Religiousfreak - Celtic Way

Healing Wells and Fairy Trees

Healing wells, which are springs or small pools of water thought to be magical, have a long history of tradition that dates back to pagan times.

“In pagan times, wells and springs were believed to be inhabited by a spirit or divinity, who caused the waters to have healing properties to those who drank of them or bathed in them, at the same time propitiating the divinity with an offering.” “The misty isle of Skye : Its scenery, It’s people, Its story” by Eneas Mackay, Stirling, (1927)

I am going to try to cover the basics of them as quick as possible, so please bear with me if I skip bits as I try to keep this post a reasonable length. If I miss a fact you love, please share it for everyone to read.

“Wherever there was a spring, there was life; where-ever there was life, there was a spirit; and each river and loch, each burn and tarn, each bubbling spring had its own deity. In some instances, this primitive guardian deity is found in animal form. Martin mentions a well at Kilbride, in Skye, with only one trout in it. ‘The natives are very tender of it,’ he says, ‘and though they may catch it in their wooden pails, they are careful to prevent it from being destroyed.’ In the well at Kilmore, in Lome, there used to be two fishes that were revered by the folk as lasg sianta, holy fishes.” The Silver Bough: Volume 1  by F. Marian McNeill (1957-1968)

It could be gathered that each holy well in Scotland once had a known spirit or fairy living there, but even the water itself was said to hold power. Jumping over running water was said to be protection from some unseelie fairies, and streams were often were the sites of important events.

“A bargain made over running water was indissoluble. It is the old calling of water as a witness. Lovers who desired to plight their vows with peculiar solemnity repaired to a burn, stood on opposite banks, dipped their fingers into the water, clasped hands across the stream, and so exchanged their vows. It was thus that Burns plighted his troth with Highland Mary.” The Silver Bough: Volume 1  by F. Marian McNeill (1957-1968)

Today, most the wells now go by the name of a Saint. As well as that, while they were mostly referred to as healing wells in the past, their function now is often described as “wishing wells.” There are exceptions to this, though, such as the Fairy Well in one of the islands of the Shetland that was said to often be visited by fairies who would occasionally switch it from water into wine,get drunk, and cause mischief.

As well as that, the trees or bushes which once held the offerings — most commonly a rag from your own clothes — are now sometimes known as wishing trees or fairy trees.

“When trees beside wells had rags hung on them as offerings, they would naturally be reverenced, as the living altars for the reception of the gifts.” Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)

(Tony Atkin / Strips of Cloth on the Cloutie Tree / CC BY-SA 2.0)

However, other wells had other traditions as well. There might not be a tree or bush at all, and could instead be a stone to place offerings on. Even the types of traditional offerings can change drastically.

“The Cheese Well, on Minchmoor, in Peeblesshire, was so called from the pieces of cheese thrown into it by passers-by as offerings to the fairies.” Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)

Historically, if possible, you would try to visit a well on a quarter day before the sun was up. Then, there would be a strict set of customs. Some common themes include

Walking three times around the well.

Silvering the water (throwing in a silver coin).

Thinking of your wish while drinking from the well.

Dipping your offering in the water.

Placing your offering at the designated place.

Leave before the sun comes up.

I would not recommend drinking out of a well today, as some have signs saying the water is no longer safe. Instead, there are fairy trees or clootie trees that still have the tradition of leaving a strip of cloth, but do not have a well attached to them. The most popular of these is likely the Doon Hill and Fairy Knowe.

NOTE

If you do visit one of these sites:

For Clootie Wells: Do not bring modern synthetic fabric, since it is hard on wildlife and can kill the trees over time. There are also regular cleanups at many sites dedicated to removing such harmful fabrics. Instead, bring a biodegradable fabric. Instead, bring biodegradable fabrics, such as 100% wool or cotton.

Coin Trees: Do not hammer hammer coins into trees. The original “wishing” tree on Isle Maree died from this, so people have moved on to other trees unrelated to the tradition. It might seem harmless, but the bark is the trees immune system, that people are hammering open. As well as that, most people us copper coins, which cause copper poisoning to the tree.

