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Swan Feathers linked to Cornish Witches’ Fertility Rituals

SF Restaurant Examiner: “Jacqui Wood, a British archaeologist has been digging at the site at Saveock Water, where remains of what appears to be witchcraft rituals have just been discovered. Swan feathers, human hair, the remains of 57 unhatched eggs and nail clippings are among some of the offerings found in a 17th century stone-lined pit that could have been a ‘holy well.’ There was additional evidence that the well had been filled to hide what went on there.

     Pagan rituals had been all but wiped out in 17th Century Britain, but not in Cornwall. There such pagan ‘bird rituals’ appear to have continued and many were thought to be linked to fertility spells. It is possible that these offerings, such as the unhatched bird eggs were left and then nine months later, if there was a conception, the person would return to empty the pit.”

(Via Examiner.)

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