Holy Wells and Springs

In this essay I will attempt to discuss the importance of wells, springs and water in general to the Celts (continantal Celtic as well as Celts in Britain and Ireland). From the beginning of time, the peoples of Ireland and Britain recognized the importance of streams, lakes and hot springs. The hot springs at Bath, for example, have been in use for more than 7,000 years and coins and other objects have been deposited in rivers and springs for centuries.

The Celts had a unique way of looking at water and wells. Water was the boundary between the otherworld and our world. It was the boundary between land and sky, similar in nature to the special time of dawn and dusk, noon and midnight. It was between land and sky. Caves, caverns, wells and springs were all boundaries or gateways to the otherworld and were all places to communicate with deity. Since the water came from the otherworld and/or deep from the earth it was especially blessed. Water that bubbled to the surface or that was steamy and hot was especially thought to have healing properties to pre-Celtic and Celtic as well as Roman settlers to these countries. Also, when you think about the Celts and where they lived, surrounded by water on all sides, you begin to realize that they more than likely realized the strength of water and how it could both destroy and heal. This is very powerful imagery.

At certain special places offerings have been made to wells and springs from time immemorial by those in search of healing or favours from the water gods or goddesses. I will be talking about these places later on this page. These offerings could be of rags and pins, garlands of flowers, something to represent the illness or favor asked or other small gifts to the spirits which people believed continued to preside over the water sources. Sometimes the church condones these actions, often times they did not, but the custom has continued to thrive even today. In the Republic of Ireland and the British Isles rag trees or "clootie trees" can still be seen with rags tied on the branches. These trees are located close to wells and the supplicant asks for something (generally healing) and ties a rag to the branch of the tree. It is thought that by the time the rag rots off of the tree branch, then the request will manifest. Other people think that the tree itself bears the weight of the illnesses that people are trying to rid themselves of. Not all of these wells have rag trees, but many of them do. Many of these wells are still in regular use today.

When the first Christians came they found it hard to rid these areas of worship at sacred springs and wells. In the seventh century AD, the Penitentials of Theodoris said that "no one shall go to trees, or wells, or stones or enclosures, or anywhere else except to God's church, and there make vows or release himself from them." Even though the church had concerns about these practices, the inhabitants of these areas often continued and it was especially popular in rural areas.

Many of the Celtic saints, such as St. Brigid, are associated with wells. Often times the Celtic saints were exchanging places with the local deity of the well and given some of the same attributes as the local guardian of the well. At times the name of the saint and the name of the local deity were similar or the church just took the name of the deity and gave it a saintly prefix to make it more respectable to the church. Perhaps this is why we know so little about the lives of the early Christian Celtic saints.

Rivers were also thought to have special powers or were used for worship. Some rivers, like the Danube, have regained the name of the god/goddess that were important to that place. In the case of the Danube, the goddess recognized is Danu. A well near the river Tyne was dedicated to the water goddess Coventina and when the well area was excavated it contained close to 13,500 coins dating from AD 41 to AD 383. The well also contained inscriptions, pottery, a bronze dog and horse, pins, bells, incense burners and objects of jewelry. These were perhaps thrown in to ask Coventina for favors such as healing. In the Thames were also found objects such as swords and shields and other objects, some of which are now on display at the British Museum in London.

Why were the objects thrown into wells or water often damaged and why were objects left behind in the first place?

Ø The most practical reason was to prevent them from being stolen. If an object is broken it is less likely to be taken.

Ø To release the spirit of the maker or the patron god/goddess

Ø To make a sacrifice to the god and goddess. If you sacrifice something special to you, something made of rare material or something made especially for sacrifice it was to prove to the gods that you were serious about your request or that you were grateful for the request granted.

Ø As a form of barter - "I will give you this if you give me fertility, health, wealth, etc." Wells were thought of places where there is a natural in and out motion of energy. Water from some hot springs bubbles to the surface and water in rivers has a current. These were sometimes seen to show that the river "had a life of its own".

Ø It's a way of creating a direct contact with the person giving away the "gift". This is especially true if the object was made by the person and also destroyed by the same person.

Famous wells and their attendants

Airmed and the well at Slane - Airmed, daughter of Diancecht, was a great Celtic healer and herbalist. As a healer, Airmid surpassed her father in power, for while her father replaced the severed arm of the de Danannan king Nuadha with one of silver, she and Miach regenerated the flesh arm to perfect health (It was said that in order to rule Ireland, the king had to be "whole" and with the silver arm Nuadha couldn't reign until the arm was made of flesh again). Airmed's father, jealous because he could not compete with Miach's surgical skills or Airmed's powers of regeneration, killed his son . After that, Miach was buried and three hundred and sixty-five herbs grew through the grave, corresponding to the number of his joints and sinews. Then Airmed spread her cloak and uprooted those herbs according to their properties. Her father came to her and mixed the herbs, so that no one knows their proper healing qualities unless [she] taught them afterwards. Airmed's herbs, spread upon her cloak, were scattered by her father. If you are looking for answers for herbal healing, ask the goddess Airmed - she often helps those who question her baout the uses for herbs

Airmed, her brother and father sang spells over the well of Slane in Ireland. "Now their mortally wounded men were cast into it as soon as they were slain. They were alive when they came out." Their mortally wounded became whole through the incantation of the four leeches that were about the well. This gives wells their rebirth and healing aspects known even today. Welsh mythology also has similar stories of wells that heal or give knowledge.