Coin Wells: Some wells do ask for a coin offering, but specifically a silver coin. Copper coins can cause copper poisoning to the fish.

Finally, please research the history of the area. Not all the healing wells ask for the same offerings, and yet many people ignore that; for example, tying offerings to random trees at a well that only has the traditions of coins. As I have said above, a well even has the tradition of cheese offerings, so not all wells are the same.

Despite this, some people have started leaving plastic toys, shoes, and more. If it’s not biodegradable, its not respecting the tradition, and can kill the site.

Have you heard about Crom Dubh na Nollaig? In Ireland, he is far more different than he is in Scotland. In Ireland, he has two main backstories:

In association to Saint Patrick where he serves as a point of conflict

A god for whom people left flowers for at Altóir na Greine(Altar of the Sun) on Crom Dubh Sunday until the alter was destroyed for construction in the 1800's.

In parts of Scotland, however, Crom Dubh na Nollaig was the personification of the wind howling in the chimney during Yule/Christmas("Nollaig" is another name for Christmas), and his howling reminded children to behave or risk being taken by him. There is a short historic audio recording about him here.

(And before someone mentions it, yes I am aware the above image is of Krampus. It was the closest I could get)

If you haven’t given an offering to your deities/spirits/ancestors/etc in a while because you feel icky mentally or physically, here are some quick and easy options:

- water (drinkable, preferably)

- make a playlist of at least 3 songs (you can add more later if you’d like)

- talk to them, just say hi, tell them what’s going on in your life

- if you’re physically able, dance or exercise a bit!!

- read or re-read stories about them if they’re a deity

- recall fond memories you’ve had together, tell them why these memories are fond

- Buy or pick a flower/plant, put it on your offering space

- buy a lil pastry and offer it to them

FAMOUS AUTHORS

Classic Bookshelf: This site has put classic novels online, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte.

The Online Books Page: The University of Pennsylvania hosts this book search and database.

Project Gutenberg: This famous site has over 27,000 free books online.

Page by Page Books: Find books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, as well as speeches from George W. Bush on this site.

Classic Book Library: Genres here include historical fiction, history, science fiction, mystery, romance and children’s literature, but they’re all classics.

Classic Reader: Here you can read Shakespeare, young adult fiction and more.

Read Print: From George Orwell to Alexandre Dumas to George Eliot to Charles Darwin, this online library is stocked with the best classics.

Planet eBook: Download free classic literature titles here, from Dostoevsky to D.H. Lawrence to Joseph Conrad.

The Spectator Project: Montclair State University’s project features full-text, online versions of The Spectator and The Tatler.

Bibliomania: This site has more than 2,000 classic texts, plus study guides and reference books.

Online Library of Literature: Find full and unabridged texts of classic literature, including the Bronte sisters, Mark Twain and more.

Bartleby: Bartleby has much more than just the classics, but its collection of anthologies and other important novels made it famous.

Fiction.us: Fiction.us has a huge selection of novels, including works by Lewis Carroll, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Flaubert, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others.

Free Classic Literature: Find British authors like Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, plus other authors like Jules Verne, Mark Twain, and more.

TEXTBOOKS

Textbook Revolution: Find biology, business, engineering, mathematics and world history textbooks here.

Wikibooks: From cookbooks to the computing department, find instructional and educational materials here.

KnowThis Free Online Textbooks: Get directed to stats textbooks and more.

Online Medical Textbooks: Find books about plastic surgery, anatomy and more here.

Online Science and Math Textbooks: Access biochemistry, chemistry, aeronautics, medical manuals and other textbooks here.

MIT Open Courseware Supplemental Resources: Find free videos, textbooks and more on the subjects of mechanical engineering, mathematics, chemistry and more.

Flat World Knowledge: This innovative site has created an open college textbooks platform that will launch in January 2009.

Free Business Textbooks: Find free books to go along with accounting, economics and other business classes.

Light and Matter: Here you can access open source physics textbooks.

eMedicine: This project from WebMD is continuously updated and has articles and references on surgery, pediatrics and more.

MATH AND SCIENCE

FullBooks.com: This site has “thousands of full-text free books,” including a large amount of scientific essays and books.

