Strange Ceremony in
p. 11 · Read in the full issue
Fire-Walkers
Strange Ceremony in Fiji
rE annual festival of Maha Mari the Goddess was celebrated at Veisaru, Ba, in Fiji, on May 17 and 18.
There was an exceptionally large gather ing of 2,000 people.
On Sunday morning, the fire-walking ceremony took place before a record crowd. There were some 40 to 50 Euro pean residents present.
Fire-walking is one of the most mys terious of native ceremonies. Many people have tried to explain it—but the fact remains that certain natives can walk barefoot over white-hot stones without apparent injury.
Thus Dr. Lambert (who lived for many years in Fiji) in a book, “A Yankee Doctor in Paradise”, just published: “Before these show's became popular features for tourist ships and visiting royalty, I saw them dozens of times on their native ground. There have been any number of scientific treatises writ ten to account for the phenomenon of bare native feet which remain un scorched after contact with burning stones. As a physician, I have studied the condition of the fire-walkers before and after the ordeal, and I have always gone away with the feeling that I have seen a miracle.”