The Strange Religious Meaning of Smoke

Child of fire, cousin of air. 

I blind and I choke and I burn and I sting. 

I can fill a room but don't weigh a thing.

What am I? 

For those who like riddles like the one above, you might recognize that smoke, which is the answer,contains within itself a type of riddle or enigma.

In literature, smoke blown from a hobbits mouth is magical. “Then Bilbo sat down on a seat by his door, crossed his legs, and blew out a beautiful grey ring of smoke that sailed up into the air without breaking and floated away over The Hill.” -J.R.R. Tolkien. In Peter Jackson's version of Lord of the Rings Biblo once again blows a perfect ring of smoke and Gandalf blows a ship-shaped puff of smoke through the center of the ring.

In the history of Scandinivia, smoke carried the dead into nirvana. Vikings killed in battle would be placed on a ship or raft and pushed out into the fiord. As the raft made its way into the afterlife the men on the shore would fire flaming arrows into it so that it would completely burn. The rising smoke carried the soul up into Valhalla (Viking heaven). 

In American history, smoke blown from the mouth of Chief Sitting Bull had the power to seal a covenant or a peace treaty. At the Battle of Little Big Horn, smoke was a sign of his bravery.

“Sitting Bull could not allow his courage to be questioned lest he lose the respect of his men. He silently gathered his pipe and tobacco and casually walked to within bullet range of Custer. He sat down, completely unconcerned, filled his pipe, lit it with his flint and steel, and began smoking as bullets whizzed overhead and struck the ground around him.” 1 

Smoke is the natural veil that separates, in an utterly transcendent way, the visible from the invisible. Because smoke is so mysterious and magical, there are too many examples of the religious use of fire and smoke in the pagan religions to cover so I will focus on smoke in the bible and in Catholic liturgy.

Smoke in Scripture

We remember in the Old Testament Moses ascended Mount Sinai up into a cloud of smoke, the sacred domain of God. The mountain rumbled with earthquakes, lightning and other theophanies announcing the presence and holiness of God hidden behind the ethereal barrier of smoke.

Sometimes God used smoke to express his anger and judgment. In Isaiah 30:27, God's judgment is described as "burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke". 

Smoke was later used by Moses and Israelites in worship.”You shall make an altar on which to offer incense; Aaron shall offer fragrant incense on it” every morning and evening (Exodus 30:7-8). The altar was placed before the Ark of the Covenant which is where the glory of God dwelt. “Let my prayer come like incense before you; the lifting up of my hands, like the evening sacrifice,” the Psalmist says (141:2).

In the Book of Malachi (1:11), we read, “For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name is great among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure offering.” 

God also delighted in the sweet fragrance of their sacrifices as the smoke from a burnt offering rose into his presence. "It is a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord" Lev 3:5.  “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” Gen 8:21. 

The Hebrew word, ‘Hevel’ means smoke or vapor. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, an empty, futile and short life is called hevel. It’s here and it's gone. It’s fleeting. Like smoke as soon as we try to grasp it…it’s gone, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s an enigma. There may be a meaning, but it just can’t be grasped.

In the New Testament frankincense was offered to God as one of three gifts for the newborn King. This frankincense is used in the heavenly liturgy. Smoke is seen as the intercessory prayers of the Saints rising to God before us… “Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel” (8:3-4).

Smoke in Catholic Liturgy

Let's see, we have candle smoke, smoke from the sanctuary lamp, smoke from the Easter vigil fire pit, and smoke from the occasional use of  incense. And, holy smokes! We haves moke signals for new popes.

In Catholic worship, we participate in the heavenly liturgy described by the book of Revelation which refers to incense smoke rising before the Lamb and the throne of God. Sometimes at Mass the presider spoons hardened clumps of frankincense resin from an incense boat over burning charcoal in a censer or thurible (the metal container suspended by chains). Even the amount of spoonfuls is symbolic. One for the one true God, three for the Triune God. etc.. At mass, the burning incense symbolizes the intensity of our communal faith and the aroma signifies our likeness to Christ. Both the visible swirls of smoke lingering at the altar and the fragrance spreading throughout the church reinforce the transcendence of the Mass, linking Heaven with Earth.

There are five occasions when incense may be used during the celebration of Mass: the entrance procession, the incensation of the altar at the beginning of Mass, at the Gospel, at the preparation of the gifts, and during the elevations of the Eucharistic Prayer (GIRM, 276). To bless with incense which we call ‘incensing’, the celebrant swings the censer three times, holding his left hand to his chest. 

"Fumata Bianca!" (White Smoke)

Catholics even use smoke to signal when a new pope has been elected.  During the election of a new pope each time a vote is complete, the ballots are burned. Historically, the smoke was produced by burning the cardinals' ballots in a 3-foot high, 19-inch diameter cast iron stove. Now they use a modern stove equipped with an electronic smoke-producing device that releases a cartridge containing five charges of chemical mixtures. Black or gray smoke which was created by adding wet straw, means no pope has been chosen yet. White smoke means ‘we have a pope’. In case there’s any confusion, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica ring to signal a new pope.