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reached the well, where they then drank three handfuls of the healing water and said, “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”
• Additional holy wells known for their gifts of fertility can be found on the Isle of Skye. One ensured the birth of twins, while another ensured the fertility of cattle.
• The Northern Pomo (Indians living in modern-day Northern California) used a spring that they called “child water” to facilitate pregnancy. It was thought that if a married woman desired a child, she should drink from this spring.
• The holy well at Sommested in Iceland offered healing but would lose its powers if a horse washed in the well.
• At the aptly named Holywell in Wales, those seeking a cure would enter the bath waters three times while saying the Rosary.
    The list of sacred wells and how to obtain their specific benefits could go on for pages. In a sort of hypochondriac’s fantasy, one can find wells that cure the full spectrum of maladies, from blindness and soreness of the eyes to rickets, lameness, whooping cough, leprosy, paralysis, and an assortment of other ailments. Some of these cures defy modern medical explanations and seem downright silly to a modern reader. A placebo effect may exist, but surely mental illness cannot be caused or cured by drinking from a well, can it?
    As with many enduring legends, there is a kernel of truth here. Natural spring waters often have high mineral content that do provide therapeutic value. Lithium dissolved in spring waters, for example, can treat mental illness. While modern medicine may help explain the curative powers of sacred springs, the more interesting question is how ancient people explained the waters’ powers prior to chemical analysis of their contents, indeed how they explained the very presence of the waters. In a society withno understanding of modern disease, there had to be another explanation.
    The waters come from places we cannot venture, are transported by forces we cannot see, and cure through means we cannot understand. How did these waters become sacred? Even today, with medical discoveries seemingly an everyday event, many people still attribute special powers to holy waters. Where do their special powers come from?
    From the earliest wells until recent times, the answer has been found in divine origins. Some stories attribute the waters’ existence to gods demonstrating their power or bestowing gifts on their followers. In the earliest of Greek legends, it was thought that rainwater came from Zeus while spring water issued from the female earth goddess Gaia. Thus spring water was used for rituals because it was imbued with sacred properties. In another Greek myth, Poseidon, god of the sea, challenged Athena over who would become the patron god of Athens. Striking his staff on the ground, Poseidon created a spring. In response, Athena created an olive tree. Poseidon’s spring, however, poured out useless salt water and the Athenians chose the goddess of wisdom.
    As religions and local gods changed, the mythic nature of the wells endured. As R. J. Stewart has written about Celtic traditions: “The therapeutic power of wells remained into historical Christian times, with saints taking over but never quite disguising pagan functions. Rituals were preserved in folklore deriving from pagan worship; these include processing around wells, making offerings … and ceremonies involving drinking from skulls.”
    On the other side of the world, an ancient Hawaiian legend speaks of Ka-ne, the “water finder.” Like Poseidon, he struck his staff against the ground. The crushed lava rocks revealed a large pool of pure water. The natural springs around the islands were called Ka-Wai-a-ke-Akua, “the water provided by a god.” In other stories, divinities act through chosen people, such as when Moses strikes the rock at Horeb. God commands Moses to “strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.”

    Bernadette