Fires of Life

The Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. Burned bone and plant remains were found here evidencing controlled use of fire by early humans one million years ago. At the Swartkrans Cave in the Cradle of Humankind, strong indications were discovered of controlled fire use by hominoids dating back one and a half million years ago. It is not known exactly when our forebears tamed the use of fire; yet it remains one of the earliest inventions favoring the progress of mankind.

We may have evolved to enjoy being around fires because they were historically important means of fostering social cohesion. During the Stone Age, humans likely socialized around camp fires, a place where they felt a sense of calm and sociability. Today I find this emanating in different forms:

Beach Fire: As students we would light a fire on the beach at night. Often someone would have a guitar or we would make music with a portable cassette player. But soon the conversation and music became quiet and the group of students would sit staring into the late embers of the evening.

Bush Fire: The South African Bushveld is, as the name implies, is densely overgrown by shrubs, bushes and trees. Popular for camping, sitting by a fire at a campsite is a most serene and tranquil experience. Flames flickering up into the dark night sky with the sound of the night time bush around.

Fireplace: On many winter nights we sit at home in front of the welcome heat of an open fireplace. We talk about the day, about friends, general conversation that bonds a family. The logs softly crackling in the background envelops the family in a sense of togetherness and well-being.

A Braai: On an outside fire meat is cooked and prepared for a gathering of friends or family. The conversation around a braai is usually buoyant but so often you will find a group quietly staring into the fire – happy and content to do so.

Candles: There’s a reason candles are integral to religious and spiritual ceremonies the world over—the flame’s soft illumination touches the soul. Some may find they can achieve a meditative state more easily by focusing on candlelight than on a mantra. Candles bring a tranquil and restorative light to its environment and to the human psyche.

The act of gathering around a fire dates back to prehistoric times. Some argue that fire has been crucial to humanoid survival for around a million years and we have evolved psychological mechanisms to control it. Because many humans today no longer learn to start, maintain and control fire, we end up with a curious attraction to it.

In a peculiar TV show in Norway, an entire evening’s viewing was dedicated to wood cutting and the wood being burned in a stove. It attracted nearly one million viewers; 20% of the population. Perhaps the reason for this is that it has been found that watching a fire decreases blood pressure my as much as five percent. Watching a fire may reduce anxiety. When we are sitting at a fireside, all our senses become absorbed in the experience

Fire may have improved our ability to think about many things at once and relate them to one another, a sort of working memory enhancement. Focusing on a fire, particularly in the dark, first done by humans some 100 000 years ago, is a way to achieve a meditative state. Brain regions active in such a state overlap with those governing working memory. Good meditators evolved into good planners and thinkers and it may be that the most enduring tool that fire made might just be the advancement of the human mind.

Whatever the reasons, for millions of years and in may ways....

Fire gives life its fire.