Our Mythos - The Holy Pot of Ash

The Holy Pot of Ash has been with Church of Burn from the beginning. It is a simple small terracotta pot which (at the time of writing 23rd July 2024) is overflowing with around £5k worth of cash ash. The Holy Pot is perhaps the most functional of all CoB's artefacts. It wasn't acquired or crafted as a Ritual artifact. It was just 'around' during the earliest rituals when we needed 'something' to collect the ash. It was at least clear to us that keeping the ash was important. The Holy Pot's humble, utilitarian form and its lack of pretension to makes it easy to underestimate its magic and its importance to our Mythos.

The company of CoB were provided with a reminder of its absolute centrality to our Mythos in 2022. Like all magical artefacts, The Holy Pot is on its own journey through the finite material world and we must respect its chosen path.

The story begins when The Fitzwilliam Museum contracted a loan of the Holy Pot of Ash for their Defaced exhibition. It seemed like a sensible decision to agree the loan because it would help spread the message of our Church. The Holy Pot of Ash was to be delivered to the Fitzwilliam Museum shortly after CoB's appearance at The Secret Garden Party (SGP).

During the preparation of the sermon scripts for our Service at SGP we wanted to talk about 'Broken Tokens'. These were silver coins from the Age of Discovery that were either split of bent double. These bent coins or 'Broken Tokens' served as a symbol of love and they often gifted between lovers. The timing of the Service meant that we had to make cuts to the script. These were the lines that were cut.

Using money magic was an offence against the Sovereign and sin against God.
Today, old twisted silver pennies still hold the embers of the desires which formed them.
Their fire quietly dies as a curiosity behind glass in our Museums.

But just occasionally, Mudlarks looking for treasure on the shoreline unearth an untamed coin.
These coins-in-the-wild still pulse with desire and money-love magic.

The message was clear. Museums are the place where magical artefacts go to die - to lose their magic. It appears The Holy Pot of Ash was unwilling to accept this as its fate. It disappeared after SGP. We are very careful with the packing and transportation of artefacts. The company was mortified that such an object could be lost. No stone was left unturned. The loss was reported and every effort made to recover The Holy Pot but to no avail. The Fitzwilliam Museum were contacted and given the bad news. They wondered if we might create a facsimile of the Holy Pot. We obliged and the facsimile (an engraved glass made to commemorate the Overhall Grove) was put on display.

Two months later, as the Defaced Exhibition was completing its run, The Holy Pot of Ash returned. It was found in a place that had already been searched in our frenzy to find it. The company of CoB were over-joyed, of course. But determined that we should learn from the trauma. We solemnly pledged that The Holy Pot of Ash would never be lent to a Museum. It would never be put behind glass and observed as if it were a curiosity. It is a living magical artefact and must be respected as such. Its proper place is at the very centre of our ritual space and it will remain the focal point for all sacrifices made within our Rituals.