The Myth of Stealing Fire

Among the struggles between the Sky God and the Fire God, the most famous hero is undoubtedly Prometheus, the fire-stealing hero from Greek mythology. When the Heavenly Father Zeus hid the seed of fire to punish humanity, Prometheus stole the heavenly fire and gave it to humans, while he himself was locked on Mount Caucasus, suffering the torment of his liver being pecked by a heavenly eagle. For thousands of years, his merit in stealing fire and his unyielding steadfastness have been revered and praised by humanity. In shamanic mythology, the struggle between the Sky God and the Fire God is also a quite common topic, and there are also some "fire-bringing" deities or fire-stealing heroes. They too deserve the reverence and praise of the world.

  Fire, as one of the most primitive symbols of cosmic life and vital force in shamanism, is regarded by people as the root of all creations. In shamanic mythology, the Fire God is often seen as the first cosmic deity. For example, Oiyajun, the Nine-Headed Mother, used nine-colored divine stones to illuminate the clouds, dispelling the dark white mist to reveal light, separating heaven and earth. She is seen as the root of the creation of heaven and earth and the mother of all things [1]. There is also Gelutun Mama, the Nine-Headed Eight-Armed Mother. In the most ancient times when the white mist was dense, water droplets floated, and for a thousand years no vitality was seen, and for ten thousand years no traces of life existed, she was born like the daylight. The hands on her eight arms held the fire of eight kinds of stones. The fire from these eight stones heated the mist and water, causing the light to rise and the heavy to sink, thus creating the earth and the blue sky. With a glance, she could turn earth into mountains; with a breath, she could make forests and grass grow on the earth... [2]. Such myths represent the primitive material origin theory of Shamanism—since fire is one of the primordial substances of the universe, it possesses life and vitality as grand as the universe itself. Fire is the most fundamental seed from which all things obtain life. Only with fire are there humans, trees, beasts, mountains, and rivers; in short, only with fire is there a vibrant world. Without fire, there is no life, no vitality, no world; firelessness symbolizes decay and death. The myth tells: The demon Yeluli spat out ice and snow covering the universe, freezing all things. The power of fire weakened. Gurtai, the loyal maid of the Sky God Abka Emu, was ordered to fetch the fire of the sun to nourish the earth. After enduring countless hardships, she drilled out of the ice mountains and brought back the divine fire, warming the earth. The universe revived, and all things regained vitality. But Gurtai, the divine maiden, died of resentment after accidentally eating the black grass tassels spat out by Yeluli, transforming into a black crow. Yet she still flew vigorously among the villages of the world, patrolling the nights and transmitting warnings, never lazy for a thousand years, never disloyal for ten thousand years... [3]. Compared with Prometheus, this crow goddess who sacrificed herself to save the common people, although not stealing the seed of fire in defiance of the Sky God's order, is also a heroic figure in the quest for fire.   The merit of fire in opening the heavens gives the Fire God the highest qualification for deification and worship. Among various ethnic groups, as the main object of nature worship, the Fire God is regarded by some as a cosmic deity, such as Gelutun Mama and Oiyajun Mama; by others as one of the Sky Gods. For example, in Mongolian culture, the Fire God resides among the famous "Nine Brothers Tengri" and is called "Gar Tengri." One of the Fire Gods worshipped by the Manchu people is "Duonduili," who governs the light and heat of the universe. In mythology, it presides over the alternation of spring, summer, autumn, and winter and the illumination in the nine layers of heaven. People regard it as the incarnation of the Sky God, placing it on equal footing with the Sun God and Star God, as the mother of life. In shamanic sacrifices, the Fire God is revered as the head of the gods of mountains, water, stars, thunder, clouds, wind, and rain [4]. Some call the Fire God an assistant to the Sky God. The Evenki people's Fire God is called "Enekan Togo" or "Stove Fire Mama" or "Stove Fire Niangniang." She is seen as an