[expand]Christianity could not eliminate fire rituals—flame was too essential for survival, its use too deeply embedded in agricultural calendar, its practical benefits too obvious to dismiss as mere superstition. Instead, the Church adapted fire practices, attributing Christian significance to what had been pre-Christian protocols.
The new fire became Easter fire—Christian resurrection celebrated through flame kindling, theological rebirth symbolized by light emerging from darkness. The protective fires became blessing rituals—priests carried torches through fields invoking saints’ protection rather than pagan gods’ intervention. The divination fires were condemned as demonic fortune-telling—prohibited officially but continuing covertly because practical fire management required attention to flame behavior regardless of theological interpretation.
Folk practice preserved deeper continuity. The spring fire was still kindled through friction despite priestly blessing added to ceremony. The livestock still passed between flames even when priests claimed Christian benediction rather than pagan purification. The thunder fires were still understood as Perkūnas’s intervention despite official doctrine attributing lightning to natural causes.
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