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One thing I’ve not yet revealed to the world at large due to my site being down for so long, is the fact that I’ve taken up a new hobby: Fire spinning.

Here is the general idea… Take a length of kevlar webbing and fold it into a cube. Attach this cube to a length of cable or chain, about as long as your arms, with a nice set of denim or leather handles. These are called poi. Then dip the wick into White Gas, Denatured Alcohol, Kerosene, or a mixture of the above fuels. After soaking it, have your buddy light them on fire as you hold the handles. Now, unless you want to get burned, you have to spin them around. Thats when things get fun.

I’ve been meeting with a bunch of fire spinners in the area, and we are beginning to call our group Pandora’s Matchbox. We’ve done a little mild performing, but mostly we just spin for our own pleasure and amusement. We meet at a local museum called the City Museum who generously allow us use of their parking lot for practice.

As reckless as it looks, we have a pretty tight safety regime. People are always standing by with wet towels for dousing people, and fire extinguishers for dousing fuel fires. For the most part, the poi take care of themselves, and people are rarely set on fire, and 99% of the time the little spatter of fuel goes out all by itself, leaving the person just fine.

The feeling of spinning the fire is quite intense, with the bright light, the intense heat, and the incredible noise of the flames. Its possible to shut out everything but you and the poi, and the act turns into a sort of moving meditation. Its like being the nucleus of an atom.

I’ve got some interesting photos to show you, but the gallery while mostly functional, is still complaining when I upload photos, so you’ll have to wait a day or two while I fiddle with that, but rest assured, cool pictures await.

I just got home from our weekly practice, and I am very tired, a little sore, and I’m covered in soot and the stink of kerosene. I also have a few very minor burns and scrapes on my biceps from some fairly aggressive spinning that resulted in me grazing my arms. All in all, I feel very good.

If you are in St. Louis, check out the Yahoo group stlfireconclave and come join us at the City Museum on Wednesday nights. We meet around 8ish, hang out and chat at the Cabin Inn the City, the bar attached to the museum, and then move out to the parking lot for more socialization and some FIRE.

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