Free online textbooks, lecture notes, tutorials and videos on mathematics: NYU links to several free resources for math students.

Online Mathematics Texts: Here you can find online textbooks likeElementary Linear Algebra and Complex Variables.

Science and Engineering Books for free download: These books range in topics from nanotechnology to compressible flow.

FreeScience.info: Find over 1800 math, engineering and science books here.

Free Tech Books: Computer programmers and computer science enthusiasts can find helpful books here.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

byGosh: Find free illustrated children’s books and stories here.

Munseys: Munseys has nearly 2,000 children’s titles, plus books about religion, biographies and more.

International Children’s Digital Library: Find award-winning books and search by categories like age group, make believe books, true books or picture books.

Lookybook: Access children’s picture books here.

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

Bored.com: Bored.com has music ebooks, cooking ebooks, and over 150 philosophy titles and over 1,000 religion titles.

Ideology.us: Here you’ll find works by Rene Descartes, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, David Hume and others.

Free Books on Yoga, Religion and Philosophy: Recent uploads to this site include Practical Lessons in Yoga and Philosophy of Dreams.

The Sociology of Religion: Read this book by Max Weber, here.

Religion eBooks: Read books about the Bible, Christian books, and more.

PLAYS

ReadBookOnline.net: Here you can read plays by Chekhov, Thomas Hardy, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and others.

Plays: Read Pygmalion, Uncle Vanya or The Playboy of the Western World here.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: MIT has made available all of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies, and histories.

Plays Online: This site catalogs “all the plays [they] know about that are available in full text versions online for free.”

ProPlay: This site has children’s plays, comedies, dramas and musicals.

MODERN FICTION, FANTASY AND ROMANCE

Public Bookshelf: Find romance novels, mysteries and more.

The Internet Book Database of Fiction: This forum features fantasy and graphic novels, anime, J.K. Rowling and more.

Free Online Novels: Here you can find Christian novels, fantasy and graphic novels, adventure books, horror books and more.

Foxglove: This British site has free novels, satire and short stories.

Baen Free Library: Find books by Scott Gier, Keith Laumer and others.

The Road to Romance: This website has books by Patricia Cornwell and other romance novelists.

Get Free Ebooks: This site’s largest collection includes fiction books.

John T. Cullen: Read short stories from John T. Cullen here.

SF and Fantasy Books Online: Books here include Arabian Nights,Aesop’s Fables and more.

Free Novels Online and Free Online Cyber-Books: This list contains mostly fantasy books.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Project Laurens Jz Coster: Find Dutch literature here.

ATHENA Textes Francais: Search by author’s name, French books, or books written by other authors but translated into French.

Liber Liber: Download Italian books here. Browse by author, title, or subject.

Biblioteca romaneasca: Find Romanian books on this site.

Bibliolteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes: Look up authors to find a catalog of their available works on this Spanish site.

KEIMENA: This page is entirely in Greek, but if you’re looking for modern Greek literature, this is the place to access books online.

Proyecto Cervantes: Texas A&M’s Proyecto Cervantes has cataloged Cervantes’ work online.

Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum: Access many Latin texts here.

Project Runeberg: Find Scandinavian literature online here.

Italian Women Writers: This site provides information about Italian women authors and features full-text titles too.

Biblioteca Valenciana: Register to use this database of Catalan and Valencian books.

Ketab Farsi: Access literature and publications in Farsi from this site.

Afghanistan Digital Library: Powered by NYU, the Afghanistan Digital Library has works published between 1870 and 1930.

CELT: CELT stands for “the Corpus of Electronic Texts” features important historical literature and documents.

Projekt Gutenberg-DE: This easy-to-use database of German language texts lets you search by genres and author.

HISTORY AND CULTURE

LibriVox: LibriVox has a good selection of historical fiction.

The Perseus Project: Tufts’ Perseus Digital Library features titles from Ancient Rome and Greece, published in English and original languages.

Access Genealogy: Find literature about Native American history, the Scotch-Irish immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, and more.

Free History Books: This collection features U.S. history books, including works by Paul Jennings, Sarah Morgan Dawson, Josiah Quincy and others.

