The Sacred Hearth Fire has been slowly smouldering this year, as my attention has been elsewhere, but the passion is still here, and was re-invigorated this weekend at the Erti Suli camp where we communally welcomed the ancestral fire using the fire churn, which was a playful yet profound and deep experience. I've also been helping my friend Tom on Nomad - A journey with Purpose integrating my approach to fire , so there a few things going on and more sparks may ignite over the next year.....

An interesting article by Stephen Corry
www.theelephant.info/culture/2019/04/19/the-forgotten-history-of-fire-and-the-tribal-wisdom-that-changed-the-world/

Today, after quite an absence I decided to pick up the Hand Drill again. Since it has been a while (a couple of months), my hands and muscles weren't very conditioned. I decided to use thumb loops. Thumb loops are basically an aid to the hand drill to prevent your hands from moving down the spindle. I use very simple thumb loops by tying a loop in each end of a piece of cordage (this is Jute) and tying the cordage around the top of the spindle. You do want each loop to hang at least 6 inches , otherwise I find it restricts movement of your hands.
You place each thumb through a loop and then rotate the spindle between your hands, as per usual for hand drilling, applying downward pressure as you spin. The thumb loops keep your hands in the same position.

It can take a bit of trial and error to get the knack of it and there have been times when I've  found it easier without! It is a much under-used aid within the bushcraft community, I think a lot of people frown on it as cheating but for me it is just another aid, and you still need to learn and understand the principles of the hand drill to succeed with it. I do prefer to be able to Hand Drill without Thumb Loops but at times it can be a useful tool in the box, and can aid learning and aid in conditioning your hands\muscles (as you can usually go for longer as thumb loops are not as tiring as moving your hands up and down the spindle.)

 Over the last couple of years I've tried to honour the New Year with a new fire, which is a tradition dating 1000s of years. The Aztec New Fire Ceremony was a ceremony performed once every 52 years, and (apparently) a new fire would be lit through friction by the priest performing hand drill on top of the person being sacrificed! I left that bit out this year :) So on this New Year's Day after a lovely family day out , I declared on the return trip that I was going to honour the New Year with a fire  and everyone was welcome to join me. The lure of sofa's and TV was far too tempting for this tired lot (it had been a late New Years Eve), so I ventured out into the back woods feeling a tad tired and nursing a hangover and I started to attempt to tease the embryonic fire out of the wood. I started with the Fire Churn (a traditional Celtic method apparently), but after a while and lots of heavy pulling it collapsed. I was already starting to feel a tad worse for wear (cold sweats etc.)  at this point but I then went onto the bow drill and after several attempts and different hearth boards, and me getting more and more tired and the dark coming in, I decided to stop. So this New Year it would be a Dark Hearth. In the Aztec culture this would mean the end of the world was nigh! But nah. For me, it's not doom and gloom, but something can be learnt from this dark hearth, lessons can be learnt from the darkness! Things aren't always easy, you don't always get what you want first time, and sometimes it's just not to be and also I was alone in the wood with my family tucked up in the house, so I thought " nah this is not the way this should be done, it should be more of a communal honouring, time to go in and rest my weary bones with the clan."

It's quite uncommon that I can't light a fire with friction methods so rather than struggle on or revert to modern methods I took it as a sign that this wasn't the right time, and I'm sure the right time for relighting the hearth fire will present itself in due course!

Happy 2019!

Updated Oct 2018.
As the end of October is approaching, I thought I would share a piece about Samhain (Samhuinn) and the Samhain fires and in particular Force Fire \ Neid Fire \ Tein'-éigin  - which was a traditional way of lighting a new sacred pure fire, at this time (and at Beltaine.)

"Samhain is the Gaelic \ Celtic festival seen to mark the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the "darker half" of the year, celebrated from the very beginning of one Celtic day to its end, or in the modern calendar, from sunset on 31 October to sunset on 1 November, this places it about halfway between the Autumn equinox and the Winter solstice" taken from wikipedia.

"The 31st is the modern calendar date for Samhuinn. In old calendar times Samhuinn would be around the 11th of November, now Martinmas. Although in reality, it would have been when the moon was dark or other calendar event such as the first frost or when the harvest was in. The date wouldn’t have been set. Banks suggest that the eve of Samhuinn was moonless and in these northern regions, dark, as befitted the “season of innumerable mystic rites” mentioned by Carmichael (which backs up the idea of a dark moon). " from Cailleachs Herbarium.

