They were centres of ceremony and ritual, and were considered places to journey to for healing of particular ailments. The sites of original wells and springs were key locations for local community gatherings. In early Christian times across Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, churches and hermitages were frequently built over or alongside existing wells or springs. Primary sacred sites around the world typically have a water source very close by. The Iona Abbey Well would have been a very important holy site in its day. The Iona Abbey is built over such a subterranean spring, and the still-existing (though not functioning) stone well built on the Abbey grounds close to the main entrance would have been a source of water for both drinking and ceremony for the previous island residents, including the Druids and Druidesses prior to Columba’s time. No doubt that in pre-Christian times, the holy wells on Iona would have been honoured and appreciated as sacred and divine for thousands of years. And from the Celtic Goddess Brighid herself!Ĭhurches were commonly built over subterranean springs where a perpetual source of holy water would fill a crypt or grotto. Water was a means for communion with spirits in asking for protection and safe passage from the elemental beings. Just outside the Abbey on Iona, for example, there is a stone trough built to contain water, and the legend is that if a person poured three handfuls of water into the trough before making a trip out to sea, then a safe voyage would be assured. Water was believed to have certain magical qualities in addition to its life-giving qualities. Water, in addition to the other elements of earth, air, and fire was considered sacred to the Celtic people, particularly to the Celtic Druids and Druidesses. Let’s look further at our global ancestors’ ancient view of water and compare it to the present day. The Otherworld was known to be accessed through wells and springs. The Otherworld is a place or dimension that one could travel to that was characterized as a place of everlasting youth, health, joy, beauty, and abundance. Sources of springs and wells were considered to be access points to the Otherworld. And it was to her that the sword was returned. She was the one who gave King Arthur a powerful and magical sword, Excalibur. The most famous of these is the ‘Lady of the Lake’ in the legend of ‘King Arthur’. For example, the term ‘Lady of the Lake’, referred to a spiritual being that protected a lake. In Celtic times, there were both ethereal spiritual essences that guarded and protected sources of water, and there were actual human women who protected sources of water. Women were the guardians and protectors of sacred springs and holy wells throughout the vast lands and history of Celtic civilization. In all ancient goddess cultures, women were the ones responsible for water in all of its many expressions. The Celtic Goddess Brighid was the primary protector of the rivers, seas, oceans, lakes and springs.
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