ABSTRACT
Folk liturgies and traditions about sacred watery sites often subsume other topographical features such as trees, stones, caves and heights. Water has its own materiality, but these graspable, textured repositories for prayer offer a different sensory connection to belief. A holy well is most commonly a sacred spring, but can be any natural source of fresh water that is a focus for ritual practice and engagement with the supernatural. Marius Servius Honoratus’ appealing aphorism that all springs are sacred resonates around the world, but there are, of course, springs and other water sources that are considered cursed, or that have neither retained nor acquired sacrality; even many healing water sources are not considered holy. Spirits of springs and water holes have also required gifts to keep their blessings flowing. Springs emanating from caves are special wherever they occur, their waters are considered the most miraculous and ritually pure from Greece to Mexico, and some have evidence of prehistoric veneration.
