The Well of Eternal Youth, Dùn-Ì, Iona, Scotland

The ‘Well of Eternal Youth’ (Tobar na H-Aoise) is located on the top of Dùn-Ì. It is a unique little pool of water nestled beside a cliff on the north-eastern side of the top of the 333 feet (101 metres) highest hill on Iona. The Well is heart-shaped and a wonder to behold. A natural basin formed in the crystal-granite rock boulders that surround the well creates a perfect pool to collect water. The beautiful well is fed by a deep opening in the rock that is connected to a subterranean spring, and the well is also regularly replenished by rain. Once, I saw a fish swimming in the pool. It is a magical place!

The ‘Well of Eternal Youth’ is a Holy Well in the ancient Celtic tradition of holy wells. It is a blessing to be able to sit by the Well and consider its holy and sacred nature. This well is historically connected to the great Celtic Goddess Brighid. I write more about that below, and there is also a section on Brighid, here.

Other names for the Well include: ‘Well of Healing’, ‘Well of Age’, ‘Pool of Healing’, ‘Well of Youth’, and ‘Brighid’s Well of Eternal Youth’.

I have not yet managed to enact this ritual as the sun rises, but having spent many hours by the Well exploring its space and communicating with the Pink Lady, the spirit guardian of the Well, I can attest to the Well’s life-giving energy, and the peace-filled wisdom that flows from it.

Such natural pools of water that formed without any apparent source were considered entrances to the Celtic Otherworld.  The Celtic Otherworld is said to be a magical land, one of beauty, health, and joy. It is a mythological place where life is eternally young, and nothing ages or dies.

The Otherworld is also connected to cycles of birth, death, and re-birth. Celtic Druids were adept in their knowledge of the cycles of life, and the influence of the cycles of the moon, the seasons, solstices, equinoxes, the stars on life. In oral traditions, the Celtic Otherworld was sometimes referred to as an island in the west. In Indigenous beliefs the west direction on the medicine wheel represents the place of the deep-subconscious, of our dreaming selves, as well as the place of where our Ancestor spirits dwell. The west direction on the medicine wheel is also the direction where the ‘Element of Water’ is represented.

The worldview of the ancient Celts embraced an understanding of the interconnectedness of the elements, seasons, animals, trees, and the wisdom of the land itself.

It was believed, and I believe it to be true, that holy wells are actual entranceways to the ‘Celtic Otherworld’, and that one could enter the ‘Land of Youth’, the other world, through these holy wells and sacred waters.

The Otherworld was sometimes referred to as the Land of Youth, or Land of the Forever Young. So, is it possible that this Well of Eternal Youth on Iona was at one time, many thousands of years ago, part of the mythical and legendary Land of the Forever Young, the Celtic Otherworld? And, could this beautiful Well of Eternal Youth on Iona be a place where one can access the Celtic Otherworld of dreams and hopes, guardian spirits and animals? I do believe the answer to those questions is ‘yes’.

It is a glimpse into the mystical presence of this Well of Eternal Youth that its very name is clearly associated with the mythological Otherworld, the Land of Youth. I have found that sitting by the Well of Eternal Youth on Dùn-Ì and reflecting on its ancient mysteries and connection to the Otherworld of dreams and visions, can transport me to the ethereal realms of the Dreamtime, a place of dreaming where myth, magic, and creativity are the norm.

It is inspiring to consider the healing aspects of water itself, and how water has been used in baptisms, celebrations, sacred ceremonies, and rituals throughout history. Healing waters and springs are especially connected to sacred sites around the world. Underground streams, springs, and/or open water wells are strongly represented at sacred sites.

On Iona, for example, there is an additional holy well situated just outside the entrance to the Abbey. Apparently, there is a third well on the Island, but I have not found it yet!

Brighid’s Well – Mary of the Gael

Iona’s Well of Eternal Youth is especially associated with Brighid, Brighde, and St. Brigid of Ireland. Brighid was and still is an exceptionally well-loved Druidess (Celtic Priestess) and her name is a derivative of the revered Goddess Brigantia.

Brigantia, ‘Goddess of the Brigantes’ was an ancient Celtic protector goddess for the northern lands of Britain, and also for the vast Celtic civilization of Indo-European peoples that inhabited central and northern Europe for thousands of years. Brigantia was the primary protectress of streams, rivers, springs and waterways. Her name is derived from a word meaning ‘high’, or ‘elevated’, or ‘noble’, and hence ‘highlanders’ are the Brigantes.

Such was the stature of the Celtic Goddess Brigantia that her name is reflected everywhere: Britain, Brittany, Brittania, Brigadier, as well as the name given to Celtic Goddess Brighid, and Brigit of Ireland.   

The Irish Druidess Brighid was also given the name Bride, associated with the Bride of Christ. Such was her stature in Ireland, that she was one of only two women who were ordained as Bishops, and was therefore able to perform mass and communion like her male counterparts. She was so beloved that she became known as Mary of the Gael.

