Folklore of Wells: Being a Study of Water-Worship in East and West — John Shaqi
Folklore of Wells: Being a Study of Water-Worship in East and WestMasani, Rustom Pestonji
Religion
Folklore of Wells: Being a Study of Water-Worship in East and West
Masani, Rustom Pestonji
Holy wells; Water -- Folklore; Water -- Religious aspects
This parallelism of beliefs and catholicity of cures remind one of the
faith which not only the Greeks and the Roman Catholics, but the Turks
and the Jews had in the miracles wrought by the Greek Saints. The best
known instance of this, given by Miss Hamilton in her illuminating work
on _Greek Saints and their Festivals_, is the large marble fountain
standing in the court of the Panagia’s Church at Tenos. It was the
gift of a grateful Turk cured, according to his own conviction, by the
Panagia of the Christians. To a certain extent a feeling was prevalent
against permitting unbelievers to participate in these boons, but it
was futile in effect and the cures of infidels continued. Within the
Smyrna Cathedral there is a holy well the water of which is specially
renowned for the cure of ophthalmia. Turks, along with Greeks, shared in
its benefits to an extent which excited the jealousy of the officials
and they resolved to give ordinary water in response to the demands
of infidels. This stratagem was, however, ineffectual for the eyes of
the Turks were cured nevertheless with the unsanctified medium just as
thoroughly as with the holy water. This might have shaken the faith of
the believers in the holy well, but fortunately for them no such rude
awakening appears to have marred their confidence in the miraculous
powers of the well or of the saints.
Numerous proofs of water-worship in Great Britain exist to-day. English
folklore is full of these and we shall notice them presently. There is
also archæological evidence establishing the prevalence of the cult.
On a pavement at Sydney Park, Gloucestershire, on the western bank of
the Severn, has been carved the figure of one of the English river
divinities. The principal figure is a youthful deity crowned with rays
like Phoebus and standing in a chariot drawn, as in the case of _Banu
Ardevi Sur Anahita_ of the Iranians, by four horses. Three inscriptions
are preserved: (1) Devo Nodenti; (2) D. M. Nodonti and (3) Deo Nudente
M. The form Nodens has been identified by Professor Rhys with the Welsh
Lludd and with the Irish Nuada. This monumental relic by no means
presents the British embodiment of the water-god, the work being Roman
it evidently bears the stamp of the Roman interpretation of the British
belief in the local god and has been modelled on the Roman standard
of the water-god Neptune. The whole find has been fully described and
illustrated in a special volume by the Rev. W. H. Bathurst and C. W. King.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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