Fijian firewalkers skip barefoot over red-hot stones

Press, 25 July 1989, Page 36

Fijian firewalkers skip barefoot over red-hot stones

By

SUSAN KUROSAWA

Fiji is a place rich in legend and folklore but the frantic preoccupation of some visitors with acquiring a dazzling suntan and haunting the duty-free shops often means that many aspects of the fascinating Fijian culture remain undiscovered to holidaymakers.

One facet that is becoming more accessible as part of a holiday programme is the ancient ritual of firewalking. Most of the resort hotels on the main island of Viti Levu provide firewalking ceremonies as part of their guest activities programmes. These presentations last about 45 minutes and are often followed by a Fijian-style feast (lovo) and kava ceremony.

The firewalking ceremony is steeped in tradition and is said to have originated many ytears ago when the Sawau tribe lived in the village of Navaleisese on the Fijian island of Beqa. One of the villagers caught an eel early one morning in a muddy pool. The eel was a spirit who offered the man many gifts but the villager declined until the eel spirit said, “If you let me go, I will give you the gift of being safe from extreme heat.” The villager agreed and to this day, the Sawau tribespeople have been able to walk on white-hot stones. Today, some of the Yanuca and Korovisilou people, as well as those of Beqa, perform the firewalking ritual as intermarriage has scattered the direct descendents of the Sawau tribe.

The ceremony is surrounded by many strict customs. For two weeks before the firewalking takes place, participants must refrain from sex and eating food containing coconut. (Try to work out that connection!) Pregnant women are not permitted to join in the ceremony.

The actual firewalking takes place across a pit measuring about three metres in diameter and half a metre in depth. The fire has been burning for five or six hours when the participants, dressed in grass skirts and headdresses of dried leaves, step on to the smouldering stones. A group of musicians play on primitive instruments and chant throughout the proceedings, and the priest, or bete, directs the firewalkers and the helpers who attend the fire.

When all the participants have completed their walk across the stones, they cheerfully sit in front of the audience with their soles upturned for inspection. Not a blister or a burn to be seen!

The firewalking ceremony provides a valuable glimpse of Fijian folklore and it has lost none of its significance or sacredness by becoming a “tourist attraction.” Firewalking also presents a strong incentive for visitors to seek out more of the heritage of these friendly South Pacific isles.