10. The Formation of Springs
Before the installation of public water networks, springs were the
most valued or sometimes the only sources of drinking water, and
they still are in many parts of the world. Settlements would estab-
lish around a spring that delivered high quality water. Possibly
because of the connection between living water and good health,
some established a reputation for curative powers. Viktor
Schauberger insisted that the high quality water produced by his
springwater machine had healing qualities.The veneration of springs
Springs have long been associated with folk medicine, ritual and
religion, frequently being reported as places of power in the land-
scape. Usually, springs thus endowed are called 'holy wells' which is
confusing, because the word derives from the Anglo-Saxon for
spring — wella, (hence the expression to 'well up') not for its mod-
ern use as a shaft excavated to reach the underground water table.
The tradition of venerated springs is found in all cultures and major
religions, including the earliest known to us. The most common
association is the bestowal of supernatural qualities, but more
specifically as the abode of spirits or deities, or being linked with
holy figures or saints. In Britain, in most cases the saints named had
no connection with the site, but their qualities may be associated
with those the previous pagans had ascribed.
The waters of most sacred springs are credited with healing
powers, and with cures accomplished by bathing or drinking. In
British lore the most common affliction claimed to be healed by
springs is infertility, followed by eye complaints. However some
springs are regarded as so powerful — as at Lourdes in France, or
Bath in England — that they are reputed to heal many diseases.
Offerings were made to the pools served by the springs, either as
part of the locally established ritual, or as a 'trade' for a wish to be
granted. Many 'wells' were 'dressed,' or decorated with flowers,
paintings, statues or strips of cloth, a tradition found all over Europe
and Asia, in Africa and Central America.
- THE FORMATION OF SPRINGS