Re: Our Sacred Land | Forum — The Modern Antiquarian

The Sea Cat wrote:

juamei wrote:

The Sea Cat wrote:

Resonox wrote:

tjj wrote:

Not hard to see why clean, clear springs were held in such reverence by our ancestors.

Would our ancestors not perhaps have used streams to wash away their own effluence??? So perhaps they would've been regarded as "sacred" as a cleanser as much as the other uses for water(already mentioned).

I think they would have differentiated between sacred wells/springs etc. and water sources for practical uses.

Unless they were considered sacred since they carried human waste away...

The Celts saw water as the entrance to the Other World. Hence the Danube being named after the Celtic Goddess Danu, for example.

UNESCO’s Water Portal Weekly Update No. 122 published in December 2005 had this to say:

'Water plays a central role in many religions and beliefs around the world:
Source of life, it represents (re)birth. Water cleans the body, and by extension purifies it, and these two main qualities confer a highly symbolic – even sacred - status to water. Water is therefore a key element in ceremonies and religious rites.
Water is often perceived as a god, goddess or divine agency in religions. Rivers, rain, ponds, lakes, glaciers, hailstorms or snow are some of the forms water may take when interpreted and incorporated in cultural and religious spheres.
Religious water is never neutral and passive. It is considered to have powers and capacities to transform this world, annihilate sins and create holiness. Water carries away pollution and purifies both in a physical and symbolical sense. Water is a living and spiritual matter, working as a mediator between humans and gods. It often represents the border between this world and the other'.