Fire: Did you mean...?

Sassanian Fire Temple, Natanz, Iran.

Ateshgah Fire Temple, Azerbaijan.

This week, we’re continuing our talk about the characteristics of Goddesses, and we’re going to look in depth at two stories from parts of the world we haven’t visited much in this series so far. From Hawaii, we’re going to hear a story about...

A c. 1670 anonymous painting titled The Great Fire of London, with Ludgate and Old St. Paul's. The Great Fire of London ravished the English capital in September 1666 destroying over 13,000 buildings. (Yale Center for British Art, Yale University...

A photograph of the Reichstag Fire of 27 February 1933, an arson attack on the German parliament blamed on a communist anarchist Marinus van der Lubbe but more likely the work of the Nazi party’s paramilitary group the Sturmabteilung (SA...

Two clay grenades which were designed to be filled with the flammable liquid known as Greek Fire and launched at the enemy. Greek Fire was first used in the Byzantine empire in 678 CE. These examples date to between the 10th and 12th century...

A 12th century CE illustration of the Byzantine weapon Greek Fire in action. The weapon sprayed a petroleum-based liquid to set ablaze anything in its path, especially ships. Here the battle is between ships of Michael II and those of Thomas...

A detail of a c. 1512 CE painting by Mathias Grunewald showing a man suffering from St. Anthony's fire (ergotism). 'Temptation of St. Anthony'. (Unterlinden Museum, Colmar, France)

A photograph of an Auxiliary Fire Service unit in London during the London Blitz. (Imperial War Museums)

The lighting of fires during the Aztec New Fire Ceremony of 1507, a ritual held every 52 years to ensure the continuation of the Sun. The priests carry fire bundles and wear turquoise masks in imitation of the fire god Xiuhtecuhtli, as do...