eapons edge upwards so as
to cut and mangle the poor wretches when they drop plump upon them from
the clouds.[874]

[On this view the fertility supposed to follow the use of fire results
indirectly from breaking the spells of witches.]

On this view the fertility supposed to follow the application of fire in
the form of bonfires, torches, discs, rolling wheels, and so forth, is
not conceived as resulting directly from an increase of solar heat which
the fire has magically generated; it is merely an indirect result
obtained by freeing the reproductive powers of plants and animals from
the fatal obstruction of witchcraft. And what is true of the
reproduction of plants and animals may hold good also of the fertility
of the human sexes. We have seen that the bonfires are supposed to
promote marriage and to procure offspring for childless couples. This
happy effect need not flow directly from any quickening or fertilizing
energy in the fire; it may follow indirectly from the power of the fire
to remove those obstacles which the spells of witches and wizards
notoriously present to the union of man and wife.[875]

[On the whole the theory of the purificatory or destructive intention of
the fire-festivals seems the more probable.]

On the whole, then, the theory of the purificatory virtue of the
ceremonial fires appears more probable and more in accordance with the
evidence than the opposing theory of their connexion with the sun. But
Europe is not the only part of the world where ceremonies of this sort
have been performed; elsewhere the passage through the flames or smoke
or over the glowing embers of a bonfire, which is the central feature of
most of the rites, has been employed as a cure or a preventive of
various ills. We have seen that the midsummer ritual of fire in Morocco
is practically identical with that of our European peasantry; and
customs more or less similar have been observed by many races in various
parts of the world. A consideration of some of them may help us to
decide between the conflicting claims of the two rival theories, which
explain the ceremonies as sun-charms or purifications respectively.

Notes:

[796] Above, pp. 116 _sq._, 119, 143, 165, 166, 168 _sq._, 172.

[797] Above, pp. 116, 117 _sq._, 119, 141, 143, 161, 162 _sq._, 163
_sq._, 173, 191, 201.

[798] W. Mannhardt, _Der Baumkultus der Germanen und ihrer
Nachbarstaemme_ (Berlin, 1875), pp. 521 _sqq._

[799] E. Westermarck, "Midsumme