How to do the floating paper campfire trick?

Question

I was at a pagan festival a few years ago and during the children's circle they did a trick where the kids chanted something and a specially folded piece of paper was put over the heat of the campfire and it floated up higher and burned to bits as it floated away. It was really beautiful and touched the kids alot. They really got to feel as though their magick was working (which is hard for kids to understand at times without visual proof). Does anyone know how to do this, or where to find directions on the web?

Answer 1

sorry i don't  but it sounds nice

Answer 2

First point: fire safety; do this in an open area where the burning paper cannot set light to something else, and be prepared to smother or soak anything that gets lit anyway.

Make a square of paper; you can do this with a regular A4 or 8.5 by 11 inch sheet by folding a corner to the opposite side and then cutting or tearing off the extra bit.  For this trick great accuracy is not necessary.  Now make the other diagonal fold with the paper the same side up.  Turn the paper over and make horizontal and vertical folds in half.

With the folds almost flattened and the point down, you will have a "boat" that you can float on the hot air currents over the campfire.  Get it as close as you can to the centre of the heat so that it does not fly off to one side.  With a little practice you can get it to fly quite high.

You can make this look more magical by cutting off the corners to make the floater more circular, and/or colouring it with markers.

Answer 3

The previous post explains the trick, but I want to say I find it despicable that you are teaching this to children.

First, you have to lie to them to convince them that this is some magic that is made possible by thier pagan chant.

Second, you are teaching them to rebel against God.

Why not teach them the physics behind the trick. In my experience, children love stories to be stories and the truth to be the truth. Dont confuse them by pretending this is real magic. Teach them the physics of how it works. They like that a lot more.