The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation

Description

This book traces the history of ritual landscapes in the British Isles, and the transition from religious practice to recreation, by focusing on a highly understudied exemplar: the coin-tree. These are trees imbued with magical properties into which coins have been ritually embedded. This is a contemporary custom which can be traced back in the literature to the 1700s, when it was practiced for folk-medical and dedicatory purposes. Today, the custom is widespread, with over 200 coin-trees distributed across the British Isles, but is more akin to the casual deposition of coins in a wishing-well: coins are deposited in the tree in exchange for wishes, good luck, or future fortune. Ceri Houlbrook contributes to the debate on the historic relationships between religion, ritual, and popular magic in British contexts from 1700 to the present. Front Matter ....Pages i-x Introduction: Coining the Coin-Tree (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 1-23 Roots of a Ritual (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 25-70 The Democratisation of the Landscape (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 71-106 Contemporary Engagement (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 107-151 The Mutability of Meaning (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 153-177 Manipulating Meaning (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 179-204 Green Monuments and Their Heritage (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 205-240 Concluding Thoughts (Ceri Houlbrook)....Pages 241-253 Back Matter ....Pages 255-307