"Foc viu" (or "foc ziu") is a Romanian tradition of making fire, "living fire" just by lighting the wood with the bare hands, no source of fire involved. It's all done "by the man, with the aid of his strength", as historians and researchers claim. It's called living fire, not because it's “alive” the entire time, but because the man heats up the wood, till the fire “resurrects”, as traditions claim.

The Wood

In order to make a living fire you'll have to use the wood of trees that don't bear fruit, specially fir trees, beech wood, hazel nut trees and oak. Rubbing together two pieces of wood from these trees will ignite a fire, a fact that got tested, specially in the case of beech wood. Popular tradition says that rubbing two pieces of dried fir tree wood together will also create a fire. It is also recommended that you use two species of wood with the same essence.

Historians claim that in Maramures fir tree and beech wood are used to light fires, while in Bucovina beech wood and dried fir tree are the most common. The "living fire" is only made with the aid of fir free wood, if it has lots of resin in it, considered its "vitality". Locals claim that fir tree wood is the fastest to be set on fire, while others say that beech wood is the best, since the fir tree is too "soft".

Tradition says that making a “living fire” from wood cut from a tree that's been struck by lighting is bad, because the evil spirits have messed with it. In the area of the Apuseni Mountains, this belief works backwards: the wood is supposed to be from a tree struck by lightning and people even search for such pieces.

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