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Where water emerged from earth—springs, wells, certain pools—Nerthus was particularly present. These were not merely sources of water but places where her inner essence surfaced, where the hidden depths became accessible, where humans could connect most directly with her living presence.
These waters were sacred, requiring protective protocols. Certain springs could be drunk from freely, their water being gift. Others demanded offerings before use—coins thrown into the water, bread left at the spring’s edge, cloth tied to nearby branches. Still others were forbidden entirely except on specific occasions or to specific people, their waters being too sacred for casual use.
The waters possessed healing properties, but this healing came from Nerthus herself, her essence flowing through the water into those who drank or bathed. Blindness was cured, skin conditions healed, infertility reversed—not through chemical properties of the water alone but through the goddess’s conscious decision to grant healing to those she favored.
But the waters could also punish. Those who violated sacred springs, who polluted them or took from them without proper offering, might find themselves struck with illness that no earthly remedy could cure. The water they had wronged became poison to them, the goddess’s vengeance manifesting through the very element they had abused.
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