Disc Smashing: An old fire custom to mark the beginning of Lent

Disc throwing is one of the so-called fire customs, which are particularly common for solstice celebrations, including Christmas and Easter. Here, a glowing wooden disc (approx. 2 cm thick and 15 cm in diameter) is hurled into the night from a mountain slope using a stick. A verse or a greeting to a specific person is spoken. Elements of a fertility rite are just as recognizable as those of winter and demon expulsion.

Disc throwing is already documented in a charter from the year 1090, which reports that an outbuilding of the Benedictine Abbey of Lorsch in Hesse was set on fire by such a disc. Nowadays, the custom of disc throwing is still practiced in the South Tyrolean Vinschgau as well as in Landeck in Tyrol and in Vorarlberg, in Chur and the Bündner Oberland, and in the Swabian-Alemannic region – Black Forest, Breisgau, Alsace. In addition, there are many field names, such as Scheibschlagalm or Scheibenbichl, which refer to the tradition.

Not only the disc throwing itself, but also the preparations, such as collecting wood, were mostly already accompanied by rituals and chants. Also, setting up a pole wrapped in straw with cross braces in a clearly visible place on a mountain slope is part of the preparations. This 'witch' must then be well guarded, otherwise it may be stolen by the boys from the neighboring village. The preparations are carried out by young men of the village, in the past, for example, also by confirmands or recruits.

In the afternoon of 'Spark Sunday', the residents meet for warm drinks, sometimes there is also a torchlight procession up the mountain slope. The disc throwing then begins at dusk. After dark, the 'witch' is ignited, and in her fire, the wooden discs are made to glow and are hurled into the valley with long hazel rods. The more beautiful and farther a disc flies, the more luck is in store for the thrower.