Bath

Bath was a spa called Aquae Sulis and legend says that the early British thought that it was the work of Giants or wizards. It was dedicated to the Romano-British cult of Sulis Minerva. Sulis was a local Celtic deity while Minerva was a Roman deity. Bath is a mineral spring beside the River Avon. Water gushes from the ground at a rate of a quarter of a million gallons per day. Celts more than likely thought that they were miraculous - the sheer amount of water bubbling to the surface as well as the heat involved made this a very special site. At Bath, the god is Sulis (Either meaning either Solar or according to R.J. Stewart in his book "Waters Of The Gap" translated as "gap".) was equated with Minerva by the Romans but the Celtic Sulis remained a dominant partner. Sometime in the 1st century Roman engineers converted the shrine at the springs into a great ornamental pool, enclosed within a building which was done in the style of a Graeco-Roman temple, theatre and bath suite.

The central focus of the cult at the temple at Bath was the springs. Found inside were 16,000 coins, dating from the Iron Age. Curses in Latin had been thrown into the springs, dedicated to Sulis.

Bride/St. Brigid

Bride was the daughter of the Dagda (a Celtic god whose name means "good god"), she was one of 3 sisters - goddesses of poetry, healing and smithcraft all named Bride. There have been some theories that Bride is a title denoting a type of goddess as opposed to being a name. Some people say that Bride means fiery arrow. Her holiday is Imbolg February. Imbolg literally means "butter bag" and was celebrated when the ewes began to lactate. Thus, this was a moveable feast (and would be celebrated at different times on the isles depending on when the ewes would lactate in a particular village) and gave her aspects of fertility. She was a solar goddess.

The early church found it hard to do away with her cult and so they changed her to St. Brighid and attributed several miracles to her, especially dealing with her fire aspect. She has a fire temple that was only tended by women.

Brigid, as goddess of healing has many sacred wells, including the one at Kildare, not far from where her fire temple used to be located.

Want to visit with Bride? Here's a guided meditation to help meet her!

Visit my Photo Gallery of Bride's Well and Bride's Fire Pit in Kildare, Ireland

Interested in learning even more about Bride/Brighid/Brigid? Here are some sites that look at the life of this interesting goddess/saint:

Ord Brighide This colorful and informative site includes mailing lists for those interested in Bride, poetry and stories about Bride, Celtic clip art and information on Bride's crosses. This is a very well done site where you can learn more about Bride.

The Chalice Well at Glastonbury

According to Christian tradition, the Essene Joseph of Arimathea settled near Chalice Well having brought the chalice or Holy Grail there in CE 37. There is a thorn tree in chalice well gardens where Joseph of Arimathea placed his staff- there grew a Hawthorne tree. Glastonbury itself has quite a tradition - Glastonbury Tor has on top a church from the 13th century and it is said that there have been settlements on the Tor since the 4th century. The waters of the Chalice Well have never been known to fail. It was the only source that kept on working through a drought in 1921 -22. Under the well lid (The lid had some interesting symbolism itself, click HERE to find out more about the design on the lid), 25,000 gallons of water gush upwards to the surface of the Earth every day filing several human-built small-room-sized subterranean chambers. Red or Blood Spring, a constant supply of red, iron bearing waters considered by many to have healing properties. The waters of the Well became widely known in the 18th century for their curative powers and for many years Glastonbury was famous as a Spa town. Pilgrims came from far and wide to drink and bathe in the healing waters as they do this day. Since anemia was often a problem for women in the 18th and 19th century, the rich iron in the water was a sure cure.

Visit my Photo Gallery of Glastonbury Well in England

Traditions to honor wells today - COMING SOON!!!

Well Dressing - COMING SOON!!!

Visit Doon Well in Ireland - a clootie well still in use today!

I've recently been visiting wells in England and Cornwall and I hope to bring the photos and text of these visits to this page soon.

I'd like to dedicate this section of these pages to Andy Anderson. If it weren't for Andy I wouldn't have taken the time to explore Cornwall. His spirit and laughter are an inspiration.

See one of my favorite wells in Cornwall Menacuddle Well

What we can do now to help keep our rivers, wells and streams clean! - COMING SOON

SACRED WELL MEDITATION I have written a sacred well meditation that I presented along with a lecture about sacred wells in England and Ireland at Sacred Space Convention in July of 1998. I would love to see what results you get when using this meditation, so feel free to email me at motheral@ix.netcom.com

SOURCES:

Stewart, R.J. The Waters of the Gap: Magic, Mythology and the Celtic Heritage. Bath, England: Ashgrove Press Limited. 1989. ISBN 1-85398-012-9.

James, Simon. The World of the Celts. New York, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993.