead grass. Many scientists believe it was the Indian's fire stick and lightening which shaped the American landscape as it emerged from the last Ice Age. Just as the planet requires fire for renewal so does the human spirit, as we are always intrinsically connected with this earth from which we grew.
Fire worship is as old as the human race.
According to one North American Indian legend, fire was first sparked by buffalo hooves thundering across the plains. The Maoris of New Zealand believe it was a gift from a god's blind grandmother, who drew it from her fingernails by magic. In the legends of the Huachipayri Indians of the Amazon basin in Peru, fire was brought by a woodpecker. They still call his name and imitate his call when making fire with fire sticks in their ceremonies. Recent evidence suggests that Australopithecus controlled fire nearly a million and half years ago.