Mart wrote:
An interesting and well researched article; I'm a fan of Fortean Times though don't buy it on a regular basis so thanks for the link.
The final two paragraphs resonate with much of what has previously been discussed here about leaving offerings.
Some of the practices would superficially appear to follow the supposed ‘old ways’, but actually seem to have missed the point – an indication perhaps that they are reconstructed from fading memory. Rags were, it is said, left at wells so that they could rot away. It was as they decomposed, so the illness of the supplicant faded.
Many of the items left at wells today however are made from plastic – polythene and artificial fibres. According to the old lore, the diseases represented by these non-biodegradable offerings will take a long time, if not a lifetime, to heal.
