Sacred springs and other water lore

Bebi · Sacred springs and other water lore

The following is taken from: http://www.endicott-studio.com/rdrm/forwatr.html

Lady Of The Waters (Brian Froud)

Today, with clean water piped directly into our homes and largely taken for granted, it takes a leap of imagination to consider the greater importance of water to those who fetched it daily from the riverside or village well. Deeply dependent on the local water source for their crops and animals, our ancestors had a natural reverence for those places where good, pure water emerged like magic from the depths of the earth. As a result, water has played a role in myth, folklore and sacred rites in cultures all around the globe — particularly in arid lands where the gift of water is most precious.

According to a Blackfoot Indian creation myth, in the beginning there was a great womb containing all of the animals, including Old Man. One day the womb burst, and all creation was under water. Old Man and the animals emerged from the womb floating on a large raft. One day Old Man suggested that Beaver dive down and try to bring up some mud. Beaver was gone a very long time, but still he could not reach bottom. Loon tried, Otter tried, but the water was just too deep for them. Finally little Muskrat tried; he was gone so long that he was nearly dead when they pulled him into the raft again — yet he clutched a precious bit of mud in one of his little claws. From this mud, Old Man formed the lands of earth to emerge from that great ocean of water, and then he created all of the peoples, trees and plant-life upon it. We find variations of this "diver motif" myth not only throughout North America but in cultures around the world — including Buriat cosmology, Finnish folktales and the Hindu Paranas.

Many cultures associate water with women: with the Goddess, or several goddesses, or a variety of female nature spirits. The !Kung of Botswana attribute the origin of water to women, granting them special power over it. All-mother, in an Aboriginal myth from northern Australia, arrived from the sea in the form of a rainbow serpent with children (the Ancestors) inside her. It was All-mother who made water for the Ancestors by urinating on the land, creating lakes, rivers and water holes to quench their thirst. The "living water" (running water) of springs and natural fountains is particularly associated in ancient mythological systems with women, fertility and childbirth.

To the Greeks, springs were the haunts of water nymphs, elemental spirits who took the form of beautiful young girls; the original meaning of the Greek word for spring is "nubile maiden." Certain Greek springs were sacred to Hera or Aphrodite and reputed to have miraculous powers; Hera, for instance, regained virginity each year through immersion in the fountain of Kanathos. In Teutonic myth, the shaggy wood-wife who loves the hero Wolfdietrich is transformed into a gentle human girl when she's baptized in a sacred fountain. The Norse god Odin seeks wisdom and cunning from the fountain of the nature spirit Mimir; he sacrifices one of his eyes in exchange for a few precious sips of the water. In Celtic myth, the salmon of knowledge swims in a sacred spring or pool under the shade of a hazel tree; the falling hazelnuts contain all the wisdom of the world, swallowed by the fish.

Ritual washing in water, or immersion in a pool, has been part of various religious systems since the dawn of time. The priests of ancient Egypt washed themselves in water twice each day and twice each night; in Siberia, ritual washing of the body — accompanied by certain chants and prayers — was a part of shamanic practices. In Hindu, "ghats" are traditional sites for public ritual bathing, an act by which one achieves both physical and spiritual purification. In strict Jewish household, hands must be washed before saying prayers and before any meal including bread; in Islam, mosques provide water for the faithful to wash before each of the five daily prayers. In Christian tradition, baptism is described by St. Paul as "a ritual death and rebirth which simulates the death and resurrection of Christ." According to mythologist Mircea Eliade, "Immersion in water symbolizes a return to the pre-formal, a total regeneration, a new birth, for immersion means a dissolution of forms, a reintegration into the formlessness of pre-existence; and emerging from the water is a repetition of the act of creation in which form was first expressed."

The idea of regeneration through water is echoed in pan-cultural tales about the miraculous Fountain of Youth. So pervasive were these legends that in the 16th century the Spanish conquistador Ponce de Leon actually set out to find it once and for all — and found Florida instead. In Japanese legends, the white and yellow leaves of the wild chrysanthemum confer blessings from Kiku-Jido, the chrysanthemum boy who dwells by the Fountain of Youth. These leaves are ceremonially dipped in sake to assure good health and long life. One Native American story describes the Fountain of Youth created by two hawks in the nether-world between heaven and earth — but this fountain brings grief as those who drink of it outlive their children and friends . . . and eventually it's destroyed.

