>So, let me ask another, perhaps naive, question: Why would the Christian
church want to *establish* holy wells and springs?
I'm a very cynical Christian, Ingegerd, and I think you're right about
drawing in crowds! Attraction to wells seems deeply ingrained in people so
if the church down the road had a well that was once, for example, dedicated
to the Goddess and is now patronized by St Winifred then it's going to get
all the pilgrims. If I had been a mediaeval Abbess I would have had no
qualms about dedicating my local spring to St Urith or some other virgin
martyr and grabbing my share of the pilgrim traffic.
However, I suspect some springs/wells were dedicated to Christian saints
because they used them. The south-east of Scotland is full of dedications
to St Kentigern (Mungo) because he used their waters to baptize his
converts.
Regards
Margaret
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