Fire and home: A part of a happy life

Abstract

One of the former meanings of the Russian word “schastie” (“happiness”) was a portion, a share or a part, and it used to be pronounced as “so-chastie”. To be happy, it is not enough to have a warm house with candles lit on holidays or flames flickering in the fireplace. But such a house is a part of human existence, which constitutes brief moments of bliss. Fire has inhabited the human
dwelling since time immemorial, but it has a dual nature. It can be good and evil. It illuminates, blesses and warms. The fire sparkling in fireworks creates an illusion of ascendency over the elements and evokes the mysteries of the cosmos. Torches, candles, lamps, cookers  and fireplaces largely determine the architecture of a house. The form and structure of the things associated with fire is a subject of study for art historians and culturologists. Tamed fire is a “so-chastie” of being.