(Damn - sorry about the previous garbled version!)
There's also Tre Fontane in Rome, where St. Paul's severed head was supposed to have bounced three times, creating no less than three separate springs! I guess the main message in Christian stories like these is that from the horrible act of martyrdom comes purity and redemption. But the motif of miraculous spring-creation (whether by severed head or other means) is pre-Christian - e.g. it's what Poseidon did when competing with Athena to be the patron deity of Athens (although her olive tree was preferred).
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branchandroot
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Date: 2007-10-17 12:18 pm (UTC)There's also Tre Fontane in Rome, where St. Paul's severed head was supposed to have bounced three times, creating no less than three separate springs! I guess the main message in Christian stories like these is that from the horrible act of martyrdom comes purity and redemption. But the motif of miraculous spring-creation (whether by severed head or other means) is pre-Christian - e.g. it's what Poseidon did when competing with Athena to be the patron deity of Athens (although her olive tree was preferred).