Brighid was canonized as a saint by the Roman Church, but in the 1960’s during the modernization of the Catholic Church, her canonization as St. Brighid was revoked. Nevertheless, her popularity persists. Ancient Celtic myths show her deep connection to Iona, and particularly to the Well of Eternal Youth. It is not uncommon to find a Brighid’s cross floating in the little pool of water, or resting up on one of the Well’s surrounding rock boulders.

Groups of women still come to this sacred Well on Iona to honour Brighid through ceremonies and rituals. It is a blessing for the land, and for the water. I am really grateful for their work. It feels vitally important that we all remember, acknowledge, and appreciate the sacredness of water every single day. Thank you, Water. Thank you, Water, for the life you give that sustains us.

Sacred Waters, and Holy Wells were essential, primary places for villages and communities. Water was pure, vibrant, alive and revered in these holy places and sacred sites.

No doubt Iona’s Well of Eternal Youth is a well of healing.

Brighid and the Pink Lady of the Well are present also. A sea eagle that flies over from Mull is a winged guardian spirit there, too. The sea eagle came once to me when I stood alone on Dùn-Ì.  It arrived out of the blue, circled around the whole upper space of Dùn-Ì, looked at me, and then flew east towards Mull. That is the magic of nature, and of the Otherworld. It is the magic of Dùn-Ì, and the Well of Eternal Youth.

To sit quietly by the Well in silence and gratitude, awe and wonder, is to tune in to a vast field of universal harmony, connectedness to nature and creation, and to know the innermost depths of joy, peace, and freedom.

A Visit to the Well - My journal entry from September 29th, 2014

Today was an unexpectedly beautiful day. Warm for walking, a light breeze, and a very blue sky with fascinating clouds. I woke up this morning to a cloud that was calling me. The cloud woke me up and called me to look out the window where I could see it clearly from my bed.

I could see a strange and unusual cloud straight out the window across the Sound of Iona. It had a presence that was so strong that I immediately leapt out of bed to see it more fully through the bedroom window. There, to my astonishment, was a slender pillar of a cloud emerging and rising vertically as if out of the rising Sun itself. Very curious, I thought. So I immediately got up and went outside to take a photo of it.

It was as if the cloud was saying, ‘Get up! Don’t waste another minute in bed.’ It seemed like a brilliant day to go to the top of Dùn-Ì! So, off I went.

Thus began what was to be a spectacular day of awe and wonder.

Dùn-Ì is the name given to the highest hill on Iona. It is 333’ high. ‘Dùn’ means fort, and ‘I’ (pronounced Eee, as in ‘glee’) refers to ‘Iona’. So, Dùn-Ì means Fort of Iona. Dùn-Ì is located towards the north end of the island and is easily distinguishable by its dominant feature of the landscape, to the left of the road, just past the Abbey.)

As usual, upon arrival at the summit of Dùn-Ì, I went straight to the Holy Well. The Well had filled up to its brim from the night’s rain. For the first time this trip, the ground was squishy wet, and notably slippery on the ascent up Dùn-Ì.

The Well was looking and feeling terrific. I carefully walked around to the back of it to my usual spot, and sat down on the rock after warmly greeting it. Once again, I was blessed to have a long period of time alone by the Well. I could feel a pulsating life in the rock, and the water itself emanated a particularly strong, clear and fresh vibration. The water in the Well had been greatly replenished and rejuvenated by the rain.

As in past visits to the Well, I had the distinct impression that the Pink Lady was encouraging me to continue my explorations. (The Pink Lady is a guardian spirit of the Well, and there is more about her here.) Previously, I had discovered a lovely heart-shaped crystal rock outcrop at a little opening on the far side of the large boulder to the left of the Well. A natural crevice in that rock to the left of the well water is filled with moss, heather, and other miniature forms of life.

The crystal heart shape is part of the crevice. There is a feeling of fairies and other elemental spirits there. The crevice serves as a little portal to step through as one walks up to the top of the boulder. It’s a wee magical place.

I decided to spend some time exploring the boulder on the right-hand side of the Well. I had climbed it before a few times, but I had the distinct feeling that there was something more to be discovered there. There was something more that the Pink Lady wanted to show me. Today was the day!

I walked all the way around the boulder. It is huge and eventually merges to become part of the sheer rock cliff that faces east towards the Sound of Iona, and north towards the Isle of Staffa. I went as far as I could, walking around it and hoping that it would lead back to the Well. It does, but the access area was far too narrow for me to safely and comfortably walk in that direcction to the Well.

I had climbed up on that far end behind the Well a few weeks ago, and down the same way, but this looked like a completely different access point and seemed a little too close to the edge for me to venture along it.

