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The subject of this episode are people who are able to walk on fire without being injured. Throughout the running time we hear a variety of theories
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00:00Rivers of molten rock sieve beneath the earth's crust and erupt with unmatched awe-inspiring fury.
00:19Legend tells us that primitive man thought volcanoes must surely be the home of angry fire gods.
00:25Man, still in awe of fire, has learned to tame it.
00:31And yet around the world, a bizarre ritual persists.
00:38Man knowingly and willingly matches himself against the flames.
00:42Practiced in diverse cultures, embodied in several religions, the mysterious and ancient custom of fire walking has intrigued observers for hundreds of years.
00:59Two puzzling questions remain unanswered through the centuries.
01:04How did the custom originate?
01:06And what protects the fire walkers from being burned?
01:09Being burned.
01:10Turn back!
01:11How about you?
01:12Turn back!
01:13Roar
01:38You
01:40mountain village in northern Spain, a bed of fire has been prepared. Here, once each
01:49year, men bravely face the fire and cross it successfully. Outsiders, they say, are
01:56severely burned. What special powers guide these men on their perilous walk?
02:10This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. The
02:14producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanation, but not necessarily
02:18the only ones, to the mysteries we will examine.
02:27With awesome force and brutality, fire destroys all in its way.
02:40But historically, fire has also been a creative force, the bringer of warmth, comfort, security.
02:55Our early ancestors learned to use fire about 400,000 years ago. Imagine the first brave soul
03:02who approached the forest fire or volcano and captured the fearful, awesome giant. Suddenly,
03:09light and warmth were his, and with it, an easier, more settled life. But it would be many thousands
03:18of years before man would learn to make fire at will. This seemingly simple discovery marked the birth
03:24of civilization. When and where man began to walk on fire, perhaps to demonstrate his mastery over it,
03:33is unknown. In literature, we find fire walking in the Bible, and in Hindu records of the 6th century
03:40before Christ. It's likely the customs started far earlier.
03:49In the modern world, fire walking is surprisingly widespread. It crosses continental boundaries, cultural
03:56and religious heritage.
04:03There seems to be at least one common denominator that underlies all fire walking rituals.
04:08A fire walker is considered successful only if he emerges unburned, unscarred.
04:13How this is done is a mystery that has puzzled observers for centuries.
04:25I can keep my skin next to this flame for less than a second before I feel pain.
04:30A second or two longer, the skin would turn red and blister.
04:34Yet most fire walkers are in contact with searingly hot coals for much longer than I could possibly
04:40keep my finger in this flame.
04:43They seem to be able to turn off the physiological mechanism that causes burning.
04:47But how?
04:49Although some skeptics may claim there's a trick involved,
04:53a more convincing argument comes from experts investigating the powers of the mind.
04:58I have spent 18 months in India, Burma and parts of Tibet.
05:04And I've observed fire walking on two separate occasions.
05:08Psychologist Sidney Walter is president of the California State Hypnosis Association.
05:13And I'm fairly convinced, even though there's arguments pro and con,
05:17that it's a total state of disassociation.
05:20Disassociation simply means that a person allows himself to feel that he is somewhere else.
05:25Now look to your left there and notice that bowl of ice water with ice cubes floating in it.
05:30Place your left hand in it and tell me if you feel it's cold or whatever you feel.
05:34It's freezing.
05:36Now I know from our talks previously you enjoy the beach at Nice where you spend some time.
05:41You're going to completely disassociate yourself, disassociate yourself from this place and time.
05:47You're now at Nice, on the beach.
05:51Just let go, let go.
05:54No responsibilities, no obligations, no demands upon you.
05:58Disassociate yourself completely.
06:00No matter what I do, hold your hand and place it in water, whatever it is.
06:04After inducing a light hypnotic state, Dr. Walter helps his subject to disassociate.
06:09Concentrating on the beach scene. Your hands very limp.
06:11Concentrate on the beach scene. Keep concentrating on the beach scene. Concentrate on the beach scene. Keep concentrating on that beach scene. You feel very good.
06:23Under normal circumstances, the ice water would be tolerable for merely a few seconds.
06:28Totally disassociate now. You're at the beach.
06:31Gerard feels no discomfort whatsoever.
06:35His disassociation has turned off the experience of pain.
06:39To letter E. To letter E you could open your eyes, feeling very, very relaxed and comfortable.
