Every year the Lankadas, villagers of Greece honor their saints with a deadly fire dance. Around 1250 the church of St. Constantine in the Thracian village of Kosti caught fire. Outside the flames the villagers could hear the icons crying and moaning. The brave villagers ran into the inferno and miraculously appeared unharmed, with the icons. Since the fire the icons of St.Constantine and Saint Helen have been passed down to the descendants of the early parishioners. Each generation honors the Saints with the fire dance. In the 1900's a group of the fire walkers moved to Greece and continue the tradition.

The day begins early for the dancers. The fire is spread over a 12 square foot area, it is then lit and allowed to burn until it is blue hot. The dancers sit in rapture contemplating the Saints. The lyre and ancient drums are played. When the music and fire intensifys one dancer rises and enters the flames, he is followed by another, each carries a reproduction of sacred pictures.They danced for 30 minutes until the flames finally die.

Dr. Christo Xenakis of Athens general Hospital measured the temperature of the coals ranged from 500 to 850 degrees F. "I would have expected third-degree burns in all cases," Dr. Xenakis said. The doctor only found a few blistered feet. George Mills (a young american) once joined the dance and had to be hospitalized with third-degree burns.

The Cheif fire walker attributes this skill exclusively to faith. "You must first overcome the feeling that it is impossible." Once guided by faith and concentration, the actual dancing on the burning coals is painless. you feel something but it is no more than like walking in a prickly field. Despite the heat the strange thing is that you feet sometimes even feel cool.

Mysteries of the Unexplained, p. 261-2