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FIRB DANCING IN GREECR
Dr. Vittoria Manganas*
Athens, Greece
All over the world there are some people who have the
exceptional capacity to dance, walk or even stand unharmed
on burning coals. This feat must not be confused with shows
organized as tourist attractions which can easily be spotted
as frauds. In Northern Greece there are a few small towns
where Anastenarides, as fire dancers are called, gather
every May 21 to dance on burning coals for three consecutive
evenings. Anastenarides live in nearby villages or cities
and are feared, admired and generally tolerated by their
neighbors, but excommunicated by the church as heretics.
They are normal family people, mostly simple workers of low
educational level. They consider themselves healers of all
the community.
Before confronting the fire, they prepare themselves
all day long in the house of their leader, dancing to the
sound of monotonous, primitive and "highly suggestive music.
But the basic preparation takes years, and more specifically
begins about a month before the celebration with strict
adherence to moral principles, moderate food intake
(generally without meat) and abstinence from sex. The
ritual dancing takes place over burning coals spread over a
circular area of about 4 to 8 meters, until all the coals
are reduced to ashes: the temperature of the coals at the
perimeter is 2200C, at the center it reaches 450oC [2,91.
Following a close study of Anastenarides for two
consecutive years, the following remarks are offered:
- They are not in a state of hypnosis or trance since
they are able to answer to the slightest external
stimuli and generally are very irritable;
- Although they do not have the technical knowledge, they
have achieved some kind of self -regulation, similar to
The paper was originally presented at the Symposium of
Radiaesthesia and Bioenergotherapy in Warsaw, September 24-
25, 1983.
autogenic training, that enables them to have greater
control over body functions than usual;
- They reinforce this before the fire dance by means of
rituals, special day-long dancing (always to the same
music), and group dynamic techniques. The latter are
very interesting from the psychologist's point of view.
In the preparatory stage, they enact in a kind of
psychodrama, all their personal and minority-group
conflicts and problems, reaching a highly charged
emotional state in which anger is one of the strongest
components. Thus the fire to be conquered is the
symbol of everything that is evil. By triumphing over
the fire with the help of Saints Constantine and Helen
(celebrated on May 21) they reach a catharsis for
themselves and for all the community. This also means
good health, rich harvest and future protection from
calamities. The group offers the enhancement of self-
suggestion and support in overcoming fear of the fire.
The C3 crucial point is the absolute faith in the
possibility of doing it. Greek, Philtppinos,
Mohammedans, and Indian fire dancers use different
kinds of religious faiths to achieve the strength of
absolute belief.
In this context, the firewalking experiments of the
Soviet Valery Avdeyev are very important and enlightening.
In a press interview he explained that he had trained
himself in self-regulation techniques and was able to walk
unharmed over a big bonfire, when the thought and the will
to overcome it "consumed all" of him. On another occasion,
when he could not enter into the proper state of mind, he
was burned [3]. We can see that the common points between
the Anastenarides and the Soviet firewalker are the
previously achieved capacity of some kind of self control
and the absolute belief in being able to do it.
Anasteriarides have been subjected to almost all current
medical an6 ps,,rchiatric tests, even injections of endorphin
antagonists, without conclusive results [1,2,41. In this
study high-frequency photography was used as in previous
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psychiatri -regearch, because of its potential for revealing
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December 1983 PSI RESEARCH
bioenergetic states and changes in living organisms 15,6].
Kirlian photographs of hands and feet of Anastenarides
(total 11 subjects) were taken during preparation, fire
dancing and everyday life (after 3 months) on Kodak
Ektachrome T slides lOxl2 cm and 13xl8 cm. The images were
compared with those of special states, such as hypnosis,
yogic meditation and autogenic training (AT), bef ore and
during these states. In all the above conditions, including
f ire dancing, an increase of the corona discharge can be
observed, compared to the corresponding rest conditions, as
is to be expected if the assumption that they all imply an
increase of the bioenergy field is correct. In the high-
frequency images of the hands during fire dancing a pattern
similar to those of intense emotional arousal is seen,
different from the color and pattern of relaxation states
(hypnosis, yoga, AT). The Kirlian photos of the feet show a
remarkable increase of the length and density of the
streamers and sparks of different colors. This is not
dependent on the mechanical act of dancing, since the same
image was given while at rest.
At this point I would like to express the hypothesis
that in firewal1king not oniy there is an increase of bio--@
energy as in other special states, but that a kind of bio-
energetic protective shield is formed. Victor Inyushin and
Alexander Romen postulate that, in special extreme condi-
tioris, man can display exceptional capacities by increasing
(voluntarily or not) his amount of "biological plasma," as
can be seen in a high-frequency field [7,81. In the case of
fire dancers, the "bioplasma!' protects from bun-is because
the charged particles or free electrons that form it produce
a state of superconductivity of the skin [9,101.
What is remarkable is the fact that the soles of
Anastenarides during fire dancing are paradoxically cool and
dry. It is also well known that they never go into the f ire
unless they feel ready. Some refer to this feeling of
readiness as "the call!' f rom the saint, others as a special
feeling like being pushed, ie., from the nearby wall or the
f loor. Could it be that subliminal information about the
completion of a protective energetic shield reaches the
consciousness?
This study is far from complete. Fire dancing is
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tangible proof that the range of psychophysical potential of
man is much wider than officially believed. It should be
investigated with a scientific mind and all the means at our
disposal.
FU-_f erences
1. Ballis, T., Beaumanoir, A., & Xenakis, C_ "Anastenarial"
Hellenic Armed Force Medical Review, Vol. 13 (1979), P.
2.
2. Xenakis, C., Larbig, W., & Tsarouchas, E. "Zur Psycbo-
physiologie des Feuerlaufers," Arch. Psychiatr.
Nervenkr , Vol. 223 (1977).
3. Maisyuk, A. "Know Yourself," Psi Research, Vol. 2, No. I
(Mlarch 1983), pp. 106-109 [translated from Tekhnika-
Molodezhi, Moscow, No. 9, 1982].
4. Xenakis, C., & Holtman, W. "Zur Psychophysiologie des
Feuerlaufers," Arch. Psychiatr. Nervenkr., Vol. 227
(1979).
5. 14anganas, V., & Zachariades, N. "Corona Discharge Photo-
graphy in Psychiatry," Psychoenerge tics: The Journal of
Psychophysical Systems, Vol. 4 (1982).
6. Manganas, V., & Zachariades, N. "Corona Discharge Photo-
graphy as a Mean of Early Assessment in Psychiatry,"
Proceedings of World Con@ress on Medical Physics,
Hamburg (1982).
7. Adamenko, V.G. "Electrodynamics of Living Systems,"
International Journal of Paraphysics, Vol. 4, No. 4
(1970).
8. Inyushin, V.M., & Chekurov, P. Biostimulation Through
Laser Radiation and Bioplasma (Alma-Ata: Kazakhstan,
1975).
9. Katkov, A. "Autosuggestion and Bioplasma," Inter-
national Journal of Paraphysics, Vol. 15, Nos. 1/2
(198i), pp. 20-23*
10. Romen, A.S. Self-Suggestion and its Inf luence on the
Human Organism, A.J. Lewis & V.F. Forsky, eds. (Armonk,
NY: M.F. Sharp, 1981).
13-t5 A. Nletaxa St.
106 81 Athens, Creece
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