So, I retraced my steps to get back on the ground facing the boulder again. This time I walked straight up to get to the top. I sat there for some time on the rock, feeling the warming of the Sun, the breeze, and stretching my breath out to the vast ocean beyond the island.

The ancient rock beneath me felt somehow light, not completely solid, like a hollow crystal cave, and I became aware of the many small bands of crystal outcrops all around me.

Dùn-Ì is indeed a great portal between dimensions, and is considered the Crown Chakra of the island itself. It is a powerful place that serves as a receiver and transmitter of the highest Light frequencies, a crystal communication device between Earth and Cosmos.

The Well of Eternal Youth is situated off to the side of the centre of all that activity. It is the soft, gentle, yet powerful womb that holds the pure vibration of Life, Life as Water. The Divine Feminine is deeply connected to the Element of Water, and to the Moon.

Women are the water-bearers, nurturing new life within their wombs of water. We are all born of water. The Sacred Well of Eternal Youth on Dùn-Ì is intimately connected with the Moon as well.

Situated as it is high above the ocean, as opposed to on the surface of the ground like most wells, the Well of Eternal Youth occupies a very special and unique location that enables it to be an on-going, clear and open receptacle to the rays of the Sun and Moon, and to the light of the Stars.

The location of the Well facilitates her expression as an open receptacle of cosmic energies, and as a medium for the communication of the sky to the sea, and the earth to the sky. The holy water is held by the ancient rock that shields and protects her. The Well itself is purity, healing, and grace. Her still waters, held in the Grail-like cup forever, hold the hopes and dreams of humanity for peace, goodness, prosperity and justice for all of life on this Sacred Earth.

The Pink Lady encouraged me, as she had done before, to explore, to look and feel more deeply into the space surrounding her Well. She wanted me to know that there was a lot to be revealed, and that there was more to the space than it appeared.

I was still sitting on the higher rock above the Well when I noticed that the ledge around the back of the Well sloped significantly in the direction of the Well. In other words, it could have just been in the form of a flat drop-off-the cliff but, no, from my vantage point up on the rock I could see clearly that it had a lip, a protective outer circle beyond which was the drop-off-the-cliff point.

The protective outer circle was comprised of rocks and higher, thicker grasses than the little, narrow space between the ledge and the Well. It was an interesting perspective and opened a view to its age. From the view on top of the boulder, I could also observe the significant depth of the natural depression surrounding the Well. From that vantage point, I could see that the energetic field of the Well expanded quite beyond the visible frame of the water.

The outline of the land was circular around the heart-shape of the Well. The circular shape of the outer part of the Well, together with the ledge and the sloping depression that surrounded the Well around the back of it, gave a clear sense of the spiraling motion of the vortex that it is. The rounded, spiraling energy was clearly evident from this perspective, especially with the addition of the funneling nature of the water space. And from this top-angle view, curiously, the Well appeared cubic shaped, with clearly identifiable edges.

All in all, the geo-physical dynamics of the Well included essential sacred geometry shapes in the form of the spiral, heart, and cube. Strong regenerative forces of Creation were clearly alive here. I was grateful for the new perspectives.

Suddenly, it felt time to move on. As I rose from my seated position, my right foot slipped causing me to counterbalance by pulling my body up and to the left. At that moment, I noticed a huge rock, the shape of a large head. The most spectacular thing that drew my attention were the bright, beautiful, large crystal outcrops on the rock. I had not noticed such crystal formations in the rock before!

The whole larger boulder that the round crystal was a part of seemed utterly and completely a huge crystal. So much of the crystal was exposed. It was as if a light had been turned on so that the crystals were showing themselves in their strongest and clearest form.

I heard a voice that said, “This is my Mother Rock”. I touched the crystal rock and blessed it, acknowledging its power and beauty. It was unique of all the rocks that I had admired on Iona. It also happened to be a rock that had the distinguishing feature of a soft point. The point reminded me of a Buddhist Stupa.

I had not noticed before how the entire rock was comprised of such exquisite white quartz crystal. Yes, this was the Mother Rock, indeed.

As I descended from the Mother Rock boulder to return to flat ground, I looked back up and realized that the whole length of the rock curved like a giant crystal spinal vertebrae or rock serpent. The entirety of the rock pieces curved down the boulder itself and into the ground.

I gave my parting good-byes to The Pink Lady and the Holy Well of Dùn-Ì. I thanked the rocks for showing me their special beauty and magic today, and I began my full descent down Dùn-Ì.

What a day of wonder and awe it had been starting with the unusual vertical cloud that had called me from my sleep. I was grateful for the hours of solitary time that I had had to explore, and for the insights and experiences of magical Dùn-Ì. I was also thankful that the Pink Lady had prompted me to explore the Holy Well more fully. She clearly wanted to introduce me to the Holy Rock, saying ‘This is my Mother Rock’. What a gift the day has been!

To me, the Well of Eternal Youth is a uniquely special place, filled with limitless magic and wonder.