To the Celtic people of the British Isles, certain waters were deemed to have regenerative, healing properties and thus were under divine protection. The famous hot spring at Bath (Aquae Sulis) was dedicated to the goddess Sulis, who was linked from Roman times with one of the Roman's own goddesses to become Sulis Minerva. (The Romans built a temple on the site, and a magnificent public bath house which still stands today.) The standing stones and circles of Britain are generally found near wells or running water, attesting to the importance of water in pagan religious rites. With the spread of Christianity, a concerted effort was made to stamp out the older animist religions, which attributed divinity to nature. In the 5th century, a canon issued by the Second Council of Arles stated uncategorically: "If in the territory of a bishop infidels light torches or venerate trees, fountains, or stones, and he neglects to abolish this usage, he must know that he is guilty of sacrilege." Despite the destruction of ancient holy sites, pagan beliefs proved harder to eradicate. By the 7th century, Pope Gregory decided on a new approach and instructed St. Augustine to convert sacred sites to Christian use. Pagan wells became holy wells; churches were built upon them or beside them — yet the old ways must have persisted for in the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries a stream of edicts were issued denouncing the worship of "the sun or the moon, fire or flood, wells or stones or any kind of forest tree." Over time, however, pagan and Christian practices slowly blended together. Wells named after Christian saints were celebrated with festivals and rites on old pagan holy days, in ways that would not have been unfamiliar to "heathen" people. On the Isle of Man, for instance, holy wells are frequented on August 1st, a festival called Lugnasad (a day once sacred to the Celtic god Lugh). August 1st is Lammas in the Christian calendar, but the older name for the holiday was still in use on the Isle of Man until the 19th century. In Scotland, the well at Loch Maree is dedicated to St. Malrubha but its annual rites, involving the sacrifice of a bull, an offering of milk poured on the ground, and coins driven into the bark of a tree, are clearly more pagan in nature. The custom of "well dressing" is another Christian rite with pagan origins. During these ceremonies (still practiced in Derbyshire and other parts of England), village wells are decorated with pictures made of flowers, leaves, seeds, feathers and other natural objects. In centuries past, the wells were "dressed" to thank the patron spirit of the well and request good water for the year to come; now the ceremonies generally take place on Ascension Day, and the pictures created to dress the wells are biblical in nature. [For an excellent evocation of this tradition, see John Brunner's magical story "In the Season of the Dressing of the Wells," in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Volume VI.]

As Christian tales were attached to the springs and wells, they became as colorful as any to be found in pagan folklore. Wells were said to have sprung up where saints were beheaded, or had fought off dragons, or where the Virgin Mary appeared and left small footprints pressed into the stone. Wells dedicated to St. Anne were called "granny wells" (because, as the mother of the Virgin Mary, she was grandmother of Christ) and were attributed with particular powers concerning fertility and childbirth. According to one Breton legend, St. Anne settled in Brittany where she was visited by Christ before she died. She asked him to create a well to help the sick people of the region; he struck the ground three times, and thus the well of St. Anne-e-la-Palue was created. Up until the 19th century, the holy wells of Britain and Europe were still considered to have miraculous properties and were frequently visited by those seeking cures for disease, physical deformity or mental illness. Other wells were famous for offering prophetic information — generally determined through the movements of the water, or leaves floating upon the water, or fish (or eels) swimming in the depths. At some wells, the water was drunk from circular cups carved out of animal bone, an echo of the cups carved out of human skulls by the ancient Celts. Pins (usually bent), coins or bits of metal were common offerings; rags tied to trees around the holy well were another tradition dating back to pagan times (the cloth was symbolic of ill health or misfortune left behind as one departed). Some wells, known as cursing wells, were rather less beneficent; curses were made by dropping special cursing stones into the well, or the victim's name written on a piece of paper, or a wax effigy. At the famous cursing well of Ffynnon Elian (in Wales) one could arrange for a curse by paying the well's guardian a fee to perform an elaborate cursing ritual. A curse could also be removed at this same well, for a somewhat larger fee.

In the mid-19th century Thomas Quiller Couch (father of the writer Sir Arthur Quiller Couch) became interested in the history of sacred wells in Britain; he spent much of his life wandering the wilds of his native Cornwall seeking them out. Extensive notes on this project were discovered among his papers after his death, and in 1884 The Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall was published by the antiquarian's daughters, the Misses M. & L. Quiller Couch. This fascinating book is somewhat difficult to come by today, but a more recent guide to the subject — citing Quiller Couch's text — is now available. Folklorist/photographer Paul Broadhurst re-visited the sites documented by Quiller Couch and in 1991 he published Secret Shrines: In Search of the Old Holy Wells of Cornwall, an informative guide to the many sacred wells still to be found in the Cornish countryside. (Pendragon Press, Box 888, Launceston, Cornwall, U.K.) In addition to holy sites dedicated to Celtic goddesses and Christian saints, Broadhurst discovered crumbling old wells half-buried in ivy, bracken and briars inhabited by spirits somewhat less exalted: the piskies (faeries) of Cornish folklore. Wells under the protection of the piskies are not wells to be trifled with, for the piskies will take their revenge on any who dare to disturb their homes. A farmer decided to move the stone basin at St. Nun's Well (also known as Piskey's Well), with the intention of using it as a water trough for his pigs. He chained the stone to two oxen and pulled it the top of a steep hill — whereupon the stone broke free of the chains, rolled downhill, made a sharp turn right, and settled back into its place. One of the ox died on the spot, and the farmer was struck lame. (This rather enchanted-looking well can still be found in the beautiful part of Cornwall between Liskeard and Looe.)

