spiritual travel

I had to crane my neck to look up at the snake god. Nearly 15 feet tall, the cobra-shaped stone was almost brushing the roof. I was in Naag Mandir, a Hindu temple about 10 miles outside Labasa, on the Fiji island of Vanua Levu.

Naag is the Hindu snake god, and his stone likeness was festooned with flower-and-tinsel garlands. Offerings were heaped on the altar before him: butter, bananas, incense, flowers and coconut milk.

I was told that 120 years ago the stone was a mere two feet tall, but over the years it has continued to grow. Twice the roof of the temple has had to be raised to accommodate the magically growing cobra stone.

Many years ago there were plans to construct a modern, paved road that required moving the stone to a different site. But those plans were revised when the men on the construction crew repeatedly fell ill and were unable to work. After much deliberation, authorities decided to route the new road around the stone, and the men’s health was restored.

Devotees pray to Naag for fertility. A priest told me of one man who, after 20 years of childless marriage, prayed at the temple, and his wife soon became pregnant.

I was concerned whether the temple roof would need to be rebuilt again if the stone continued to grow. “We have been praying for it to stop growing,” the priest said. So far, their prayers seem to have been answered.

History is filled with stories about people searching for places possessing the power to heal. Some say it was a quest for the legendary Fountain of Youth that inspired Ponce de Leon to explore the Caribbean islands. Although he didn’t succeed, he probably sailed right past mineral springs with miraculously restorative powers.

The springs, near Morant Bay, Jamaica, are said to have been discovered in 1609 by a slave who had been badly beaten by his plantation owner. He fled into the jungle and bathed his wounds in the hot water. Days later, he returned to the plantation looking unbelievably healthy and strong. When he told about the springs, the owner promised  not to punish the slave any further if he revealed where the healing waters were located. In 1699, the jungle around the springs was cleared and a cabin was built nearby.

Today, the place is known as the Bath Fountain Hotel and Spa and is operated by the Jamaican government. There are indoor pools for guests, but locals are eager to take visitors on a hike up the hillside behind the hotel, where hot water gushes out of the rocks into natural pools.

I experienced hot springs slightly less primitive in the village of Aguas Calientes near Machu Picchu, Peru. These public mineral pools are especially welcome to hikers who have completed a trek on the Inca Trail. I found the facilities a bit primitive and in need of maintenance, but worth a visit nevertheless.

Across the ocean in England, the water in holy Madron Well may not be hot, but it has been renowned for its healing power since pre-Christian times. Located in the village of Madron, a few miles north of Penzance in Cornwall, it is also associated with prophecy.

According to local history, a crippled man named John Trelille dreamed that if he bathed in the water and slept nearby he would be cured. It took three days, but it supposedly worked. That was in 1640. During those times women believed that if they threw pins into the water, the bubbles would reveal how many years it would be until they were married.

Mothers traditionally brought sick children to the well on the first three Wednesdays of May. A healing ritual included dipping the child in the water three times and carrying them nine times around the well in an east-to-west direction.

The well is in a thicket of trees, and the ground can sometimes be muddy. Fortunately, the Madron Baptistry well-chapel nearby is more accessible. On the path to the Baptistry you can see strips of cloth, known as clouties, hanging in the trees. According to folklore, a person who had an illness would tear off a piece from an undergarment and hang it in a tree near the healing well. It was believed that as the rag rotted away, the illness would disappear.

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SIDEBAR

Where to Lay Your Head

For accommodation convenient to Madron Well, the Hotel Penzance has been well reviewed as having a good restaurant and spectacular views. Ocean-view rooms start at $190. See: www.hotelpenzance.com.

Hotels in Aguas Calientes tend to be either too cheap or too expensive. We enjoyed the elegant Pueblo Hotel, which has been renamed Inkaterra Machu Picchu. The opulent rooms start at $512. See: www.inkaterra.com. Or, try Gringo Bill’s hostel. Rooms cost $75 a night. See: www.gringobills.com.

In Jamaica, the Bath Fountain Hotel is clean and comfortable with a colonial atmosphere. The average room rate is $70. E-mail: bathmineralspahotelja@yahoo.com.

Rooms at the historic Grand Eastern Hotel in Labasa average $68 per night. E-mail: grest@is.com.fj.