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Sacred Waters: an International and Transdisciplinary Conference

  • Start date: 30th Jun 2024
  • End date: 3rd Jul 2024
  • Buxton, Derbyshire
  • Organiser: Celeste Ray, David Petts, the Folklore Museums Network
  • Website

Sacred springs and holy wells are found around the globe in Indigenous spiritual traditions and international faiths. These sites’ sacred topographies often make them nodes of Biocultural Diversity. This conference invites exchange about how these Sacred Natural Sites are understood across disciplines, and what their study can teach us for local ecosystem care and socio-ecological resilience in the climate crisis.

Paper abstracts are invited considering holy wells and sacred springs, pools, rivers, lagoons and lakes:

in terms of archaeological and hydrogeological characteristics
as therapeutic landscapes
in relation to medical humanities and the folklore of healing waters
their pilgrimage traditions and folk liturgies
their histories and use
their associated saint cults or numens
as a focus of social relations between humans and non-human persons
as ecosystems
their associated trees, rocks and sacred topographies
as sites of Biocultural Diversity
​Please submit abstracts (200 words maximum) at this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScdL7yGSJnz7guH-6GL92dh1Fx-B-IbVsDe7kPHq2amadHrjg/viewform?usp=send_form

Deadline for abstract submission: 20 February 2024
Acceptance notifications: 24 February 2024
Deadline for registration: 04 April 2024

​Keynote Speaker:
Veronica Strang on Water Beings

See our website for more information on booking and registration: https://sacredwaters7.wordpress.com/