medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Funnily enough, and in quite another field, I have been doing some work
(one paper published last year, another imminent) on a 'holy spring' in
Wiltshire - Swallowhead, near Avebury - that has been 'reinvented' as a
cult site in recent years, in spite of there being little or no
tradition of any antiquity there.
People regularly sleep there, especially around the Summer Solstice and
other such 'high days' of the 'calendar' of 'modern spirituality'. I
have interviewed several of the young visitors to this site, and it is
clear that they are disconnected from each other, and from any conscious
tradition about what one 'ought' to do at a holy well. Yet sleep there
they do. I shall have to start asking them specifically where they got
the idea, though I suspect the answer will be along the lines of 'it
seemed like a nice thing to do'.
The atmosphere there is rather wonderful, like a New Age Madron (as you
know Cornwall). I find it fascinating that a site such as this has
invented itself in the last few decades.
Jon Cannon
-----Original Message-----
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious
culture [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Susan
Hoyle
Sent: 01 February 2006 10:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] incubation (was RE: [M-R] doors)
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
In a message dated 31/01/2006 23:40:40 GMT Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
<<The practice known as incubation was particularly widespread in
classical
Greece (especially in the cult of Aesculapius), and 'more recently' in
the
Mediterranean basin (as far as I'm aware). The main aspects of
incubation were:
night sleep in a holy place; visionary dreams during that sleep; and
resulting curative miracles.>>
In this part of the world (i.e. Cornwall), it is sleeping near a holy
well
which is reputed to have this effect: the precise cure sought depending
upon
the well. It is supposed to be a remnant of Celtic Christianity, if
not
Celtic pre-Christian belief. There are holy wells elsewhere in the
British Isles
(though not so many survive per acre as in Cornwall), but I do not know
whether these beliefs are remembered there.
Susan
[log in to unmask]
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