important assistant to the cosmic goddess Enekan, dwelling in the stove. Whenever shamans sacrifice to the gods, they always first worship this female Fire God [5]. In the myth "The Great War in the Heavenly Palace," the god Duokehuo, residing in the stones within the body of the Earth God Banam Hehe, is the incarnation of light and fire. When the Heavenly Mother Abka Hehe was imprisoned by demons under the snow mountain, the goddess Duokehuo warmed Abka Hehe's body. She also devised plans and helped the gods move the huge stones from Banam Hehe's body, chasing and beating the demon group Yeluli. The flying huge stones in the sky struck the demons, leaving them nowhere to hide, forcing them to flee back underground and hide temporarily, while the sky dome appeared with light again. In the Manchu fire sacrifice, there are three main deities worshipped. Besides the fire-stealing goddess Duoyalah, there are also the Eagle God Daimin Mama and the East Sea Goddess Delike Mama. Among them, the Eagle God Mama is a goddess in the sky, the ancestor and benevolent mother of shamans on earth. Delike Mama represents light and water; she gave the seven-colored divine fire of the sun sent by the Heavenly Mother to her clan. The clear water sprayed from her mouth symbolizes the sacred water of the East Sea, the source of life. She is the symbol of inexhaustible vitality. [6] These phenomena indicate that in the "comprehensive Sky God view" stage of Shamanism, the Fire God is an important member among the Sky Gods and also a representative of the Sky God. Therefore, it shares similarities in religious concepts with other great natural deities such as the Cosmic God, Sky God, Water God, Star God, and Sun God, and can mutually substitute and refer to each other in religious functions.   Accompanying the appearance of the three main gods of Shamanism (generally the Sky God, Light God, Earth, and Water Gods) or the Heavenly Kings, the Fire God, in some cases, rose to become one of the main gods. In others, it became the assistant of the Heavenly King (Sky God). The transition of Shamanism's "comprehensive Sky God view" to the Sky God or Lord God of Heaven is also reflected in myths, among which the competition between the Fire God and the Sky God in divine status or rank is an example. The myth of the war between the Sky God and the Fire God among the Kyrgyz people reflects this situation. It is said that in ancient times, even earlier, the Cosmic God created the 7 layers of earth and all things in the world, and allowed all things to reproduce and thrive on the earth. Among all things in the world, the Fire God had bad intentions, determined to monopolize the vast earth. As time passed, he continuously burned all things on earth with fire, turning the earth into a sea of fire, making it impossible for all things to survive. This domineering behavior of the Fire God angered the Cosmic God. The Cosmic God ordered the Fire God to stop doing evil and return the land on which all things rely for survival to everyone. The Fire God did not listen to the Cosmic God's advice and, in a challenging tone, announced to the Cosmic God that he would never hand over the land he had already occupied. Unable to tolerate this arrogance of the Fire God, the Cosmic God immediately transformed into a huge cyan ox and used the 40-li long horns on its head to forcefully gore the rampant Fire God. They fought to the death for a long time. The Fire God could no longer hold on and begged the Sky God for a small place in the blue sky to hide from the Cosmic God's attack. The kind and generous Sky God agreed to the Fire God's request, granting him a piece of the sky, allowing the Fire God to escape to the sky. He is what people later called the "Sun."   The Fire God, having escaped to the sky, still dreamed at all times of burning all things on earth and monopolizing the entire earth. Thus, he extended tongues of fire from the sky to the earth, turning the earth into a scalding hot ball, making it difficult for all things to continue surviving on the earth. In order to provide an environment for all things to reproduce and thrive, it was necessary first to cool the fireball. Therefore, the Cosmic God instructed the Cold God to rise into the sky and cool the earth. This Cold God rose into the sky and became what people later called the "Moon." Due to the Fire God's continuous burning, the 7 layers of earth gradually shrank into a spherical shape. At the same