Firewalking, next to prayer is one of the oldest transformational tools the world has ever known. In native cultures, the shamans and medicine men were called upon to walk on hot coals, rocks or lava to purify the community. Surprisingly, FireWalking made its way into every single culture on the planet. Even Middle Ages Christianity embraced the mysteries of FireWalking. Most often used as ritual purification, healing and worship, FireWalking is still being used today as a local custom in such varied places as India, Spain, Bulgaria and Fiji.

Unleash your potential

There are few practices which so consistently show up in such a wide range of different cultures. For most firewalkers, the firewalk is a unique method for testing one's beliefs about the nature of reality and what role one plays in the creation of that reality. This ritual has served as a very graphic demonstration of what is possible and as an unforgettable example of human potential. Even the simple act of viewing a firewalk, whether it's in person or on video, can make a dramatic shift in your belief system. Each and ever time a person walks on fire they are continuously reminded of the connection between their mind, body and their environment. It is indeed an ancient experiment and the fact that it has now made its way into present day America (western culture) suggests that it is becoming a modern day experiment as well.

From Tibet to the UK

This experiment came to the United States through the efforts of a man named Tolly Burkan. In 1976 he learned how to firewalk from a friend who had learned it from a Tibetan monk. In '78 he started offering a weekend workshop that included FireWalking. In '82, Tolly created a four hour format that was open to the general public and started leading firewalks throughout the U.S. and parts of Europe. In '83 other people starting leading firewalks, the most notable being Tony Robbins, who managed to attract the most media attention. By the fall of '84 there was a proliferation of people leading firewalks, it seemed as if it was happening everywhere. It was covered in Newsweek, Time, Life, Rolling Stone, Omni, People and just about every major Newspaper in the country. From Network to Local News, to most of the major Talk Shows, the firewalk was attracting its share of attention by this time. Now in the '90's with several hundred different firewalk instructors, there have been well over a million people who have had this experience of walking on fire. It's safe to say that this ancient ritual is now a major part of our western culture and is certainly much more than a passing fad and will most likely be around for a long time to come.