SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION
XVI. An Extract, by Mr. Paul Rolli, F.R.S. of an Italian Treatise, written by the Reverend Joseph Bianchini upon the Death of the Countess Cornelia Zangári & Bandi of Ceséna.
Ceséna April 4 1731
Read June 20. 1745.
“ Four Feet Distance from the Bed there was a Heap of Ashes, two Legs untouch'd, from the Foot to the Knee, with their Stockings on ; between them was the lady's Head ; whose brains, Half of the Back Part of the Scull, and the whole Chin, were burnt to Ashes ; amongst which were found three Fingers blacken'd. All the rest was Ashes which had this particular Quality, that they left in the Hand, when taken up, a greasy and stinking Moisture.
The Air in the Room was also observed cumber'd with Soot floating in it : A small Oil Lamp on the Floor was cover'd with Ashes but no Oil in it. Two Candles in Candlesticks upon a Table stood up right; the Cotton was left in both, but the Tallow was gone and vanished. Somewhat of Moisture was about the Feet of the Candlesticks. The Bed receiv'd no Damage ; the Blankets and Sheets were only raifed on one Side, as when
- a Person rises up from it, or goes in : The whole Furniture as well as the Bed was spread over with moist and ash colour Soot, which had penetrated into the Chest-of-drawers even to foul the Linnens : Nay the Soot was also gone into a neighbouring Kitchen, and hung on the Walls, Moveables, and Utensils of it. From the Pantry a Piece of Bread cover'd with that Soot, and grown black, was given to several Dogs, all which refused to eat it. In the Room above it was moreover taken notice, that from the lower Part of the Windows trickled down a greasy, loathsome, yellowish Liquor ; and thereabout they smelt a Stink, without knowing of what ; and saw the Soot fly around. It was remarkable, that the Floor of the Chamber was so thick smear d with a gluish Moisture, that it could not be taken off ; and the Stink spread more and more through the other Chambers. "
LA FOUDRE (THE TOWER equivalent in the 1650 tarot of Jacques Viéville and Vandenborre Flemish tarot, 1780) symbolizes a sudden, unpredictable event that disrupts the established order. It represents creative destruction, instant illumination, a revelation that shakes but liberates.
It is not a card of bad luck, but of rapid transformation: it announces a sudden change that, while destabilizing, aims to shatter illusions and awaken consciousness. Lightning evokes the truth bursting forth, divine justice, the force of destiny intervening without warning. Spiritually, it is the energy of awakening—the ray of light that breaks through the night of ignorance. It is the card of salutary shock, of the moment when everything shifts in order to be reborn.
It invites acceptance of change and the understanding that what is struck down was never meant to remain standing. Lightning purifies, liberates, and illuminates with a single flash what was hidden.
And I was lying in the grass by a river
And as I lay, the grass turned to sand
And the river turned to a sea
And suddenly, the sea burst into flames
And the sand was burning
And I breathed in
And there was smoke in my lungs
And there was fire in my brain
[...]
Fire, I'll take you to burn
Fire, I'll take you to learn
Fire, to destroy all you've done.
Fire, to end all you've become.
I'll feel you burn
Arthur Brown, Fire Suite (1968)
Zdzisław Beksiński - untitled (1980)
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Jean B. Vansteyvoort - Verbranding (1950)
“To the imagination, fire is not a separable datum of experience: it is already linked by analogy and identity with a dozen other aspects of experience. Its heat is analogous to the internal heat we feel as warm-blooded animals; its sparks are analogous to seeds, the units of life; its flickering movement is analogous to vitality; its flames are phallic symbols, providing a further analogy to the sexual act, as the ambiguity of the word “consummation" indicates; its transforming power is analogous to purgation."
Norhtrop Frye, preface for
Psychoanalysis of Fire (1938)
by Gaston Bachelard.
🜂 represents the classical element of fire in alchemy and ancient philosophy. Visually, it's a simple upward-pointing triangle, symbolizing fire's natural tendency to rise, its heat, energy, and transformative power. In alchemical texts and diagrams, this symbol denoted processes like calcination, the “fiery" nature of a substance, or the spirit of a reaction, embodying purification and vigorous change. In essence, combustion is the process of purification that transforms raw matter into a purer substance, just as the alchemical path transmutes the soul toward a state of perfection.
CREDITS
Spontaneous Combustion piano improvisation originally recorded on August 7th, 2014. Released as Ato̐miika on Raagnarök (2014). Remixed in 2024 by Sébastien Dumontier, mastered by Laurent Roussel.
Bass guitar, vocals, violin, piano, Mellotron and keyboards played by Finrod Artîwelë. Drums and piano played by Lari Mevimann.