time, the traces left by the struggle between the Cosmic God and the Fire God are what made the earth uneven, creating mountains, rivers, and lakes on the earth. To prevent the Fire God from returning to the earth to do evil again, the Cosmic God personally rode on a huge fish and used its horns to prop up the 7 layers of earth. That huge fish still swims in an ocean named "Kaikeim" to this day. Thus, although the Sun tries every day to this day to burn all things and monopolize the earth, it fears the sharp long horns of the cyan ox, so it can only extend tongues of fire from the sky to the earth, illuminating the earth, and only returns when it is tired from shining. And the Moon comes out to cool the earth scalded by the Sun after the Sun has left due to fatigue. In this way, all things have an environment to grow again, and the Cosmic God recreates all things in the world. At the same time, because the Cosmic God designated the Cold God (Moon) to stay in the sky forever to cool the earth scalded by the Fire God (Sun), the earth has regained prosperity for all things, and life continues to reproduce. [7]   Like all natural spirits, fire also has its "character" contradictions. As a natural phenomenon itself, fire brings benefits and hope to humanity, so people place many beautiful wishes on the Fire God, such as prosperity of family business, driving away disasters and evil, happy marriages, and flourishing livestock. On the other hand, the Fire God is an untamable and uncontrollable "demon." As told in the Kyrgyz myth: sudden lightning fire, irresistible heavenly fire in mountains, forests, and grasslands, and unforeseen sudden fires... brought deep disasters and pain to humanity. These natural disasters are seen as the ruthless Fire God punishing humanity. Therefore, people try every means to guard against the Fire God. Fearing that the Fire God will run rampant, burn homes and destroy houses, create disasters and epidemics, kill people and livestock, etc., Shamanism has many taboos regarding the Fire God. Human views on fire are between contradictory positions. In Shamanism, people's concept of the "Fire God" is rich and complex, including the desire to control the Fire God. In shamanic rituals, we see that people attempt to use spells and witchcraft to control the demonic nature of fire. Taking the Buryat fire sacrifice ritual as an example, when people cut off a piece of meat from the front of the head of a slaughtered sheep or horse and throw it into the stove fire, showing it is offered to the fire spirit and after wishing, there is another custom: one person participating in the fire sacrifice holds a knife, runs quickly between the door and the first row of wooden pillars, stabbing the pillars fiercely, while also chanting spells: "You are not allowed to rise, you are not allowed to fall, you are not allowed to pass the door." This special act is seen as the intention to control the fire while sacrificing to it, attempting to suppress the fire with shamanic arts to avoid disaster. [8] In myths, humans handed over the right to manipulate this incomprehensible fire to the Sky God. Just as the Sky God subdued the Fire God in the Kyrgyz myth. Although a Manchu fire-stealing myth originated from dissatisfaction with the Sky God's control over fire, we can see an image of a Sky God who monopolizes the heavenly fire. It is said that initially, there was no fire on earth, and the seed of fire existed in the sky. Every autumn, the Sky God Abka Enuili inspected the earth and brought the heavenly fire for people to enjoy for one day. Only on that day, piles of heavenly fire illuminated the earth, and rows of torches filled the human world; people ate roasted wild game and cooked food. But when the day ended, the Sky God took all the seeds of fire back to the sky, and people lived a life without fire again. People requested to pass down the seed of fire, but the Sky God said that humans would not know how to use fire and would burn the world created by the gods. In this way, the human world passed through countless years without fire. There was a hero named Tuo'a in the human tribal villages. Tuo'a means fire. He was smart, brave, and possessed extraordinary martial strength. The Sky God favored this hero and summoned him to the sky to specially guard the heavenly fire treasury. Once, it was the day for the heavenly fire gathering on earth again. Tuo'a descended to the lower world with the Sky God Abka Enuili. He