# Burning of the wicker man

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-of-the-wicker-man/700774>\
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\
**Created:** [October 8, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-of-the-wicker-man/700774 "2014-10-08T17:19:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-of-the-wicker-man/700774/1 "2014-10-08T17:19:13Z")

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A propos of today’s posting: [Did the Celts burn human sacrifices in a huge “wicker man”? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1291/did-the-celts-burn-human-sacrifices-in-a-huge-wicker-man), I must mention the Swiss Sechselaeute festival held every April in which a giant effigy of the snowman (boogg, or bogeyman) is burnt (or exploded) in a public square called Sechselaeuteplatz to mark the end of winter. See [Sechseläuten - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sechsel%C3%A4uten) for more details.

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**Author:** ![Ace9546](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Ace9546](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace9546)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-of-the-wicker-man/700774/2 "2014-10-08T19:29:33Z")

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Hello Cecil,

I would like to point out that Hindus in India burn a tall effigy as well, every Fall. The effigy is of a man with ten heads. Maybe there is some pagan symbolism here? Fire cleanses evil?

Abhishek

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**Author:** ![grue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9bd4f/32.png) [@grue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grue)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-of-the-wicker-man/700774/3 "2014-10-09T02:22:01Z")

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No mention of The Wicker Man is complete without [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo).

And of course for real-life burnt-in-effigy things there’s always Zozobra and Burning Man.

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**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-of-the-wicker-man/700774/4 "2014-10-09T17:17:29Z")

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MOD NOTE: Merged two threads on the same topic

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**Author:** ![filmstar-en](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@filmstar-en](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmstar-en)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burning-of-the-wicker-man/700774/5 "2014-10-10T14:11:51Z")

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> [@grue](#):
>
> No mention of The Wicker Man is complete without [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6i2WRreARo).
> 
> And of course for real-life burnt-in-effigy things there’s always Zozobra and Burning Man.

The 1973 original was far better. Edward Woodward playing the policeman being thwarted in his investigations, seduced and then finally sacrificed by pagan islanders was a classic.