Chapter V: The Most Wide-Spread Phase of Animism

Deification of fountains and rivers a general cult—Max Müller’s
theory of poetic personification—The spiritual element uppermost
in the worship of water—Water an important factor during the
first three days of Creation—Rabbi Ismael’s saying—Babylonian
conception of the god Nun—Rising of Shu from water—The Akkad
triad of gods—Worship of streams absorbed by the Hittites into
their pantheon—Two triads sacred to the Phœnicians—The Vedic god
Varuna—How the conception of the night served to convey the idea
of the ocean—Greek beliefs—Okeanos and Skamandros—Neptune, the
Latin sea-god—Nēreus, the Old Man of the Sea—The Scandinavian
god Niörd—Midsuno Kami, the water-god of Japan—The Peruvian
sea-god Virakocha—Worship of Mamacocha, Mother Sea—The Egyptian
Nile-god—Parsi festival in honour of Ardevi Sur Anahita—The Greek
goddess Aphrodite—Wells of water bestowed by Greek saints—Healing
virtues of the waters of Egeria—Dedication of likenesses of
diseased limbs to the water-nymph Egeria—Similar offerings to
Virgin Mary at Mount Mary’s Chapel at Bandra—The holy well of
Smyrna Cathedral—Cures effected with ordinary water just as
well as with the sanctified water—Archæological evidence of the
British cult—American examples of animistic ideas concerning
water—African rites of water-worship 29-39

CHAPTER VI.

_CHRISTIAN TOLERANCE OF THE CULT OF WATER._

A non-Christian custom—Edicts of Kings, Popes and Church Councils
prohibiting the practice—Total eradication of beliefs and customs
of age-long existence impossible—Continuance of pagan worship
under Christian auspices—A dual system of belief—Supplication of
a Scottish peasant at a sacred well—Grimm’s examination of the
result of the Christian tolerance of paganism—Mr. Edward Clodd’s
testimony 40-43

CHAPTER VII.

_HOLY WELLS AND TANKS._

Worship of Khwaja Khizr—Alexander’s ramble in quest of the
blessed waters—Northern India customs—_Khwaja Saheb ka
Dalya_—Water of Zumzum—Mother Ganges and Lady Jumna—Pilgrimage
to the Godavari—Russian ceremony of blessing the waters of the
Neva—Sita’s kitchen—Dr. Buchanan’s visit to the Monghyr well—The
theory of expiating sins by baths—King Trisanku’s deadly sins and
salvation—Washing of sins with the sacred thread—Sacred wells
of India—Rajput woman turned into a male Rajput of the Solanki
class—The legendary lore of the holy wells of England—Thomas
Quiller-Couch’s notes on the holy wells of Cornwall—Sacred wells
of Scotland and Ireland 44-53