secretly resolved to steal a gourd of fire seeds to give to the human world. As soon as the torch gathering ended, all the gods followed Abka Enuili back to the sky. Only Tuo'a secretly hid at the tip of a large elm tree. After the Sky Gods had left, he jumped down from the tree and took out the heavenly fire. The people in the tribe saw the fire and were extremely happy, cheering and jumping for Tuo'a. Tuo'a taught the villagers how to use fire, so there was lighting at night and warmth in winter. After Abka Enuili learned that Tuo'a had stolen heavenly fire for the human world, he immediately sent heavenly soldiers to the human world and took away all the fire seeds. Two magpies, one black and one white, flew to tell people that they would go to the sky to find Tuo'a. When they landed on a hundred-zhang high divine tree, they suddenly found Tuo'a tied to the tip of the tree. Tuo'a asked the magpies to steal red fruits to save him. The two magpies flew to the heavenly red fruit garden, used their wits to distract the old eagle guarding the garden, and stole the red fruits. After eating the red fruits, Tuo'a automatically loosened his bindings, increased his strength, could hide his form, and could fly and jump. So he flew to the heavenly fire treasury, and while the field mouse guarding the heavenly fire was sleeping, he stole another gourd of fire seeds and returned to the human world. The Sky God was furious, took back the fire seeds again, and caught Tuo'a, throwing him into the river. The black magpie went to beg the old iron ox to save Tuo'a. The old ox poked the stone shed in the water with its two horns, breaking it and saving Tuo'a. After the Iron Ox God interceded, the Sky God exempted Tuo'a from punishment and ordered him to pound stones in the sky to build the Heavenly Palace. He secretly stole another gourd of fire seeds. While pounding stones, he drilled holes in the stone blocks and then put the fire seeds into the stone blocks one by one. At this time, the Sky God told Tuo'a to cultivate the palace on the ground. Tuo'a happily transported all the white stones containing fire to the ground. And he gave the stone blocks to the people, telling them to take fire from them by striking the stones together. From then on, people worshipped Tuo'a and sacrificed to him in spring and autumn [9].   On the one hand, people elevated their desire to control fire to the height of establishing cosmic order, hoping to obtain the Sky God's reasonable control over the Fire God. When the Fire God was finally subdued by the Sky God or became the Sky God's assistant, the problem of the Fire God causing disasters seemed less important than the Sky God's unreasonable control over fire. People found that the Sky God's management could not solve the problem of human use of fire that they did not want. The needs of life could not simply bind them to praising and praying to the Sky God or the Fire God. Humanity's desire to invent and master the technology of using fire is irresistible. When humanity passionately pursues its own fire-using culture, the Sky God has to play the role of the villain to make way for human heroes, allowing the fire-stealing heroes to step onto the celestial realm openly and legitimately, stealing the seed of fire from the Sky God, thereby achieving the highest praise for human fire technology and art. The act of stealing fire represents the typical progressive spirit of Shamanism in pursuing the value of real-life existence, and also shows Shamanic culture's worship of primitive fire-using technology.   From myths, we see that people attach great importance to the "invention of fire techniques," explaining the important position and practical value of fire in real life through the sanctity of the source of fire-using technology. Like the Tatar legend about fire: in ancient times, human ancestors only ate wild plants and fruits, completely unaware of fire, let alone what fire was useful for. At this time, the highest god in the sky, Yulegan, struck black and white stones against each other, scattering sparks from the sky to the ground, igniting the dry grass. In this way, fire was finally passed to the human world [10]. Obviously, this is based on the realistic fire-starting customs of the northern peoples using fire strikers and flint. The fire-stealing myth indicates that the technology of making fire does not come from the Sky God, but from the fire-stealers who defy the Sky God. The full set of rituals for the Manchu sacrifice to the fire-stealing goddess Duoyalah proves that this fire-stealing goddess is the role model for creating and mastering fire-using technology, and the creator and disseminator of "fire culture."   