Samhain is also seen as a time to remember and honour the ancestors.
"Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times. Some Neolithic passage tombs in Ireland are aligned with the sunrise around the time of Samhain. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and many important events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain. It was also the time when cattle were brought back down from the summer pastures and when livestock were slaughtered for the winter."  taken from wikipedia.

Descriptions I’ve read say that this method, produced fierce sparks and “forced” a fire, but I feel this is an over dramatization (Oak doesn’t have the properties to burst into flame in this way!) but there would have been much smoke ( and in reality it would hopefully have created a very large ember which could then be used to light the new pure fire. Once lit ,the pure fire would be kept going until the end of the ritual. Other fires in prominent places may also have been lit from this fire, and people would then light their home hearth fire from the "pure" fire.

Some people may question whether Oak was used, but I have proved that Oak does work with the bow drill.

 Oh this is good... I think this may be the oldest surviving evidence of friction fire. Apparently a 6000 year old wooden Fire Drill was discovered in Canada (Triquet Island , BC) in 2016. Click here for an article in The Vancouver Sun which is showing a photograph of the ancient spindle, but it is lacking information which is surprising as this is quite a find! For me , this is fascinating - the oldest fire drills I am aware of are from China (approx 4500 yo) and Egypt (approx 4000 yo).

There is this paper I have found by Alisha Gauvreau and Dr Duncan McLaren from the Anthropology Department, University of Victoria (B.C) working on the Hakai Ancient Landscapes Archaeology Project  - which states that the "Fire Drill" was found in the peat layer which is between 6,726 and 6,674 years old but that's it! I'm surprised there isn't more information on it as it is an amazing find!

 I'm trying to find archaeological reports for the Triquet Fire Drill but I've not found any yet .... but I'm enquiring with the Hakai Institute - watch this space!

It also raises more questions, such as:

• Has there been carbon dating on the fire drill?
• What species of wood is the drill?
• Is their evidence that it is a fire drill e.g. charring at the end ?
• They refer to the artifact as a hand drill - what is the evidence that it is a hand drill rather than another type of friction method e.g. bow drill spindle. Typically the Bow Drill was more prevalent in the North of the American Continent rather than the Hand Drill 
• From the photograph it looks like it is approx 10inches in length, and it is tapered which seems quite odd for a Hand Drill -  it is 6000 years old so it could just be a fragment of a larger piece and some rotting may have taken place. To me, it does look like it could be a bow drill spindle (but that's just me guessing!) - knowing the species of wood would help.

The Ancient Triquet Village is one of the oldest settlements discovered in North America (approx 14000 years old) and I found this statement fascinating “It appears we had people sitting in one area making stone tools beside evidence of a fire pit, what we are calling a bean-shaped hearth” (Alisha Gauvreau) .. re-affirming the fire being central to human activity.

The other amazing thing about this is that the team based their search on oral stories passed down through generations that this Island had been populated during the Ice Age which alot of people discounted. 
​
Link to the article:
https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/heiltsuk-first-nation-village-among-oldest-in-north-america-archeologists

Autumn is here! A great time to get out in nature and harvest materials for friction fire!
A key part of friction fire, is identifying and collecting suitable materials. Some people pride themselves on gathering the materials on the spot in the wild and others prefer to collect their's in advance (or a bit of both.) It does help to learn about what works and identification of species (handy pocket guides are useful.) It's also useful to understand burning qualities of wood - what burns quickly, slowly, smokes etc (see knowing-your-firewood.html.)

I've also found that I'm always on the lookout for materials, and sometimes I find them in unexpected places such as car parks. So even if you live in a city, you'll be surprised at what you can find in often unusual places. I am lucky to live near to amazing open green spaces that have diverse habitats including woodland, meadows, rivers, and ponds, which provide me with everything I need. Unfortunately this year, 2018, Bristol Council have started being more brutal in cutting vegetation back so I'm having to hunt out certain materials including Rosebay!

​Where possible I prefer to use materials native and local to where I am.

Please do forage with responsibility and put nature before your needs!

It is best to collect dead standing\fallen wood as this is best for friction fire rather than cut green wood. If you need to cut green wood (e.g. Elder spindles)  try to only cut a couple from one tree, use a diagonal  clean cut (do not snap) and don't cut flush to the branch it is sprouting from. 

For plants (e.g. teasel and mullein) you'll need to wait until Autumn once they have seeded before you can  cut (they won't season like wood anyway) and if they still have seeds then shake them to scatter the seeds and cut the seed heads off in situ.

