In the past couple of days, festivals were held in two villages separated by language, culture, religion, and great distance, but both centered on the use of fire as a method of purification and blessing—and both were carried out with a liberal partaking in alcohol. In San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, on the eve of Saint Anthony's Day—to honor Spain's patron saint of animals—people ride horses through bonfires during the “Luminarias,” a centuries-old tradition meant to to purify and protect the animals. In Nozawaonsen, Japan, village men of the unlucky ages of 25 and 42 stage a fiery battle, with one group building and protecting a wooden shrine, and another trying to burn it down with bundles of flaming sticks. The festival is meant to chase out evil spirits, celebrate first births, and pray for happy marriages.
A Pair of Fiery Festivals
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Read moreLeft: In Nozawaonsen, Japan, people rush forward with flaming sticks as they try to set fire to a wooden shrine that is protected by men from the village during the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. Right: In San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, a man rides a horse through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA horse waits for the start of the "Luminarias" celebration on the eve of Saint Anthony's day, in honor of Spain's patron saint of animals, in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares, northwest of Madrid, Spain, on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA horse stands by a tree before the ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA bottle of whiskey chills in a clump of snow during the annual Luminarias celebration in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreEmbers fly around a horse during the annual Luminarias celebration in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA horseman jumps over a bonfire in the village of San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA man drinks wine from a wineskin next to bonfires during the ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA woman braids the hair of a horse before the bonfire ritual in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA man rides a horse through flames during the annual Luminarias on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA man on horseback rides through smoke in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA rider jumps over a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares during the opening of the traditional Luminarias festival on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreA horseman jumps through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty -
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Read moreA man rides a horse through a bonfire as part of a ritual in honor of Saint Anthony the Abbot in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
Francisco Seco / AP -
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Read morePeople gather around a fire during the annual Luminarias celebration on January 16, 2018. #
Juan Medina / Reuters -
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Read moreA man rides a horse through a bonfire in San Bartolome de Pinares on January 16, 2018. #
Francisco Seco / AP -
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Read moreA horse stands next to bonfires during the Luminarias ritual in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain, on January 16, 2018. #
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Read moreIn the village of Nozawaonsen, Japan, a man ties a rope during construction of the shrine in preparation for the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. The shrine is being built to be burned later that night, during the festival. #
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Read moreMen work on constructing the shrine during preparations for the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreA man adjusts his family totem pole or 'Hatsuakarikago' during preparations for the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreNozawaonsen village men drink sake at the beginning of the festival on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreVillage men sit atop the shrine during the festival on January 15, 2018. The festival is staged by village men of 'yakudoshi' or 'unlucky' ages of 42 and 25 to celebrate the birth of a family's first child, to chase away evil spirits, and to pray for a happy marriage. The elder yakudoshi take their places atop the wooden shrine to chant and sing, while the younger yakudoshi remain below to try and defend the flammable shrine from the impending fiery attack. #
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Read morePeople carry flaming sticks as they prepare to attempt to set fire to a wooden shrine that is protected by men from Nozawaonsen village during the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreA man pours a bottle of sake into his friend's mouth, preparing for the assault, on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreMen sing and chant while carrying flaming bundles of sticks towards the shrine on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreThe battle begins. People try to set fire to a wooden shrine that is protected by men from Nozawaonsen village on January 15, 2018. #
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Read morePeople rush forward with flaming sticks as they try to set fire to a wooden shrine that is protected by the younger yakudoshi men from Nozawaonsen on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreMen carry huge bundles of flaming sticks as they try to set fire to the wooden shrine on January 15, 2018. #
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Read morePeople rush forward with flaming sticks attacking and trying to set the wooden shrine alight during the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreThe attackers win, setting fire to the shrine that was protected by men from Nozawaonsen village. The group of elder yakudoshi men were escorted from the top of the shrine before it was completely engulfed. #
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Read moreThe shrine burns during the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. #
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Read moreA family totem pole is thrown onto the burning shrine during the Nozawaonsen Dosojin Fire Festival on January 15, 2018. #
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