06:45A, B, you are very comfortable. C, D, and E. You could open your eyes now.
06:58How's the water now, Gerard?
07:00It's cold. Still has ice cubes in it.
07:03I believe strongly that a person could withstand tremendous discomfort and pain if they have absolute belief they are comfortable.
07:13And I believe they could experience tremendous torment and pain if they have absolute belief they have it, even though it's not present.
07:20An absolute belief, an unquestionable belief, to me, is definitely a state of self-hypnosis.
07:26Can self-hypnosis, however, actually prevent burns and blisters?
07:30The remote village of San Pedro Manrique lies nestled in the hills of northwestern Spain.
07:37Here, each June, a dramatic nighttime fire walk is the highlight of a festival honoring a Catholic saint.
08:00Tonight, in response to a vow made to the Virgin, many of these young villagers will attempt to cross the blazing coals.
08:07The day-long festivities of St. John's Day are filled with both Christian and pre-Christian symbolism.
08:22The headdresses of bread in the shape of trees remind some anthropologists of the summer solstice fertility rites of pagan Europe.
08:33These ancient rites also included the building of bonfires and leaping through the flames.
08:52With the coming of Christianity to Spain, the name of the solstice celebration here was changed to St. John's Day.
08:59Fire walking occurs nowhere else in Europe except the Basque provinces of Spain and France and in the mountains of Macedonia in Greece.
09:08In Greece.
09:13And then it is night.
09:17The fire can now be made ready.
09:38Enthusiastic crowds pour into the plaza.
09:44Excitement and anticipation fill the night air.
09:51The fire bed is now searingly hot.
09:54In excess of a thousand degrees Fahrenheit.
09:57Five times the heat necessary to boil water.
09:59No one knows who will be the first to walk.
10:04Once he is chosen, a sense of danger, expectancy, grips onlookers and fire walkers alike.
10:13His success raises the spirits of those who will follow, though each faces the same danger.
10:28The Spanish fire walkers believe that the extra weight of a rider helps ensure success.
10:46But these deeply religious people firmly believe it is faith that actually protects them.
10:51If intense belief does induce a state of self-hypnosis, it is possible that this could bring about physiological changes and prevent burning.
11:04But there are those who believe the real answer lies in an even more mysterious realm of the human mind.
11:13India, land of ancient mysticism.
11:33It is to Eastern thought that many feel we must turn to solve the mystery of how man can walk on fire.
11:39In yoga, we can very definitely experience the existence of what we call the energy body.
11:50Ganja White is director of the Los Angeles Center for Yoga.
11:55He has achieved the title Yogi Raj, King of Yogis, and has personally walked the fire.
12:00We are not just this physical body.
12:12There are subtler and subtler energy forms animating the body, both physiologically speaking and psychically speaking.
12:19And these, the energy body itself corresponds actually physically to the shape of the physical body.
12:30And when walking on fire, what happens is this energy projects itself beyond the physical body for perhaps an inch, creating sort of an insulating effect between the body and the burning hot coals.
12:46Burning hot coals, and this protects one from injury.
12:51A special technique called Kirlian photography has enabled some investigators to photograph this energy, which is invisible to the naked eye.
13:00The aura or glow surrounding the finger is believed to be formed by the energy emitted from the body.
13:06Although the naked eye may be unable to see the energy, it is believed its powers can be easily demonstrated.
13:13Using two fingers each, the four people are unable to lift the 200-pound man.
13:19But according to yogic theory, this placement of the hands will awaken the energy bodies of all five people and bring them into alignment like a magnet, thereby increasing strength.
13:30Increasing strength.
13:31Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly, now lift.
13:35Whee!
13:37That was the best one.
13:39That was really good, wow!
13:41I know there's no trick involved.
13:43It works.
13:44How exactly it works is something we'll discover as we develop these new sciences.
13:51While Western scientists search for answers with special cameras, the Hindu fire walkers are satisfied that the true answer lies in faith.
14:03If one has sufficient faith in the god or goddess, one will be protected from burning.
14:10To the island of Bali in Indonesia, many elements of Hindu religion were brought by early migrants from India.
14:16In India, this man might be called a yogi.
14:23Here he is called a shaman, a priest.
14:26Many similarities exist between fire walking here and in India.