It's always wise to use discretion (especially in public places) and don't take too much at a time.

Here are some materials which work really well for me:

Bow Drill Spindles

• Hazel &Willow - there is lots and lots of hazel in my local woods, and it tends to grows straight this so this is what I commonly use.

Bow Drill Hearth boards

• Ivy - Ivy tends to soaks up moisture\water (even when dead) so it is best to strip the bark and carve into boards first then dry and store for future use, otherwise it tends to rot.
• Hazel, Lime, Willow, Poplar (to name a few) - again if you carve into boards first, then they will dry out quicker.

Hand Drill Spindles
It is best to select the straightest possible rather then trying to straighten out. If they are still a little wonky then straighten and tie to a broom handle, using elastic bands etc, while still green and drying.

• Elder - best to cut green and season - it is hard to find dead standing Elder as it usually goes punky quite quickly. Elder will season quickly though (in a couple of days if in a warm place or hours if next to a fire etc.)
• Teasel & Mullein - best to collect in Autumn - cut from the bottom and cut off the seed heads and shake and leave the seed heads in-situ. Wear gloves with Teasel as they have thorns (you need to scrape these off with a knife.)
• Cat tail (bulrush) , broad leaved Dock, Ragwort, Burdock - I haven't tried these yet. Again, collect these, once they've started dying off.
• Willow 

Hand Drill Hearth board

• Wild Clematis (Clematis Vitalba\Old Man's Beard\Traveller's Joy) - wild clematis looks like Tarzan vines hanging from the trees. It can be quite difficult to find in some parts of the country, but is quite prevalent in the South of England. Like Ivy, it's best to carve into hearthboards then dry and store.
• Ivy and Willow is also supposed to work well

​Note: Ivy and Clematis don't have a grain so they don't split well so it's best to carve.

Tinder - most tinder materials are best collected dead and dry it out.

• Rosebay  Willowherb seed heads are fantastic for tinder, for extending the ember. Willowherb tends to be very common in the UK and starts seeding in mid to late Summer - collect the fluffy seed heads and throngs. Try to find Rosebay rather than other types of Willowherb as it's easier to collect Rosebay seed heads as they all grow at the top of the plant.
• Thistle seed heads (very common!) - again for lining tinder nests. Thistles start to seed in mid to late summer.
• Dead dry grass - loads of it in meadows (as long as your council haven't cut early!)  You need to collect it dead yellow, rather than green.
• Clematis bark - collect the bark which is falling off the vine and you need to buff it up and separate it out for the tinder next. It works really well.
• King Alfred Cakes fungus  (grows on dead ash) - you need to collect these when they are black (dead), not brown (alive.) These act like coals and you only need a small spark\ember to light one so useful to have a couple of these, just in case.  You can then place your tinder ontop of the fungus, and blow on it.
• Bracken - One of my favourite tinder materials is bracken and it's best to collect it when it's died off in late Autumn. I collect sack fulls (but only where it's plentiful.) Snap the bracken - don't pull out by the root as it propagates from the rhizomes (roots). Wear gloves as dead bracken can rip your hands to shreds! Collect the stalks and leaves, as it all burns very well.

Cordage 

• Stinging Nettles - Wait until late Summer\early Autumn when the Nettles are at their tallest, and wear gloves! Again cut the nettle at the base of the stalk, rather than pulling out.
• Willow and Lime bark - I've not collected or tried this yet. One for the to do list.

Jon's Bushcraft has good articles on collecting and processing Nettles, Willow and Lime for cordage.

Store everything away dry and in a dry place.
And keep those eyes peeled, it's amazing where you can find materials!
Caution-Ticks! Also be aware of ticks (which can pass on Lymes disease.) If you are in places frequented by Deer (especially if in long grass \ bracken) then check yourselves thoroughly (and best to wear long socks, long sleeves, trousers etc) and use Tick removal tools to remove any as soon as possible.
​
Happy responsible foraging!

​I am passionate about natural cordage and I feel that too much synthetic cordage is used within modern bushcraft for the bowdrill. Personally, I feel it is a bit of a cheat and you may as well use a lighter! (shock horror!)  This clip talks about natural cord alternatives and demonstrates 3 different ways of using 3 different types of natural cordage, and shows that it isn't that difficult at all. I hope this encourages at least 1 person to switch!

My latest fire churn - this one installed in the back garden!