Megan Make Fire!
Yesterday, I got to do something new and exciting in my life.
What was it, you anxiously inquire?
I GOT TO MAKE FIRE!!!!
Yes indeedy, one of the added bonuses of Episcopal worship is flaming things! [insert poor joke here.] These include thuribles!
See? It is, as I called it in my youth, a Swinging, Smoking Smelling thing. They are used most frequently in the more Orthodox churches (i.e. liturgically-inclined) to symbolize prayers rising to God, as in Psalm 134, and to sacralize certain spaces and things. It's an idea seen in other religious traditions as well; like Native American sage-burning or smudging, Chinese practices around ancestors, various Hindu traditions, etc. Old idea, different twist. Burn smoke, and set whatever it is apart, because intentionally lighting something on fire, and inhaling smoke is not something humans generally are inclined to do. Normally we avoid it like the plague.
As I have a horrid phobia of fire, this was actually not a pain-free experience for me. The closest I had ever gotten to one of these things was as an 8-year old boat bearer. Back then, my job was to trail obediently behind the thurifer, inhale large amounts of the incense, and pray that he or she would not get careless and whack me with it, or set me alight.
On Sunday, I showed up early, so I could be trained. My teacher was excellent, possibly the best teacher anyone could ever EVER have--he's a former RC monk, and extremely patient, and he's been smoke-slinging for years. The great secret is to use the wrist. It's all in the wrist. If you are waving your arm all around, you look like you're having a seizure, the Lamb is slain anew, and you're more likely to set a congregant on fire during the gospel procession. (my inference from his teaching.) In this way, the thurible is much like a giant yo-yo. Only super hot. And on fire. So don't fear the fire-pot, with its smelling, its smoking, the gunpowder-laced charcoal, and the incense gluing the whole damn thing together so as to make it nearly impossible to open--rather, give it the respect it deserves. But enjoy it. How many other traditions get to light crap on fire at every worship gathering and send the local fire chief into a panic?
What was it, you anxiously inquire?
I GOT TO MAKE FIRE!!!!
Yes indeedy, one of the added bonuses of Episcopal worship is flaming things! [insert poor joke here.] These include thuribles!
See? It is, as I called it in my youth, a Swinging, Smoking Smelling thing. They are used most frequently in the more Orthodox churches (i.e. liturgically-inclined) to symbolize prayers rising to God, as in Psalm 134, and to sacralize certain spaces and things. It's an idea seen in other religious traditions as well; like Native American sage-burning or smudging, Chinese practices around ancestors, various Hindu traditions, etc. Old idea, different twist. Burn smoke, and set whatever it is apart, because intentionally lighting something on fire, and inhaling smoke is not something humans generally are inclined to do. Normally we avoid it like the plague. As I have a horrid phobia of fire, this was actually not a pain-free experience for me. The closest I had ever gotten to one of these things was as an 8-year old boat bearer. Back then, my job was to trail obediently behind the thurifer, inhale large amounts of the incense, and pray that he or she would not get careless and whack me with it, or set me alight.
On Sunday, I showed up early, so I could be trained. My teacher was excellent, possibly the best teacher anyone could ever EVER have--he's a former RC monk, and extremely patient, and he's been smoke-slinging for years. The great secret is to use the wrist. It's all in the wrist. If you are waving your arm all around, you look like you're having a seizure, the Lamb is slain anew, and you're more likely to set a congregant on fire during the gospel procession. (my inference from his teaching.) In this way, the thurible is much like a giant yo-yo. Only super hot. And on fire. So don't fear the fire-pot, with its smelling, its smoking, the gunpowder-laced charcoal, and the incense gluing the whole damn thing together so as to make it nearly impossible to open--rather, give it the respect it deserves. But enjoy it. How many other traditions get to light crap on fire at every worship gathering and send the local fire chief into a panic?
posted by Dajjimeg at
4:33 PM
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