Paper short abstract:

There is a growing interest in the re-activation and re-storation of holy wells in Norway, sometimes in unexpected ways, where the water as a natural resource has a central place. This paper explores some of the ways in which the wells are interpreted and used in modern restorative practices.

Paper long abstract:

Holy wells attributed the national Saint Olav in Norway are part of a long history of cultural practices involving re-activations, suppressions, contestations, prohibitions and re-enchantments. They served central functions in the late medieval pilgrimage movement in Norway but became political-religious targets in the protestant reformation. However, into the modern period, historical sources and local legends document a partly lively local cultural and religious practice connected to the wells and this is also the case today.

Scattered around the Norwegian landscape the wells are natural springs of fresh water that historically have been utilized as water reservoirs in small scale for specific cultural and religious purposes. Today we can observe a growing interest in the re-activation and re-storation of the wells, sometimes in unexpected ways, where the water as a natural resource has a central place. This paper explores some of the ways in which the wells are interpreted and used in modern restorative practices.

Paper short abstract:

We are looking at the dynamics of traditional and new practices in relation to places of worship and especially to springs. Since the summer of 2016, we have conducted 50 interviews, the data was collected by social media group sources and by site surveys, a Data Corpus of 1,800 texts was created.

Paper long abstract:

Over the past century, the share of magical practices has changed in the European context due to political and economic factors. On the example of Estonia, we are looking at the dynamics of traditional and new practices in relation to places of worship and especially to springs. Various circumstances have been considered as reasons for the preservation of the tradition, such as the return to beliefs of ancestors on practical, economic or religious grounds. The influence of new religious movements, but also of national movement and associated media, is noticeable. But there are also worldview reasons, family tradition and tourism. Since it is obvious that natural shrines are associated with different magical and ritual practices, the aim of our study was to document and compare current and past magical practices and to identify the trajectory of magical knowledge in the modern Estonian neo-pagan, animistic and neoshamanistic movement, using data concerning 20th century on vernacular practices and mediums for comparison.

Since the summer of 2016, we have conducted 50 interviews, the data was collected by social media group sources and by site surveys, a Data Corpus of 1,800 texts was created. Special cases of spring water use and other practices in different regions of Estonia were fixed. As the springs are often appear in one landscape complex with a sacrificial stone or a tree, the observation was to track the transfer of diseases to trees and stones and send them away with water, as well as the use of charms. A separate study was conducted on the behaviour pattern during the COVID pandemic, the beginning of which was marked by objects left at the springs, including masks, wristbands, casual items, souvenirs, items of significance in religious practice, etc., but the behaviour pattern changed during the pandemic.

The share of spring water was the most often mentioned in treatment and prevention practices in all study areas, as was the link with family tradition, also the spread of practices and knowledge through different groups and training courses. Further studies should look at efficiency and the persistence of magical practices, and more specifically study the complex networks of sources from which their knowledge is acquired.

Paper short abstract:

Ella Mary Leather (1874-1928) brought together some 220 folklore records associated with 105 places in Herefordshire county. A participatory textile project is exploring the contemporary resonance of her gathered folklore of the River Lugg and its environs which is currently under ecological threat.

Paper long abstract:

Ella Mary Leather collected folklore in the sparsely populated rural county of Herefordshire at the time of Britain’s First Folk Revival. She noted the persistence of the ‘primitive idea of sympathy and affinity between humanity and the plant and animal world’ (Leather, 1904) and remedied the lack of a systematic record of old country customs. She coaxed tales, cures, sayings, songs, dances and tunes from her community. Her approach was scientific, recording contributors, places, and cross referencing her findings with other published records.

This paper firstly examines her record of places where nature and culture coincide as detailed in her main publication (Leather,1912). There are 105 villages or towns associated with 220 folklore records, excluding her extensive collection of songs and dances (King, 2010). Place details vary from the specific such as a well, a tree, a village, to a larger feature such as a hill, wood, or river.

A community participatory textile project is underway to retell stories of the River Lugg, utilising both Leather’s gathered folklore of it and its environs and a contemporary commemorative practice. In 1461 a battle was fought on its banks where some 4000 soldiers died, and today on its anniversary the local mill owner throws a few snowdrops into the river. The river is currently under great threat from nitrate and phosphate pollution. Leather hoped that her work would be ‘of some practical use to the comparative folklorist’ (Leather, 1912: xii.); utilised in this way her work may be future forming.

Paper short abstract:

The paper examines the significant changes that occurred in the waters of the Hungarian capital, Budapest, in the second half of the 19th century through the natural, medical and cultural practices that influenced the professionals and decision-makers of the time.

Paper long abstract:

In the second half of the 19th century, the environmental history of the capital of Hungary, Budapest, have seen significant events. The problems of the metropolitanisation were seen as being solved primarily by infrastructure development, influenced by the sanitary movement. As a result, the construction of water pipes and waterworks and a new sewerage network, and the regulation of the urban stretch of the Danube and its various streams on both banks were all part of the urban planning process which began in the 1860s and 1870s. In addition to numerous cartographic and engineering surveys, a 1,200-page summary work written by contemporary Hungarian experts was completed in 1879, which aimed to provide a natural, medical and cultural description of Budapest.

Today, with varying degrees of success, the revitalisation of some streams (e.g. Rákos Stream) is under way or being planned. The related surveys and ideas from the 1870s, which give a snapshot of the conditions before the large-scale reconstruction could provide a good basis for these re-enchantments. An understanding and assessment of their place in the social, cultural and ecosystem of the time can provide an important starting point for understanding their current role and for working out the scale of restoration required.

In my presentation, I would like to focus on the role and value of Budapest's waters in the lives/perceptions of the contemporary professionals (engineers, doctors, scientists) and decision-makers of the city who prepared and implemented the major infrastructural changes of the second half of the 19th century.

Paper short abstract:

Sintra is a site near Lisbon, classified by UNESCO as Cultural Landscape. How can World Heritage site, with an enchanted aura praised by many religions, that use it profusely for their rituals, still protect its ecosystems? How do we balance religious freedom and the protection of the ecosystems?

Paper long abstract:

Sintra, a site near Lisbon, has been known as the splendorous Summer residence of kings and nobility since the Middle Ages. It was classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, in a specific category—Cultural Landscape-- exactly because it joins monumental heritage with a breath-taking landscape. Placed in front of the Roca Cape, the western most point in Europe, the mountain of the Moon is also known for its centuries-long religious uses. Sintra is conceived as a magic and “sacred place”, especially by groups and individuals aligning with a world view based on what can be named, after Fuller (2017), a secular spirituality. We will combine this approach with Casanova’s (2009) concepts of secular and religious, Eliade’s (1959) notion of the sui generis nature of the sacred, and Tweed’s (2011) framework of religious space as both generated and generative. The various uses by the multiple religious groups show how the notion of different heritage regimes (Bendix et al 2012) intersect and conflict with a simultaneous variety of notions of sacredness that roam the mountain of the Moon, considered as an enchanted space and most suitable for religious offerings. Religious groups defend the right to use such spaces. Still, many of such religious offerings pollute the water falls, the lagoons… How can a site classified as cultural landscape, with an enchanted aura praised by many religions, that use it profusely for their rituals, still protect its ecosystems? How do we balance religious freedom and the protection of the ecosystems?