The myth tells: When the world was covered in white ice and living creatures were extinct, a "Qiqidan" (small flesh wart) grew on the head of the Sky God, emitting the color of fire. Goddess Lah looked at it and was very happy, because the Sun God lived in the "Qiqidan" on this Sky God's head. She wanted to obtain it, so she stole it. This goddess privately stole the Sky God's divine fire, descended to the earth where the ice was as thick as the sky, making it impossible to raise children. She brought the seed of fire to the earth and humanity, ushering in spring, while she herself was burned into a monster with tiger eyes and ears, leopard head and whiskers, badger body and eagle claws, and lynx tail during the transport of the divine fire. She transformed into the great god Duoyalah who bestowed the seed of fire upon humanity. Her four claws waded through fire clouds, her huge mouth spat flames, driving away ice and snow, chasing away cold frost. She galloped like lightning, illuminating the mountains. People called her Duoyalah, or Duoya Mama, or Tuoya Gugu.   The ritual of sacrificing to the fire-stealing goddess Duoyalah was discovered in the early 1980s in the "Kulun Seven Surnames Manchu Fire Sacrifice God Book" collected among the Manchu people in the Hunchun area, dated to the 16th year of Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1890). The content of the "Fire Sacrifice God Book" includes: arranging gods, sacrificing to heaven, generating fire and calling words, wild sacrifice god words, sacred tree god words, competing fire god language, offering sacrifice god words, reporting sacrifice god words, etc., and is attached with "Manchu language terms for fire sacrifice."   In this fire sacrifice, the female shaman must welcome three goddesses—the Eagle God Daimin Mama, the East Sea Goddess Delike Mama, and the fire-stealing goddess Duoyalah. Goddess Duoyalah is the last deity welcomed by the shaman. Her image is a fire leopard spitting sacred fire. When it "possesses the body of the female shaman," the female shaman leaps onto a high ground in front of the fire pile, roars and spits fire, performing various vigorous and barbaric dance moves. At this time, the expressions of the clan members are particularly solemn and dignified, because the female shaman's sacrificial dance recreates the goddess's heroic feat of stealing the sun's heavenly fire. Her arrival brings sunlight-like firelight to the tribe, like a warm breeze. The light of the Fire God illuminates the tribes on earth, nourishing and nurturing the descendants of the tribes, who are as robust as fawns, able to jump and leap.   After Duoyalah descends, she leads the clan to "break the fire formation" and compete in fire skills. At this time, the shaman and the clan leader carefully design nine fire formations. Their shapes are like flying long snakes and giant pythons, or like galloping fire horses and fire dragons, or like crouching tigers and giant fish. Some fire formations are set on steep cliffs, while others are set in rapid flowing water. Clan members ride horses or walk on foot, in groups of three or five, to pass through the fire formations, and play various games in the fire, such as hide-and-seek, stick-beating running rabbits, binding deer, shooting wild ducks, grabbing stone beads, grabbing stone cups, grabbing kalaha, etc. Girls swing fire swings, drill through fire hoops, kick sky lanterns, and hold various horseback fire skill competitions. Only the bravest and most agile riders and hunters can decipher the "heavenly fire" and pass through the fire formations. Whoever passes through more fire formations is revered as a "Baturu" (hero) and promoted as the hunting leader (Lie Da), because his smooth passage through the fire formations proves that he is blessed by the Fire God and will surely have good luck in everything.   