All running water (not just spring water) can prove to be the haunt of faeries, for crossing over (or through) running water is one of the ways to enter their realm. Here, one still finds country folk who avoid running water by dusk or dark, for the spirits who inhabit water can be troublesome, even deadly. The water spirit of the River Dart, for instance, is believed to demand sacrificial drownings, leading to the well-known local rhyme "Dart, Dart, cruel Dart, every year she claims a heart." The water-wraithe of Scotland is thin, ragged, and invariably dressed in green, haunting riversides by night to lead travellers to a watery death. In the Border Country, the Washer by the Ford wails as she washes the grave clothes of those who are about to die; this frightening apparition is similar to the dreaded Bean-Sidhe (Banshee) of Irish legends. The Bean-nighe is a similar creature found in both Highland and Irish lore, a dangerous little faerie with ragged green clothes and webbed red feet. (Yet if one can get between the Bean-nighe and her water source, she is obliged to grant three wishes and refrain from doing harm.) Jenny Greenteeth specializes in dragging children down in stagnant pools. The Welsh water-leaper (Llamhigyn Y Dwr) is a toad-like creature who delights in tangling fishing lines and devouring any sheep who fall into the river. The fideal is a faery who haunts lonely pools and hides herself in the grasses by the water; the glaistig, half-woman and half-goat, tends to lurk in the dark of caves behind waterfalls. The loireag of the Hebrides is a gentler breed of water fairy, although — as a connoisseur of music — even she can prove dangerous to those who dare to sing out of tune.

In Ireland, a faerie creature known as the Lady of the Lake bestows blessings and good weather to those who seek her favor; in some towns she is still celebrated (or propitiated) at mid-summer festivals. Her name recalls the Welsh Lady of the Lake, who gave King Arthur his sword and now guards over his body as he sleeps in Avalon. Brittany, on the west coast of France, also claims the home of the Lady of the Lake. The Chateau de Comper, where she is said to have lived and raised Sir Lancelot, still stands near the old Forest of Paimpont (called Broceliande in Arthurian lore): a magnificent manor house of golden stone, crumbling romantically at the edges. Nearby is a lake whose origin is attributed to Morgan Le Fay, located in the mysterious Val san Retour (Valley of No Return). In Somerset, England, the town of Glastonbury is one of several sites where the Holy Grail is reputed to be hidden. At the foot of ancient Glastonbury Tor is a lovely garden where one can drink the red-tinged water of Chalice Well — colored, according to legend, by the blood of Christ carried in the Grail. Although the well's association with Arthur may be (as some Arthurian scholars suggest) a legend of recent vintage, archaeological excavations in the 1960s established the site's antiquity — and the place manages to retain a tranquil, mystical atmosphere despite its transformation from sacred site to tourist attraction. One often finds small offerings in the circle around the well's heavy lid: flowers, feathers, stones, small bits of cloth tied to a near-by tree . . . remnants of ancient pagan practice carried down through the centuries.

Today, we generally view such practices as quaintly (or foolishly) superstitious; we dismiss our early ancestors as ignorant savages, worshipping natural phenomenon because they lacked the rationality of science. Yet a look at animist religions that still thrive in certain cultures around the globe indicates that this may be a simplistic view of nature-based religions. Rather than focusing on the hocus-pocus of the supernatural (as they are often portrayed), such religions are rooted in the natural world, celebrating and regulating the relationships between mankind, other species, and the land which sustains us all. In America, animism runs through the various indigenous religions of the land. Various springs, wells and pools are sacred to Native tribal groups; and in such holy places, one also finds offerings similar to those by Chalice Well: feathers, flowers, stones, sage, tobacco, small carved animal forms, scraps of red cloth tied to trees, and other tokens of prayer. The Native American sweat-lodge ceremony uses water sprinkled over red-hot rocks to create the steam that is called the "breath of life"; the lodge itself is the womb of mother earth in which one is washed clean, purified and spiritually reborn. Water is sacred through its absence in the four-day Sundance ceremony, or the ritual of Crying for a Vision; after four days without water (or food), the first drop on the tongue is a potent reminder to be thankful for this precious gift from mother earth.

The words attributed to Suquamish Chief Seattle* upon the forced transfer of tribal lands to the U.S. Government in 1855 make painful reading in light of the ecological ravages of the last hundred years. "The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father. The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother . . . .This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to earth." Standing at Dupath Well, a century later and an ocean away, these words seem to me to be as vital as ever. I am reminded here at this ancient sacred site that I too had ancestors who did not consider themselves greater than the land on which they lived; who did not take good, pure water for granted; who knew man belonged to earth.

*This quote is attributed to Chief Seattle in Joseph Campbell's "The Way of the Animal Powers" — but the attribution is controversial. For more information visit the Chief Seattle web site. http://www.kyphilom.com/www/seattle.html