medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I should add that this ritual happened in September, in a massive
procession from Athen north, about 10 miles, taking place over several
days. The road follows the coast, but mostly along a cliff until just
before Eleusis.
DW
Diana Wright wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> jbugslag wrote:
>> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
>> culture
>> > MR List Members: I've just come from my regular appointment with my
>> > spiritual director, a Catholic nun of Irish ancestry who was raised in
>> > Philadelphia, Pa. (USA), who asked me if I'd ever heard of the
>> > following: Bathing in the ocean on August 15 of each year is believed
>> > to impart healing properties. She reports that her parents, family and
>> > others did so "religiously" (at the New Jersey shore) every year.
>> >
>> > Have any of you heard of this practice? If so, do you know of its
>> > origins?
>>
>> Dear Tom,
>> This is probably related to very old practices that were
>> synchretically reoriented to a Christian context. This one is
>> obviously related to the Virgin Mary, but according to Pausanias, at
>> Nauplion in Greece, the goddess Hera bathed annually in a spring
>> called Kanathos to renew her virginity. In general, many healing
>> springs, wells, etc., have traditionally been associated with the
>> Virgin Mary, although references to bathing in such springs is not
>> very often recorded. Not to say it did not take place -- just that,
>> if it did, it was poorly documented, along with a lot of other
>> "popular" pilgrimage practices, such as ocean bathing which, I
>> believe, only became a popular summer pastime during the 19th century.
>> Cheers,
>> Jim Bugslag
>
> There were innumerable washing/bathing rituals for goddesses/statues.
> The story of Aktaeon probably reflects one such. This spring of
> Kanathos -- still liked for the flavor of its water -- is outside the
> town of Nauplion, on the grounds of a 12th C convent/monastery [it has
> changed back & forth]. A procession came from the Heraion near
> Mycenae, but this spring is quite inland.
> A closer analogy might be the Eleusinian preparatory rites which
> involved bathing oneself and one's baby pig in the sea, before
> dropping the sweet little pig down into a hole as sacrifice.
>
> DW
> http://nauplion.net
>
> DW
>
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