Today's Oracle 19th March 2020

Wells and Thermal Springs (Returning to the Source)

Wells and thermal springs are orifices or gateways to the sacred, hot interior of the goddess earth. Her presence marks strength and capacity in our personal and spiritual lives and the desire to express inner changes in our everyday lives.

Invoking the Qualities of Manifestation and Expression.

Wells and thermal springs are natural orifices of the womb of the goddess herself, the warm fires of the earth. Welling up from within, the waters press to the surface of the earth to refresh the land. By tradition, the local king or chieftain mates with the goddess by drinking or bathing in the waters. Fertility for the land is then assured, sometimes by flooding the surrounding land and creating the world anew. This fiery, watery presence of the goddess gives power to manifest inner changes in the outer affairs of life.

It is said that there are some three thousand holy wells in Ireland alone, many abandoned and overgrown, others used only to quench the thirst of livestock, and others engendering pilgrimage and homage throughout the centuries. Often sequestered in lonely hillsides and meadows or nestled in a wooded grove, the ambiance of holy wells is intimate, quieting, and numinous. Now dedicated to St. Brigit, St. Brendan, the Virgin Mary, or one of hundreds of local saints, they were once personifications of mother goddesses, generously welling up water to the surface of the land to sustain life in that locale. At the Well of Doon in County Donegal, for example, the bushes and trees near the well are fashioned with hundreds of rags and torn bits of plastic grocery bags, along with pacifiers, baby ribbons, booties, bibs, trinkets, photos, jewelry, strands of beads, rosaries, crocheted crosses, caps, shoes, and farm boots - all weathering in the wind and rain, the offerings of pilgrims over the years. The well is simple, a level place to kneel and pray and a small, cement-lined pool in which to fill your bottle with water for friends and relatives at home. The prayers for loved ones, for the childless and widowed, for the sick and infirm, and for blessings on family and kin are redolent of memories from an ancient time when wells were the preserves of goddesses and their devoted - though doubtlessly less penitent - supplicants.

In ancient times, people gathered at the goddess's wells for the great solar festivals such as Beltaine (May 1), to celebrate the coming of summer, and Lughnasa (August 1), to celebrate the harvest with ceremony, feasting, games, and races. In modern times, ancient rituals were felicitously attached to saints' days, particularly in midsummer. Most of what we know of these activities comes from eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writers horrified by the "idolatrous" practices of drinking, gambling, and faction fighting occurring on pattern (pilgrimage) days at holy wells.

According to ancient knowing, wells and thermal springs web the landscape with life-giving fertility and generativity. The well opens into the womb of the sacred earth. An overflowing spring is a symbol of robust fertility. A flood destroys and renews the land. The guardian or human protectress of a holy well or thermal spring is female, the few exceptions an overlay, like veneer on an ancient wood. From a set of thermal springs at Bath dedicated to the goddess Sulis, water rushes to the surface at the rate of over a quarter of a million gallons a day. When relaxing or sleeping close to her plenteous waters and steamy breath or luxuriating in her baths, the earth's warmth soothes and refreshes the body. The goddess's presence here is personal, sensuous, and all-embracing.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, you want to manifest interior changes in your outer world. You may be feeling even a bit impatient to "get out there" because the vibrancy of your inner life needs exterior expression, affirmation, and contact with others. Your courage and artistry (whether you think of yourself as an artist or not) are urging you to put your dreams and hopes into positive actions and concrete products and activities. Whatever hesitancies you may have, it is time to let them go.

The upwelling of spirit is within you. Like a spring rising to the surface of the land, your creativity is needing expression in the world. No more practicing and preparing to begin. Get going, one step at a time. You must begin by taking the first step, and then another. Don't let seeing the big picture terrorize you, just take the next step toward manifesting your dreams. You already have all the strength and capacity you need. Begin.