HISTORY
The Evolution of Making Wishes Through ‘Wishing Wells’
Traditional beliefs that sowed the seed of buying good fortunes
Human beings and their wishes mostly share cordial relations. Since the civilizations emerged, the ancestors explored ways that would grant them their desired wishes. Whether other living creatures wish or not is unknown, but human wishes even today trail endlessly.
For our wish fulfillment, we walk along the path that our ancestors followed for a long time. Some cultural practices such as tying a thread across the religious places' doors, chanting certain mantras, and more, are believed to grant our wishes. Remarkably, despite the output, an act of wishing is a basic human tendency.
Amongst various methodic traditions, one miraculous way to wish attainment is through “wishing wells.” Whether in the playgrounds, the backyard of the house, or the neighborhood areas, the moment we find a wishing well, we subconsciously know the next step to take. We drop a coin in the well and make a wish. Maybe our wish might come true, or maybe not.
However, in making wishes, we seldom focus on how the custom of “wishing well” actually started. Did our ancestors strongly believe that human wishes have a cost assigned? Does wish-fulfillment require a sacrifice? Or is wish making a soul purification technique? To solicit answers, let us rewind the past and delve into the folklore of wishing-wells.
Ancient ideologies revolving around sacred water
During contemporary times, water was appreciated as human civilization’s highly-priced possession. Due to its vital nature, numerous settlements got established near clean drinking water sources that helped our ancestors carry their day-to-day activities. Regarding their moral perceptions, a broad notion existed that all earthly creatures, including humankind, were unclean.
As a consequence, the chances of water inheriting the pollutants multiplied according to ancestors’ cultural ideologies. Time and again, ritual cleansing was performed by them as an act of purification. Several lakes, springs, and wells were also protected by them from the polluting sources and remained sacredly held as worshipping places.
On a global level, at least two billion people use a drinking water source that remains contaminated with faeces, according to a report by the World Health Organization. And people today are striving hard to keep the water sources clean.
In ancient times, people widely believed that heavenly deities or holy spirits dwelled in the water sources and kept the water clean because water contamination was a much more common phenomenon in classical times. Thus, our ancestors held the sentiment of acknowledging water as a saintly entity.
The power of clean water extended beyond the physical needs of its users. Several ancient cultures and religious societies ascribed magical powers to the water. In many customs, wells remained a symbol of various ritualistic ceremonies that got conducted around them.
This has encouraged a culture of singing songs, performing ballads, and narrating fables and poems around its premises. For ages and across varying cultures, the well waters or water from any other springs remain revered as sacred entities that hold miraculous healing powers. And in European folklore, people considered the wishing well as a symbol that held the miraculous power of granting wishes.
Folklore origins that gave rise to wishing wells
While wish seeking from wishing wells is common practice, however, this tradition's origin is not. Multiple ancient cultures spanned on different beliefs present their views in regards to the wishing wells. From predated history, it is challenging to identify one singular event that gave rise to the origin of wishing wells.
One of the earliest references of wishing wells comes from the works of the author Pliny the Younger. He mentioned that several individual springs all together converge to give rise to a still body of water. And he further stated that the stillness of the water, its calmness that makes the water appear crystal clear, eventually enables people to see the gleaming pebbles at the bottom and the coins that the people have thrown in the hope of wish attainment.
In ancient European cultures, people viewed underground springs as unique and valued the sacred water as the pious gift to humankind from the heavenly. To hail the deities for their generous gift, people often dropped small appreciative tokens in groundwater springs. As time passed, the use of coins came into play.
Amongst the German tribes of Europe, a belief existed around the wishing wells. People believed that spirits had created the water, and hence the water source was the abode of the deities. In their saddest moments, people “wished” in the hope that the spirits might pity them and fulfill their longings. To further appease the spirits, people dropped small tokens like coins in the well.
Another source highlighting the existence of wishing wells comes from the early Celtic traditions. Often, the patrons tossed coins into a “well” in Carrawburgh, in the Northumberland county of England, to appease the Celtic goddess Coventina; the well remained attributed in her name. She is the Romano-British goddess of springs and wells and is associated with childbirth, healing, and abundance.
The locals also built a small temple for the goddess around the spring water source. During the archeological excavation that unearthed Coventina’s Well, archeologists also uncovered numerous coins, glass pieces, pottery, buttons, threads, and other items dating back to as early as the first century.
Other folklore stories on wishing wells focused on the Norse Gods. In Nordic mythology, a “well” belonged to Mimir, the god of wisdom. The water deity “Mimir” drank water from the “well of wisdom” every day that made him the wisest being among all. To save the world from destruction, the Norse god, Odin wanted to seek wisdom from the well of wisdom; however, the price demanded from him was heavy.
The godly deity Mimir asked Odin to offer his right eye, which the latter sacrificed. Odin’s eye was thrown into the well so that others could see that attaining wisdom from the well required a hefty price to be paid. When I look upon this aspect, even, in reality, gaining wisdom comes at a high cost.
Beyond the folklore connections, some modern scientists believe that leaving coins adds to water’s unique properties. As previously mentioned, freshwater was not always fit for drinking during early times as it remained often overloaded with bacteria that had the probability of causing infections. And the addition of silver and copper coins in the wells reversed the effect by killing the germs and ensured the water’s safety.
Paradoxically, “wish” seeking through ritual performance is a veteran part of societies. These ancient traditions continue to exist today, although their real meaning might have lost its essence. Perhaps wish creation is a form of a prayer or votive offerings that requests divine intervention to gain favor, but the modern world finds the idea of wishing well as humoristic and avoids active engagement in performing such rituals.
Although pop culture backs off from such practices, maybe the surface-level action of throwing a coin has a deeper meaning restored in the sacred waters. The sincerer idea rests on the belief system that divine intervention governs the life cycle of humans.
In an actual sense, we never know what runs in the deity’s mind, but these ancient rituals condition a belief that higher powers can answer human and earthly concerns.
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