Most Popular History Books: Free titles include Seven Days and Seven Nights by Alexander Szegedy and Autobiography of a Female Slave by Martha G. Browne.

RARE BOOKS

Questia: Questia has 5,000 books available for free, including rare books and classics.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Books-On-Line: This large collection includes movie scripts, newer works, cookbooks and more.

Chest of Books: This site has a wide range of free books, including gardening and cooking books, home improvement books, craft and hobby books, art books and more.

Free e-Books: Find titles related to beauty and fashion, games, health, drama and more.

2020ok: Categories here include art, graphic design, performing arts, ethnic and national, careers, business and a lot more.

Free Art Books: Find artist books and art books in PDF format here.

Free Web design books: OnlineComputerBooks.com directs you to free web design books.

Free Music Books: Find sheet music, lyrics and books about music here.

Free Fashion Books: Costume and fashion books are linked to the Google Books page.

MYSTERY

MysteryNet: Read free short mystery stories on this site.

TopMystery.com: Read books by Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton and other mystery writers here.

Mystery Books: Read books by Sue Grafton and others.

POETRY

The Literature Network: This site features forums, a copy of The King James Bible, and over 3,000 short stories and poems.

Poetry: This list includes “The Raven,” “O Captain! My Captain!” and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde.”

Poem Hunter: Find free poems, lyrics and quotations on this site.

Famous Poetry Online: Read limericks, love poetry, and poems by Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Lord Byron and others.

Google Poetry: Google Books has a large selection of poetry, fromThe Canterbury Tales to Beowulf to Walt Whitman.

QuotesandPoem.com: Read poems by Maya Angelou, William Blake, Sylvia Plath and more.

CompleteClassics.com: Rudyard Kipling, Allen Ginsberg and Alfred Lord Tennyson are all featured here.

PinkPoem.com: On this site, you can download free poetry ebooks.

MISC

Banned Books: Here you can follow links of banned books to their full text online.

World eBook Library: This monstrous collection includes classics, encyclopedias, children’s books and a lot more.

DailyLit: DailyLit has everything from Moby Dick to the recent phenomenon, Skinny Bitch.

A Celebration of Women Writers: The University of Pennsylvania’s page for women writers includes Newbery winners.

Free Online Novels: These novels are fully online and range from romance to religious fiction to historical fiction.

ManyBooks.net: Download mysteries and other books for your iPhone or eBook reader here.

Authorama: Books here are pulled from Google Books and more. You’ll find history books, novels and more.

Prize-winning books online: Use this directory to connect to full-text copies of Newbery winners, Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer winners.

New Moon February 20th. What will you be doing?

Love Spell Masterpost

A collection of our favorite love (and love auxiliary) spells for Valentine’s Day and all year long. Remember to ask for consent before casting! 

Love (Attracting):

Shower Disks for Attracting Love 

Love Spell for a 3rd Party 

Jar for Attracting Romance

“Funnel of Love” Spell 

Love Drawing Bath Soak 

Bring Love My Way Spell

Simple Love Spell 

Simple Spell Jar for Love

The Love Stone

Love (Strengthening):

Love Spell Cocktail

Kitchen Witchcraft Pies for a Lover

Strength of Love Spell 

Spell to Strengthen Love 

To Make a Relationship Stronger

Lust and Sex:

Tea for Lust and Romance 

Spell for Passion

‘Shot to the Lust’ Mix

Sex Spell Candle 

Mermaid’s Kiss Enchantment

Sex Drive Sachet

Rose Romance Spray 

Spell to Improve Sex Life

Glamour:

Goddess Glamour Bath 

Goddess Glamour Shower Disks

Glamour Solid Perfume

Notice Me Glamour Spell

Lingerie Glamour Spray 

Glamour Facial Scrub 

Scottish Folklore for Holy

There are many plants thought of protective in Scottish folklore, and Holly(cuileann in Gaelic) is one of them.

Holly . This name is probably a corruption of the word holy , as this plant has been used from time immemorial as a protection against evil influence . Folk Lore: Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century By James Napier

Much like rowan, holly could be placed inside the house above the door as a protective seal. If done, this plant was said to protect against evil intent(including from fairies), and nightmares.

