July 22, 2012
Posted by Jennifer Finch
Camp News
“Fire is very mysterious still, even though we have captured it into a Bic Lighter, and in the mysterious there is a lot of depth and room for interpretation to project our own images and ideas.” – Jon Rousseau, Ancient Arts specialist at Blue Star.
For Abraham Goldstein and Levi Harris, their interpretation of fire till now, most simply was a box of matches or a Bic lighter. That was until their recent fire making lesson with Jon at Hawks Nest in the Ancient Arts Option. Flint and Steel fire building came after several series of technologies; the most commonly known was the Bow Drill where spinning a spindle is used to create enough friction and heat to produce an ember. What Abe and Levi did was to create a spark with Flint and Steel, into a tinder and dried fungus bundle and blow into that to create the fire.
Jon said that “My hope is that they got a hands on experience and understanding of what it took for our ancestors to actually make fire on a regular basis and that it wasn’t as easy as striking a match. It actually requires attention, focus, skill, hand-eye coordination and things like that in real time. Using their hands and their eyes to make this magical thing that we really take for granted.”
Placing the wood, twigs and kindle correctly along with creating the tinder bundle to accept the spark was the easy part for the boys, the striking of the flint and steel created a whole new challenge however. With his years of experience, Jon made the process look simple. The angle of the flint just right, the striking of the steel perpendicular to the flint with a deliberate blow, produced from Jon, a small flash of light resembling that of July 4th sparklers. The boys struggled to get the technique just right and took turns, switching hands and even supporting and steadying each other as they tried. After what seemed ages, and as the sweat beads formed, success was finally found.
As the “birds nest” of tinder and dried fungus smouldered, the boys blew on it with the assistance of their counselor. Once the flame was strong enough, they transplanted it into the pre-built teepee and continued to blow on the flames. Very quickly, the fire caught and the boys raised their arms in surrender and pride of an accomplishment well done.
Afterwards, Levi claimed about making fire, “it was great to not just light it with a match but to make it like the olden days with flint, steel and fungus. I like ancient arts, it’s fun to make stuff you don’t usually make – in cool ways.” Abe said, “making fire felt good; actually doing something really hard; to work for the flame. When the fire started, I really felt I accomplished something. Ancient Arts is a good way to use natural materials to make stuff and get to do stuff you wouldn’t do at home”.
Obviously it will be a rare occurrence that the boys will actually get to use their newly acquired skill at home, however the patience and lesson learned while creating fire might help bring alive a little of that magic in their sometimes “take it for granted” life.
For Abraham Goldstein and Levi Harris, their interpretation of fire till now, most simply was a box of matches or a Bic lighter. That was until their recent fire making lesson with Jon at Hawks Nest in the Ancient Arts Option. Flint and Steel fire building came after several series of technologies; the most commonly known was the Bow Drill where spinning a spindle is used to create enough friction and heat to produce an ember. What Abe and Levi did was to create a spark with Flint and Steel, into a tinder and dried fungus bundle and blow into that to create the fire.
Jon said that “My hope is that they got a hands on experience and understanding of what it took for our ancestors to actually make fire on a regular basis and that it wasn’t as easy as striking a match. It actually requires attention, focus, skill, hand-eye coordination and things like that in real time. Using their hands and their eyes to make this magical thing that we really take for granted.”
Placing the wood, twigs and kindle correctly along with creating the tinder bundle to accept the spark was the easy part for the boys, the striking of the flint and steel created a whole new challenge however. With his years of experience, Jon made the process look simple. The angle of the flint just right, the striking of the steel perpendicular to the flint with a deliberate blow, produced from Jon, a small flash of light resembling that of July 4th sparklers. The boys struggled to get the technique just right and took turns, switching hands and even supporting and steadying each other as they tried. After what seemed ages, and as the sweat beads formed, success was finally found.
As the “birds nest” of tinder and dried fungus smouldered, the boys blew on it with the assistance of their counselor. Once the flame was strong enough, they transplanted it into the pre-built teepee and continued to blow on the flames. Very quickly, the fire caught and the boys raised their arms in surrender and pride of an accomplishment well done.
Afterwards, Levi claimed about making fire, “it was great to not just light it with a match but to make it like the olden days with flint, steel and fungus. I like ancient arts, it’s fun to make stuff you don’t usually make – in cool ways.” Abe said, “making fire felt good; actually doing something really hard; to work for the flame. When the fire started, I really felt I accomplished something. Ancient Arts is a good way to use natural materials to make stuff and get to do stuff you wouldn’t do at home”.
Obviously it will be a rare occurrence that the boys will actually get to use their newly acquired skill at home, however the patience and lesson learned while creating fire might help bring alive a little of that magic in their sometimes “take it for granted” life.