[137] The fire kindled at the Holi festival in spring is meant, as explained by Sir J.G.Frazer, to increase the power of the sun for the growth of vegetation.

By the production of fire the quantity and strength of the heavenly fire is increased.

He remarks: [138]--"The custom of throwing blazing discs, shaped like suns, into the air, is probably also a piece of imitative magic.

In these, as in so many cases, the magic force is supposed to take effect through mimicry or sympathy; by imitating the desired result you actually produce it; by counterfeiting the sun's progress through the heavens you really help the luminary to pursue his celestial journey with punctuality and despatch.

The name 'fire of heaven,' by which the midsummer fire is sometimes popularly known, clearly indicates a consciousness of the connection between the earthly and the heavenly flame." The obscene songs of the Holi appear to be the relic of a former period of promiscuous sexual debauchery, which, through the multiplied act of reproduction, was intended to ensure that nature should also reproduce on a generous scale.