Angelika's Fire-Lighting Ceremony

How to light a fire

Burning a pile of dead branches at Evergreen a few years ago. The flaming dragon head was startling!

Seven years ago, while holidaying in France, I stayed at Angelika’s house. The evening turned chilly, so she lit the fire. I wrote a blog to commemorate that event, and this cold, wet winter we’re experiencing now on the south coast of Western Australia brought this event back to mind. I thought I’d share it again.

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 How do you light a fire?

The local firefighters use drip torches.

Our neighbour uses firelighters.

Rob lights the lounge room fire with several matches and half a newspaper scrunched into balls.

Angelika lights her fire with ceremony.

It’s autumn and we’re in the south of France at Angelika’s house. On previous evenings we sat outside in the courtyard for dinner under mild skies and a half moon. But this evening there is a sudden drop in temperature. The wind blows cold and hard, chilling our cheeks and extinguishing the candles on the table. Leaves scudder across the paving and the bay tree rustles a warning. We grab glasses and plates and dash inside.

As it’s almost as cold indoors as out, Angelika decides to light the fire. I offer to help. I’m sure she doesn’t own a drip torch, so I ask where she keeps her firelighters and matches and offer to scrunch up sheets of newspaper.

But Angelika tells me she can’t stand the smell of firelighters and never buys newspapers. She has, she says politely but firmly, her own method that works every time. She tells me to sit down and learn, so I meekly join the three dogs, two cats and other house guests on the couch and watch.

Angelika goes outside and gathers a handful of dried leaves and bark, skinny sticks and twigs, and a couple of pieces of pale wood, like pine. She kneels at the old stone fireplace like a supplicant and arranges these objects, slowly and carefully, one atop the other, according to size. The final shape is a pyramid.

Angelika's neat pyramid arrangement of twigs, sticks and small pieces of light wood.

 Angelika strikes only one match. Protecting it from sudden drafts by an encircling palm, she presses the tiny flame to the driest piece of tinder at the bottom of the pile.

Ten pairs of mesmerized eyes – dog, cat and human – watch the spectacle, like initiates hoping to witness a miracle.

We hold our breath.

Will this simple, ancient technique work?

A slight hiss, a flash of orange, a puff of grey smoke. Soft crackling. A faint whoosh as the updraft comes into play. Within seconds the whole pyramid is burning merrily.

Angelika's fire ablaze.

 Then, with gentle precision, Angelika places a heavy log on top, ensuring a lasting blaze.

I’ve often thought I should attend a Japanese Tea Ceremony as a way of quieting my soul. But the urge has left me now that I’ve attended Angelika’s Fire Lighting Ceremony.

The grace, respect and tranquillity with which she lit that fire has quieted my soul many times over the past seven years.

With love, Marlane