Demonstrating Bow Drill Fire with Gratitude

On November 24th, Mulme Healing Farm had a farm party for town guest and people interested in organic food and sustainable skills. We had a variety of visitors which included farmers, teachers, foreign English teachers, and government officials, office workers, friends, family.

I introduced friction fire, or fire without any matches or a lighter to demonstrate the wonderful gift fire is. I always love the wonderment and joy on people's faces when doing it. It's always the same process. Some are in disbelief. Some are excited. Someone usually jokes, "Got a lighter?"

The process has multiple step. First I burn a hole into a flat piece of wood called a fireboard. Some people expecting fire immediately walk away when they don't see fire. Then I carve on the side of the hole a pizza slice shaped notch. I create a friction in a hole by spinning a spindle.The spindle is attached to a bow string and using the bow I move the string back and forth. This spins the spindle. The friction is over 800 degrees when the dust from the wooden board fall below the notch and begins to glow. When I lift up the spindle there is black smoke from the dust that collected at the bottom of the fire board the pile of saw dust to begin to glow. 

The anticipation builds up from the crowd as I go along. . As I place the small coal that was created in the friction into whispy pieces of bark that looks like a birds nest people get excited. Those that had drifted away either in boredome or disbelief slowly come back. I shape the bark around the coal like a taco. I shift it around  as I blow on it slowly and increasing in power. The coal grows until the collection of natty bark bursts into flames. The crowd cheers. They have been entertained.

It may seem magical but this how fire was made by a certain group of people for thousands of years. 

Some of those people begin to understand how gifted we are with a lighter. It's not a necessary thing. It is a priviledge. Some of those people are reminded of the convenience it is. However, it is a priviledge with a high cost. 

Individual plants died to make the bow drill kit branch I cut from the tree, gathering the plant to make the rope, then knife which was convenient but not necessary to cut a hole, and the dead tree cut for the spindle and board.

How was the lighter used in a way that wasn't destructive? Or a match? From the plastic that was used to make it- it's thrown away when the fuel is spent in the case of the lighter. Or the men who work in the lung burning sufuric acid saturate air in the sulfure mine.

Yet, those costs are not here and while its important to keep these things in mind, that is not while I am smiling. I am smiling because I am able to much show people how to participate in a heritage when people interacted with their environment. Making fire using this materials reminds me how much of a gift it actually. It was earned by learning botany, identification and craft skills, and it was done with the humility of know what would happen to me if I depleted its resources by extracting to much.

In total, it took me 20 minutes to st get the coal. A master could take a lot shorter a period of time

Somehow it reminds me of the Dhamma- that all things are fleeting. Our innovations and conveniences are fleeting. This piece of material is just as temporal and materialistics as the lighter but at least it brings us closer to what life is and its costs. Someday we may return to this method again. Until then it's good to understand where we came from.

Thank you for reading.

Good day.