By Gary R. Varner
Sacred Wells is a close examine of springs, wells and waters which were honored from California to Cornwall, Russia to Australia. stories of faeries, black hounds, hauntings and wonderful therapies are explored. lots of those websites are nonetheless destinations for non secular fairs and formality, unchanging for 1000s of years.This ebook is a great addition to the scant literature relating holy wells, springs, and rivers worldwide, one in all quite a few severe works outdoor of neighborhood reviews which discusses, intensive, the folklore, mythology, and archaeology of holy wells and comes, in addition to rituals that also exist at the present time at the various sacred water websites all over the world. Sacred Wells is an engaging examine the continuation of historical pagan traditions into sleek tradition. lots of those water assets, from California to Cornwall and from Estonia to Australia, are nonetheless frequented for his or her amazing therapeutic powers. Mysterious beasts, ghosts, fairies, and gods are nonetheless believed to stay in and close to those holy components. This research examines the common attraction of those websites and gives a very good reference for an individual drawn to folklore, historical past, and the advance of religion.Preface by way of the writer: Sacred Wells was once initially released in 2002. considering that that point, i've got visited numerous extra sacred websites, together with these linked to local American rock paintings, gargoyle-embellished cathedrals, sacred landscapes and, in fact, sacred wells. I proceed to commute again to the topic of holy wells and waters and while Algora Publishing gave me a chance to elevated and reissue the e-book during this current quantity, I couldn t resist.Much of our mythic setting is forgotten, discarded or abused. The thirst for coal and oil, for land for housing advancements and enterprise parks, and the need to regulate the few wild rivers to harness power, constantly degrades our habitat and the habitat of the wild animals that proceed to fight to outlive. It additionally destroys a lot of the panorama that, for various purposes, has a unique which means for varied humans, a few of that exposed in historic stories that was once advised. Now, a few of the mysterious destinations our ancestors held in awe are forgotten. i'm happy to reissue Sacred Wells in order that those sacred areas and their legends will stay identified to those that may need to profit from them and maybe even to adventure their exact nature for themselves.Sacred wells are famous in approximately each tradition and in all ages. lengthy linked to female, divine strength also they are obvious as locations of therapeutic, magick, knowledge and assets to the opposite global. a few think that those wells have been initially created to convey the moon and its powers to the earth, not less than in its mirrored image. Water from those holy wells used to be believed to have the intrinsic worth of fertility and existence, and thereby love and sexuality. in lots of cultures, and for untold centuries, it's been believed that Holy wells are inhabited, or at the least guarded, via nymphs and faeries. Holy wells also are contradictory. Traditions have held that they're lifestyles giving, they provide needs, they heal, they foretell the long run but additionally that they might take existence, practice curses, and function apartments for misplaced souls and supernatural mischief-makers.Most holy wells were renamed after Christian saints yet in lots of circumstances the traditional practices linked to them proceed. Votive choices are nonetheless left in mystery at many out-of-the-way destinations all through nice Britain and Europe. what's most crucial is how those monuments have an effect on us at the present time. will we locate an incredible archetypal hyperlink in our thought of what's holy and divine via those wells? can we locate ourselves at peace after we stopover at those parts?
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Extra info for Sacred Wells: A Study in the History, Meaning, and Mythology of Holy Wells & Waters
Sample text
There is also evidence that an oak avenue led through the grove to the well and on to the Tor. Two oaks, estimated to be more than 2000 years old, still survive as part of the original oak avenue. The Celtic belief that the Underworld was home to the Cauldron of Plenty and that wells and springs were entryways to the Underworld would have been verified at the Chalice Well. Not only healing, the red waters represented the menstrual blood flow of the goddess which is constant and never failing. To the Christians who absorbed the legends surrounding the Sacred Well of Glastonbury, the red water is symbolic of the blood of Jesus.
Legends of Icelandic Magicians. S. , for the Folklore Society 1975, 101 27 Sacred Wells St. Keyne’s Well St. Keyne’s Well is another found in the beautiful Cornish woods, not far from the River Looe. It is said that five ancient trees grew from a single root at the top of the well, an oak, a Cornish elm, an ash-tree, and a willow. By the 1890s only the elm and one ash-tree remained, the others had been blown down in a storm in 1703. An 18th century account of the well described the site: …a spring rising under a tree of a most strange condition: for beyinge but one bodie it beareth the branches of four kinds — oke, ashe, elme, and withye.
After Jesus’ execution, Joseph and other followers are said to have returned to Glastonbury with the Holy Grail, which was placed under the well area where the blood red waters spring. The Holy Grail though is older than Christianity. The Chalice, the Grail, is symbolic of the cauldron of plenty and the Cup of Knowledge of Celtic lore, as well as mythology from many other ancient cultures. The famous magician and astrologer of Elizabeth I, John Dee, proclaimed the Chalice Well to have the powers of youth and health.