Originally, these fire formations symbolize the mystery of heavenly fire. Heavenly fire attracts heroes to "break the formation" with this mysterious and unpredictable setup. Those heroes who pass through the fire formations, like Duoyalah, can be called "fire-stealing heroes." Duoyalah successfully stole the seed of fire from the Sky God, and is a role model that people greatly admire and emulate. As the "Fire Sacrifice God Oracle" tells everyone: In this sacred moment of fire sacrifice, the bright sacred fire calls you, the warm light illuminates the dark caves. Go hand in hand, there is nothing to hesitate or fear about. In the dense forest, layers of sparks, all dwell auspicious gods. The golden autumn is full of light and heat, all surnames stand on tiptoes looking forward, hoping for a good news of their own. Haven't the elders taught you? Climb high, jump low, don't let your heart beat, follow the path the elders told you, walk cautiously, run quickly, advance rapidly. Walk weighing, walk feeling, be agile getting on and off trees, be careful with your slanted body.   We not only see the "fire-taking behavior" similar to the fire-stealing hero in the fire sacrifice oracle, but also see that Duoyalah is the guide for the practical application of "fire technique" technology in reality, a cultural hero. The "Competing Fire God Language" says: The fire pile is the road fire in the dark night, do not be afraid, do not shiver, the fire is guiding you, Mama Duoya is guiding you, protecting you on your left and right. The shaman prays devoutly, the gods give you strength and divine power, and will surely make you victorious. People compete in fire formations to improve their skills in驾驭 fire. Like Duoyalah, who integrates the vigorous life fire of those animals into one body, "you must have inner capabilities, like the capability of a horse, like the capability of a wuhu (boat), like the capability of a windmill, like the capability of a bird's wing." [11] Fire skills and art are quite common and frequent performances in Shamanic sacrifices. Shamans sacrifice to Star Gods, Snow Gods, Leopard Gods, etc., and set up bonfires, pool fires, and torches. Shamans either scatter burning wood blocks, or dance with magical sparks, or run through fire pools, making the fire burn more vigorously and the vitality stronger.   Although the fire-stealing myths of Shamanism are related to people's worship of nature, people's affirmation of fire-stealing heroes is more manifested in the practical guidance of human control and use of fire technology. Fire-stealing myths and rituals sacrificing fire-stealing heroes are a way to spread the fire-using technology of northern peoples. Adapted to this practical purpose of witchcraft is the Shamanic "possession" and "interpenetration" nature of symbolic thinking in fire-stealing myths. For example, Duoyalah's image of "tiger eyes and ears, leopard head and whiskers, badger body and eagle claws, lynx tail" is a product of the unconscious stage of artistic creation. In the view of Shamanic culture, she is a great god who集 all gods' omnipotence into one body, and is a symbol of vigorous vitality. Therefore, the Shamanic song says: Everyone envies you very much, so much so that all the gods follow your descent [12].   Notes:   [1] Fu Yuguang, Wang Honggang, "Shamanism and Mythology," page 89, Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1995. [2] Fu Yuguang, Wang Honggang, "Shamanic Goddesses," page 72, Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1995. [3] See "Ubusun Mama," in Fu Yuguang, Wang Honggang, "Shamanic Goddesses," Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1995. [4] Fu Yuguang, "Shamanic Goddesses," page 44, Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1990. [5] See Yao Feng, "Some Natural Worships of the Evenki and Oroqen People, Tungusic Manchu-speaking Peoples along the Amur River," "Heilongjiang Ethnic Studies," Issue 1, 1990. [6] See "The Great War in the Heavenly Palace," in Fu Yuguang, "Shamanism and Mythology," Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1990. [7] "Great Dictionary of Religions and Mythologies of All Chinese Ethnic Groups," page 370, Xueyuan Publishing House, 1992. [8] Wu Bing'an, "The Mysterious Shamanic World," page 55, Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore, 1989. [9] Fu Yingren, "Manchu Mythological Stories," pages 107-112, Northern Literature and Art Publishing House, 1988 edition. [10] Wu Bing'an, "The Mysterious Shamanic World," page 55, Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore, 1989. [11] Introduction to Fire Sacrifice, see Fu Yuguang, Wang Honggang, "Shamanic Goddesses," page 142, Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1995. [12] Fu Yuguang, Wang Honggang, "Shamanic Goddesses," page 140, Liaoning People's Publishing House, 1995.