what is the story behind St Catherine and the wheel she died on.?

Question

The firework called Catherine wheel was named after St Catherine. What is the story behind it?

Answer 1

Catherine was of course one of the pagan approprations. There were such wheels of sacrifice, but they were sacred to pagan cultures in certain rites, and were probably confused with the sun wheel of the year.

"Barbara Walker writes:"One of the most popular saints of all time -- despite the fact that she never existed. The famous Catherine Wheel hails from the Sinai region where she was depicted as the "Dancer on the Fiery Wheel" at the center of the universe. Greek "kathari" or "pure ones" performed dances in honor of this wheel of karmic progression. " http://www.vinland.org/scamp/nuns/saints/pagan.html


"Historians believe that Catherine ('the pure one') may not have existed and that she was more an ideal exemplary figure than a historical one.[6] She did certainly form an exemplary counterpart to the pagan philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria in the medieval mindset; and it has been suggested that she was invented specifically for that purpose. Like Hypatia, she is said to have been highly learned (in philosophy and theology), very beautiful, sexually pure, and to have been brutally murdered for publicly stating her beliefs; 105 years before Hypatia's death (although first records mentioning her, or one of her variants, date much later).

Catherine of Alexandria, by Carlo CrivelliIn 1969, the Roman Catholic Church removed her feast day (November 25) from its general calendar of saints published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, citing a lack of historical evidence for her existence. In 2002, she was reincluded in the calendar.[4] Between 1969 and 2002, concession was given by the Vatican to celebrate the feast just the same." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Alexandria


"Helen Farias considers her an avatar of the Indo-European fire deities like Feronia whose feast (see November 13) ushered in the period called Yule. She is possibly modeled after Kali who has a fiery wheel as an emblem. Certainly these images (found in the word Yule, the Advent candle wreath and St. Lucy's crown of candles) are ubiquitous at this time of year; as are folk customs forbidding women to spin (use a wheel). Durdin-Robertson says St. Catherine is a Christian version of Nemesis, the Goddess of the Wheel of Fortune (and thus perhaps with Mary in her aspect as Mother of Divine Providence (see November 19)). Spicer notes that her English chapels are located on high hilltops at Abbotsbury and Milton Abbas, supposedly because the angels buried the original St. Catherine on the top of Mount Sinai. In earlier times, unmarried girls made pilgrimages to these high chapels to ask the saint to find them husbands." http://www.schooloftheseasons.com/novdays2.html


"There is a Celtic goddess ‘Rhiannon of the silver wheel’, to whom swans and geese are sacred.
A temple on a hill is often called in Gaelic/Celtic ‘cader rhyn’ – ‘the hill throne’. If you were a latin speaker, you might well hear this phrase as ‘catherine’ – or ‘katerin’ – the ‘pure one’ (John Hodgeson’s suggestion).
However the transition from Celtic times happened, we now have a chapel firmly dedicated to St Catherine.

The Rouen connection.

There is a tantalising connection between Rouen, the European home of the St Catherine cult, and Orc, to whom Canute gave Portesham in 1024 (see XXX), by way of Orc’s wife Tola. Tola came from Rouen, presumably before the Conquest and perhaps represents, with Orc, part of the Norman pre-conquest. One can imagine that as a young bride going into a foreign land, she might have brought her favourite saint along for comfort. There can hardly still have been a Celtic temple on the chapel hill by the time she arrived in 1024 or so, but she may have had the christian rededication changed again.

Tola later gave her name to a number of places in Dorset – for example Tolpuddle and Toller Porcorum. " http://www.abbotsbury-heritage.org.uk/results/StCath/StCatherine.htm


"In the middle ages there are frequent historical references to Lammastide when craft fairs and pageants would be held. It is also thought to have been around this time when the feast of St. Catherine was celebrated, which gave rise to the term 'Catherine Wheel.' This originated in pagan worship when a wagon wheel would be tarred, taken to the top of a hill, set on fire and then rolled down, symbolizing the decline of the Sun God at the Autumn Equinox. It is well known that the Catholic Church was never comfortable with St. Catherine. Tied so closely as she was with myths, mystics and the old beliefs, they changed her day of celebration many times and at one point, even tried to de–saint her." http://www.irishcultureandcustoms.com/ACalend/LammasFair.html

Answer 2

Catherine's story in its totality can be found in Jacob Voraigne's The Golden Legend.

Her connection with the wheel is that she was condemned to be executed on a spiked wheel (presumably this would rip the skin, muscles, etc. from her body--very gory, not to mention painful). The wheel, however, was broken; according to some versions it was struck by lightning, hence the connection with fireworks.

By the way, if I recall correctly, she ended up being beheaded.