14:31Except for the coconut husks, which replace wood as the source of the fire.
14:35When illness strikes, the shaman will use his special powers to exorcise the disease from the village.
14:47This centuries-old rite requires that the shaman go into a deep trance.
15:07Trance states are a vital part of Balinese culture and religion.
15:24A whole repertoire of animal trances exists.
15:28In this ritual, the shaman carries a symbolic horse.
15:32The Balinese believe that the entranced man has literally become the horse.
15:36His own soul has temporarily left his body to be replaced by the soul of the horse.
15:41The glace of the horse.
15:43The glace of the ogre of the sea.
15:45And the rite of the sea.
16:16We've made a vow to the Hindu fire god Brahma.
16:19Only if he fulfills his vow to stamp out each blazing coal without being burned will the ritual be a success.
16:32Although after a time his feet become blackened from the charcoal, he remains totally unharmed.
16:46Come on.
16:47Y息, y息, y息, y息, y息, y息, y息.
17:17The last coal has died, his magical powers have prevailed, his vow has been fulfilled.
17:37There has got to be some kinds of explanations that have to do with another science, certainly nothing that we know about.
17:47And I think that other science is in the area of parapsychology.
17:52Dr. Gerald Feigen is a well-established San Francisco surgeon.
17:56Several years ago, while on a trip to the South Pacific, he participated in a firewalk ceremony.
18:04My feelings prior to the firewalk and during the six hours of preparation were rather kaleidoscopic.
18:11They go in and out into the occult, back to science.
18:15My background in science naturally would make me cautious and make me want to understand what was going to happen in this thing.
18:26Traditionally in Polynesia, the rocks are heated for two full days.
18:30When ready, the thousand-degree heat can be felt several yards away.
18:37I was standing away from the firewalk about 10 or 15 feet and watching the natives make their walk across.
18:46It seemed to me that the whole performance was extremely eloquent.
18:51Now, this is where I began to succumb to the entire metaphysical mood.
18:59In that silence, you could almost feel the eloquence of this dignified act of defiance,
19:06as if to defy all the great forces that have made man feel somewhat smaller than God.
19:14Things like volcanoes and rivers and mountains and so forth.
19:18And as they walked across, I began to feel that it was possible.
19:25I found myself bending down, taking off my socks, walking over to the priest.
19:34And I was conscious of a peculiar paradox.
19:37There was an intense heat from my knees upward, but my legs and feet felt cool.
19:44And when I stepped off the bed for that moment, I felt that I had had a brief challenge,
19:53not only by the mystic and striking forces of the universe, but also there was a slight tipping of the hat to death.
20:06What compels man to tempt death by braving the savage fire?
20:11The answer may well be as old as mankind itself.
20:16According to legend, fire walking in ancient times was practiced even more extensively than it is today.
20:27But no legend reveals the answer to the ultimate mystery.
20:30How and when did this bizarre custom begin?
20:34What could have compelled so many people at such far reaches of the world
20:38to pit themselves against one of nature's most awesome and terrifying elements?
20:43Although a definitive answer may never be found, there is a startling piece of evidence
20:48that points to a radical new explanation.
20:52A careful study of the locations where fire walking is done
20:56reveals an amazing correlation to the Earth's volcanic zones.
21:02Perhaps long before recorded history, and so long ago in geologic time
21:07that the geologic record has been buried,
21:10a cataclysmic eruption covered much of the Earth's surface with molten lava,
21:15killing thousands if not millions of people.
21:18Imagine the awesome panic of our ancestors trying to outrun the advancing fire,
21:24watching bodies disappear forever beneath the seething fury.
21:29To those who survived, managing to cross the lava safely,
21:33this must have seemed the world's greatest miracle.
21:36The gods of the Fire Mountains had spared them.
21:39In thanks, and as an expression of their devotion,
21:42the miracle would be reenacted ceremonially down over the centuries.
21:47The story passed along from parent to child,
21:50but a story from so far out of the past
21:53that its original meaning has been lost for all time,
21:56except in the hearts of men.
21:59Lost civilizations, extraterrestrials, myths and monsters,
22:12missing persons, magic and witchcraft, unexplained phenomena.
22:19In search of cameras are traveling the world seeking out these great mysteries.
22:23This program was the result of the work of scientists, researchers,
22:28and a group of highly skilled technicians.
22:30Music playing
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