Cleansing, purifying, a source of life: water plays an important role in every spiritual belief system. Drawing on our collections, we’ll travel through a changing landscape of sacred springs, healing wells and spas, following a stream where the spiritual and healing qualities of water flow together.
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Many creation stories tell of life arising out of water. In Babylonian and Assyrian cultures, the god Ea was formed from the commingling of fresh and salt waters. Ea was the creator of life-giving rivers and lakes, and was associated with fertility and wisdom. This statue of Ea was described as depicting the “earliest known deity connected with medicine”.
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Specific rivers and springs are important in many religions. Hindus consider the Ganges to be the holiest river in India, with strong healing qualities. Legend tells that the goddess Ganga fell to earth and threatened to drown and demolish the entire world, but instead she fell on Shiva’s head and now auspiciously flows in the form of the river. This hints at the ambiguous nature of water, which is both life-threatening and life-giving.
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In ancient Greece, springs played a central role in telling the future. At Delphi – the site of the most famous oracle – the waters of the sacred Castalian Spring were extremely important. Pythia, the oracle depicted in this drinking bowl, washed in the spring, and those wishing to consult the oracle had to purify themselves there too.
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Aesculapius is shown being consulted by Venus and her handmaidens. He was the ancient Greek god of healing, and people visited his temples seeking relief from their ills. For instance, the temple at Epidaurus was near to several mineral springs where worshippers could drink, bathe and undergo ritual purification in the waters.
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Water is a key part of the Christian baptism. This dramatic 17th-century Dutch print shows Jesus in the River Jordan being baptised by John. European crusaders later brought the river water back to their own churches to be used as holy water, and in the 1930s Henry Wellcome collected some water from the Jordan because it was claimed to have curative powers.
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During the medieval period there was a boom in worshipping at holy wells; in the British Isles there were over 8,000 dedicated to Christian saints. Nearly 3,000 were in Ireland, including St Olan’s in County Cork, which is photographed above. People said the waters cured eye problems, and the well was still being visited in the age of photography, as you can see from the “votive offerings consisting of medals, coins, pins, crucifixes, personal trinkets”.
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St Winefride’s Well at Holywell in North Wales is the longest-lasting medieval well shrine in the UK and still a centre of pilgrimage. Even royalty went to bathe in the chilly waters there. As well as offering spiritual healing, the well supplied drinking water and powered two watermills. It survived the Reformation, and by the 1800s people were advocating for its miraculous powers once more.
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When we think of healing waters today, our first thoughts might be of a spa rather than a spiritual place. The original Spa (where we get the name from) was in Belgium and had a well dedicated to St Remaclus, who could supposedly purify fountains and generate springs. This print from the 1760s shows some monks visiting Spa.
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Hammams have been described as Islamic versions of European spas, but their primary function is spiritual – they often have strong connections to mosques and enable Muslims to follow Islamic guidance on hygiene and purification. This English engraving dates from the 1840s – around the time that “Turkish baths” (which had some connections to the concept and design of hammams) were starting to open in Britain.
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In Bursa in Turkey, hot springs containing sulphur and iron have a long and famous history as spiritual and healing places. In the 14th century Sultan Murad I had a thermal bath erected in Bursa, and beside it a mosque, where he chose to have his own tomb located. Likewise, Rüstem Pasha, the grand vizier (a similar role to prime minister) of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, had a grand resort there built to benefit from local hot springs: it featured a large bathing pool with a huge dome above.
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Some places that were once holy sites later made claims to the health-giving qualities of their waters due to their mineral content. Malvern in Worcestershire rapidly grew as a site for water cures in the 1740s after Dr John Wall, a local physician, published a study of the chemical composition of the water and of the cures said to have occurred through drinking or bathing in them.
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Building on the trend for water treatments, from the mid-19th century spas like those at Malvern and Buxton offered hydropathic treatments, such as having wet sheets applied to the body, whirlpool baths, mud baths, or even hydroelectric baths.
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In the 20th century some places ceased to acknowledge the spiritual side of their claims to healing waters and others did so purely for style or humour. On the left, a spa poster depicts Hygieia, the ancient Greek goddess of health and cleanliness, but with no expectation that visitors would bring her offerings. On the right, a poster advertises the 1914 film ‘L’acqua miracolosa’, where a couple are “cured” of infertility because the woman claims to be taking the holy waters but is really taking a lover.
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However, for many of us, water continues to have a spiritual connection. In 1858, a local girl named Bernadette Soubirous claimed to have seen and spoken to the Virgin Mary in a grotto near the town of Lourdes, France. Word spread and people continue to make pilgrimages to Lourdes today, hoping for miraculous cures that might enable them to leave their crutches behind at the shrine, like the ones shown hanging in this photograph.
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Water plays a central role in modern spas. Although not overtly religious spaces, their aim to create calming environments to soothe body and mind reflects the healing qualities we still invest water with.
About the author
Ross MacFarlane
(he/him)
Ross MacFarlane is a research development specialist at Wellcome Collection. He has researched, written and lectured on the collections and other topics at the intersection of death, folklore and medicine.