The HOLLY . Pieces of holly along with rowan were placed inside over the door of the stable to prevent the entrance of the nightmare . My informant has cut the tree for this purpose. The Folk-lore Journal (Pg41): SOME FOLK – LORE ON TREES , ANIMALS , AND RIVER FISHING , FROM THE NORTH – EAST OF SCOTLAND

If planted near the house (outside) it was also said to protect from lightning. As it turns out, they may have been right.

“We now know that the spines on the distinctively-shaped holly leaves can act as miniature lightning conductors, thereby protecting the tree and other nearby objects.” The Holly Society,

It was considered bad luck to cut down a holly tree, but cutting of boughs for use was allowed.

The only time the tree was never to be trimmed was if they grew in in boarder hedges, due to the belief that witches would run on top of hedges, but the holly would act as a barrier to stop them.

It is even said that in 1861, the Duke of Argyll even had a prospective road rerouted to avoid cutting down the holly there.

Four-Leafed Clover

Although the four-leafed clover is now only associated with Ireland, it also has folklore in Scotland. This is perhaps not surprising when you consider that in one location, Ireland and Scotland is only 12 miles apart. Despite this obvious opportunity at trading folklore, I still think it is worth sharing the Scottish-side of this folklore.

“The four-leaved Clover had extraordinary influence in preserving its possessor from magical and witch influence, and enabled their possessors also to see through any deceit or device which might be tried against them. I have seen a group of young women within these few years searching eagerly for this charmed plant.” "Folk Lore: Superstitious Beliefs in the West of Scotland within This Century" by James Napier (1879)

Perhaps the oddest bit of folklore related to this involves taking the afterbirth of a horse, and burring it. Supposedly, this will help develop a four-leaf clover which will give you a lock-picking superpower.

"Let a mare’s first secundines be taken and buried, and let the spot under which it lies be searched from time to time till a four-bladed clover is found. Whoever finds it and eats it has the power of opening the most intricate lock simply by breathing upon it." "Notes on the folk-lore of the north-east of Scotland" by Walter Gregor (1881)

---

How To Get Free Books On Folklore

I do not believe in gatekeeping knowledge, so this post will be sharing how I get all my folklore books for free, legally.

To explain, when a book gets over a certain age and the copyright is not upkept, it falls under “public domain.” When that happens, many different websites will provide those books as a free download.

This is not restricted to one type of book, either. You can grab anything from Sherlock Holmes to history books, to folklore, and more.

If you are looking for a specific book, you may have to check more than one source, so I suggest bookmarking more than one website.

Example Websites:

Internet Archive

Project Gutenberg

Google Books

Open Library

Electric Scotland (Scottish books)

Sacred Texts

National Library of Scotland: Ossain Collection

Forgotten Books

Hathitrust

For me when I download a book, I then upload them to my Google library so that I can use the search functions as well as bring up the books anywhere, but a popular PC option isCalibre.

If you are interested in Scotland-specific folklore, I do have some suggestions of books you can start with.

Scottish Folklore Books:

(link) A Dictionary of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures by Katharine Briggs (1976)

(link) Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)

(link) Superstitions of the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1900)

(link) The Peat-Fire Flame: Folk-Tales and Traditions of the Highlands and Islands by Alasdair Alpin MacGregor (1937)

(link) Notes on Folk-Lore of the North-East of Scotland by Walter Gregor, M.A. (1881)

(link) The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W.Y. Evans-Wentz (1911)

(link) Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-Western District of Scotland by J. Maxwell Wood (1911)

(link) Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland by John Gregorson Campbell (1902)

(link) Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs by James M. Mackinlay (1893)

(link) Folk-Lore From The West of Ross-Shire by C.M. Robertson (1908)

(link) The Fairy Mythology / Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries by Thomas Keightley (1850)

(link) Popular Tales of the West Highlands by John Francis Campbell (1862)

(link) Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales by Sir George Douglas

(link) The Scottish Fairy Book By Elizabeth W. Grierson (1918)

(link)

(link) Popular Superstitions of the Highlands By W Grant Stewart (1823)