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Votive offerings
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FourWinds
FourWinds
10943 posts

Re: Votive offerings
Sep 01, 2009, 07:50
Where it can be shown that the process started in the last 20 years it should be banned.

Many wells in Irland have rag trees. They're great. When they're traditional. People now tie things to trees at stone circles. That's litter to me.

The Irish tradition is to leave something that's close to the affected part of the body: a sock if you have a bad foot; a strip torn off your shirt for a chest problem etc. I once saw a tampon (unused) hanging from a tree at a holy well. Who knows what that lady was going through. More recently the offerings are getting 'commercial': little plastic Jesuses and suchlike. To me that's litter, even at traditional sites.

I can't remember where it is, but there's one well that was known for cures to leg injuries. There was a stack of walking sticks and crutches beside it once, but they were all cleared away. This pile had been there for hundreds of years and probably went back much further.

Leaving bits of plants with berries is highly irresponsible. It runs the risk of introducing foreign flora to a site, which could be invasive.

I once found an open pot of honey in a tree at Castleruddery.
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