Observations placeholder
Mircea Eliade - Unravelling the symbolism of a strange custom
Identifier
010969
Type of Spiritual Experience
None
Background
no spiritual experience, but from the observation it would appear that it was once associated with one
A description of the experience
Mircea Eliade – Patterns in Comparative religion
I think I should recall the ritual that took place at the lake of Saint Andeol in the Aubrac mountains described by Saint Gregory of Tours (AD 544-95).
The men came in their carts and feasted for three days by the lakeside, bringing as offerings linen, fragments of clothing, woollen thread, cheese, cakes and so on. On the fourth day there was a ritual storm with rain.....
A priest, Parthenius, having in vain tried to convince the peasants to give up this pagan ceremonial, built a church to which the men eventually brought the offerings intended for the lake. However, the custom of throwing cakes and worn out things into the lake remained alive till the nineteenth century; pilgrims continued to throw shirts and trousers into the lake, though they did not know what their object was in doing so