A wishing well. Basically it's a type of well often found in stories. People are desperate in some way and they say their wish out loud while near it and POOF. The wish comes true and they live happily ever after, yadda yadda yadda.
I don't really think there's anyone out there who actually believes in these things, yet it has become common practice to throw a penny into any well or fountain we pass because it might make our dreams come true. What weird idea spawned that, anyway? Why do humans follow the particular superstition that throwing a coin into a man-made body of water might help them become successful in life? What kind of weird people are we to believe that?
Probably it's just the same thing as with most superstitions: we want to believe it, and so we do it to make ourselves feel better. Little harm in that.
~Levyathan
I think some of it is that the coin is an offering, and that in return for your offering a wish will be granted. I am guilty of throwing the occasional coin into a wishing well, but to be fair it was one owned by a charity. I didn't really expect my wish to come true.
ReplyDeleteyou mean it doesn't mean anything?
ReplyDeleteBet it comes from some ancient thing about monsters living at the bottom there, and they may grant wishes if they feel like it. Also they like money.
ReplyDeleteAlso they are me in disguise.
It was ages ago I did something like that! The last vessel I remember tossing a coin into is the Trevi Fountain.
ReplyDelete