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Unless otherwise stated, this image is the copyright of the submitter. Contact them for permission to reproduce it. |  | | Description | Fertility Stone
Notes by E C Herbert. I saw this object by chance in 2008 when I was in the local library in the Rhondda in Wales. An elderly gentleman had brought it in to ask if anyone had seen one before. He told me that the object was associated with holy wells in Wales where they had been used for a long time by suspending them in the water to bring fertility to couples. I arranged for him to return so I could photograph the stone and this is what he told me.
These stones represent a practice that is Celtic in origin and goes back a long way. Apparently the stones were carved by a local wise person and suspended in a bucket of water from a holy well by means of a string passed through the hole. They were also thrown across a river in the manner of skipping stones and depending how many times they bounced, so would their issue of children be.
He thought there should be more objects like this to collect from riverbeds when the water is very low as the fertility practice was very old.
I spent some time searching the local area but despite my research, I’ve not found anything else. I cant confirm the authentic nature of the object nor the story.
Admin Note : A little online searching has turned up this pdf file which has several similar objects, one of which was featured in Northern Earth 119 p.23 'A Fertility Figure from S Wales.' http://www.ourvalleysheritage.org.uk/Book/Mystery%20Figurines.pdf |
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