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er which his light and heat were seen to grow till they attained their full maturity at midsummer。 Therefore it is no very far…fetched conjecture to suppose that the Yule log； which figures so prominently in the popular celebration of Christmas； was originally designed to help the labouring sun of midwinter to rekindle his seemingly expiring light。
Not only the date of some of the festivals but the manner of their celebration suggests a conscious imitation of the sun。 The custom of rolling a burning wheel down a hill； which is often observed at these ceremonies； might well pass for an imitation of the sun's course in the sky； and the imitation would be especially appropriate on Midsummer Day when the sun's annual declension begins。 Indeed the custom has been thus interpreted by some of those who have recorded it。 Not less graphic； it may be said； is the mimicry of his apparent revolution by swinging a burning tar…barrel round a pole。 Again； the common practice of throwing fiery discs； sometimes expressly said to be shaped like suns； into the air at the festivals may well be a piece of imitative magic。 In these； as in so many cases； the magic force may be supposed to take effect through mimicry or sympathy： by imitating the desired result you actually produce it： by counterfeiting the sun's progress through the heavens you really help the luminary to pursue his celestial journey with punctuality and despatch。 The name fire of heaven； by which the midsummer fire is sometimes popularly known； clearly implies a consciousness of a connexion between the earthly and the heavenly flame。
Again； the manner in which the fire appears to have been originally kindled on these occasions has been alleged in support of the view that it was intended to be a mock…sun。 As some scholars have perceived； it is highly probable that at the periodic festivals in former times fire was universally obtained by the friction of two pieces of wood。 It is still so procured in some places both at the Easter and the Midsummer festivals； and it is expressly said to have been formerly so procured at the Beltane celebration both in Scotland and Wales。 But what makes it nearly certain that this was once the invariable mode of kindling the fire at these periodic festivals is the analogy of the needfire； which has almost always been produced by the friction of wood； and sometimes by the revolution of a wheel。 It is a plausible conjecture that the wheel employed for this purpose represents the sun； and if the fires at the regularly recurring celebrations were formerly produced in the same way； it might be regarded as a confirmation of the view that they were originally sun…charms。 In point of fact there is； as Kuhn has indicated； some evidence to show that the midsummer fire was originally thus produced。 We have seen that many Hungarian swine…herds make fire on Midsummer Eve by rotating a wheel round a wooden axle wrapt in hemp； and that they drive their pigs through the fire thus made。 At Obermedlingen； in Swabia； the fire of heaven； as it was called； was made on St。 Vitus's Day （the fifteenth of June） by igniting a cart…wheel； which； smeared with pitch and plaited with straw； was fastened on a pole twelve feet high； the top of the pole being inserted in the nave of the wheel。 This fire was made on the summit of a mountain； and as the flame ascended； the people uttered a set form of words； with eyes and arms directed heavenward。 Here the fixing of a wheel on a pole and igniting it suggests that originally the fire was produced； as in the case of the need…fire； by the revolution of a wheel。 The day on which the ceremony takes place （the fifteenth of June） is near midsummer； and we have seen that in Masuren fire is； or used to be； actually made on Midsummer Day by turning a wheel rapidly about an oaken pole； though it is not said that the new fire so obtained is used to light a bonfire。 However； we must bear in mind that in all such cases the use of a wheel may be merely a mechanical device to facilitate the operation of fire…making by increasing the friction； it need not have any symbolical significance。
Further； the influence which these fires； whether periodic or occasional； are supposed to exert on the weather and vegetation may be cited in support of the view that they are sun…charms； since the effects ascribed to them resemble those of sunshine。 Thus； the French belief that in a rainy June the lighting of the midsummer bonfires will cause the rain to cease appears to assume that they can disperse the dark clouds and make the sun to break out in radiant glory； drying the wet earth and dripping trees。 Similarly the use of the need…fire by Swiss children on foggy days for the purpose of clearing away the mist may very naturally be interpreted as a sun…charm。 In the Vosges Mountains the people believe that the midsummer fires help to preserve the fruits of the earth and ensure good crops。 In Sweden the warmth or cold of the coming season is inferred from the direction in which the flames of the May Day bonfire are blown； if they blow to the south； it will be warm； if to the north； cold。 No doubt at present the direction of the flames is regarded merely as an augury of the weather； not as a mode of influencing it。 But we may be pretty sure that this is one of the cases in which magic has dwindled into divination。 So in the Eifel Mountains； when the smoke blows towards the corn…fields； this is an omen that the harvest will be abundant。 But the older view may have been not merely that the smoke and flames prognosticated； but that they actually produced an abundant harvest； the heat of the flames acting like sunshine on the corn。 Perhaps it was with this view that people in the Isle of Man lit fires to windward of their fields in order that the smoke might blow over them。 So in South Africa； about the month of April； the Matabeles light huge fires to the windward of their gardens； their idea being that the smoke； by passing over the crops； will assist the ripening of them。 Among the Zulus also medicine is burned on a fire placed to windward of the garden； the fumigation which the plants in consequence receive being held to improve the crop。 Again； the idea of our European peasants that the corn will grow well as far as the blaze of the bonfire is visible； may be interpreted as a remnant of the belief in the quickening and fertilising power of the bonfires。 The same belief； it may be argued； reappears in the notion that embers taken from the bonfires and inserted in the fields will promote the growth of the crops； and it may be thought to underlie the customs of sowing flax…seed in the direction in which the flames blow； of mixing the ashes of the bonfire with the seed…corn at sowing； of scattering the ashes by themselves over the field to fertilise it； and of incorporating a piece of the Yule log in the plough to make the seeds thrive。 The opinion that the flax or hemp will grow as high as the flames rise or the people leap over them belongs clearly to the same class of ideas。 Again； at Konz； on the banks of the Moselle； if the blazing wheel which was trundled down the hillside reached the river without being extinguished； this was hailed as a proof that the vintage