What is "wishing well"

n. A well where, traditionally, wishes were thought to be granted, especially if coins were dropped into the water.

A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deities or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and often a scarce commodity.

The Germanic and Celtic peoples considered springs and wells sacred places. Sometimes the places were marked with wooden statues possibly of the god associated with the pool. Germanic peoples were known to throw the armour and weapons of defeated enemies into bogs and other pools of water as offerings to their gods. Water was seen to have healing powers and therefore wells became popular with many people drinking, bathing or just simply wishing over it. Some people believe that the guardians or dwellers of the well would grant them their wish if they paid a price. After uttering the wish, one would generally drop coins in the well. That wish would then be granted by the guardian or dweller, based upon how the coin would land at the bottom of the well. If the coin landed heads up, the guardian of the well would grant the wish, but the wish of a tails up coin would be ignored. It was thus potentially lucky to throw coins in the well, but it depended on how they landed.

The tradition of dropping pennies in ponds and fountains stems from this. Coins would be placed there as gifts for the deity to show appreciation.

This may be a left over from ancient mythology such as Mímir's Well from Nordic myths, also known as the ¨Well of Wisdom¨, a Well that could grant you infinite wisdom provided you sacrificed something you held dear. Odin was asked to sacrifice his right eye which he threw into the well to receive not only the wisdom of seeing the future but the understanding of why things must be. Mímir is the Nordic god of wisdom, and his well sits at the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree which draws its water from the well.

Another theory is people may have unknowingly discovered the biocidal properties of both copper and silver; the two metals traditionally used in coins. Throwing coins made of either of these metals could help make the water safer to drink. Wells that were frequented by those that threw coins in my have been less affected by a range of bacterial infections making them seem more fortunate and may have even appeared to have cured people suffering from repeated infections.

In November 2006 the "Fountain Money Mountain" reported that tourists throw just under 3 million pounds sterling per year into wishing wells.

"Wishing Well" is a song by Terence Trent D'Arby. The second single from the 1987 album Introducing the Hardline According to Terence Trent D'Arby, the song reached number one on both the Soul Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 on . "Wishing Well" was certified "Gold", indicating sales of 500,000, by the Recording Industry Association of America in October 1991. Written by D'Arby and Sean Oliver, D'Arby said "Wishing Well" was written "when I was in a half-asleep, half-awake state of mind", and that he "liked the feel of the words". Martyn Ware of Heaven 17 paired with D'Arby in production of the song, which was released on CBS Records. Once released, "Wishing Well", along with D'Arby's debut single " If You Let Me Stay", went into "heavy rotation" on MTV. D'Arby performed the song live at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards, where he lost the Grammy Award for Best New Artist to Jody Watley. When the single reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it had charted for 17 weeks, which made it the slowest song to reach number one since " Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" in 1983.

Ben Greenman of The New Yorker credits "Wishing Well", along with other D'Arby songs, with "[bringing] soul music into the eighties". Writing about D'Arby for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine called the song "sparse funk", and noted how "Wishing Well" was his first major hit in the United States. Kathi Whalen of The Washington Post credited the song's chart success to D'Arby's combination of "'60s soul and pop on top", and called "Wishing Well" "bouncy". The song appears in Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City fictional radio station Vice City FM.

Wishing Well is a BBC Books original novel written by Trevor Baxendale and based on the long running science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Tenth Doctor and Martha Jones. It was published on December 26, 2007, alongside Peacemaker and The Pirate Loop.

Wishing well is a type of well in European folklore.

Wishing Well may also refer to:

A wedding wishing well is a fancy donation box that is gaining popularity among bridal couples (up to 60% of weddings have them ), who have often lived together before marrying, or who have been previously married, and do not need any of the traditional wedding gifts. They are also sometimes found at showers to collect monetary gifts for the guests of honor, as well as wedding wishes or marriage quotes, poems and messages of congratulations.

Wishing Well is a 2001 album by Monte Montgomery. It was produced by Montgomery and Carl Thiel.

Wishing Well (foaled April 12, 1975 in California - died 1999 in Ireland) was an American Thoroughbred racing mare who won twelve of her thirty-six starts and who secured her place in Thoroughbred history as the dam of Sunday Silence, the 1989 Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Breeders' Cup Classic winner who was voted American Horse of the Year, inducted in the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame in 1996, and who was the Leading sire in Japan for thirteen straight years between 1995 and 2007.

Wishing Well died at Coolmore Stud in Ireland at age twenty-four in 1999 as a result of complications from colic.