Dewpond

From Traditional Witchcraft Wiki Project

A Dewpond is an artificial pond constructed on the top of hills to provide water for sheep, thus Shepherds called them Sheep Ponds. Although they were once thought to become filled by condensing dew and mist, hence their name 'dewpond' or 'mistpond', it is generally accepted that they are filled by rain. Yet it is as dewponds replenished by the mysterious morning mists that they are celebrated in folk songs and poetry.

The older dewponds were formed of puddled clay or marl, covered by a layer of chalk, but few of these have survived the years of neglect they have received. In recent times land owners have sought to re-establish them, but normally lined with plastic, not so much for sheep but as a natural habitat for wildlife.

Cecil Williamson wrote an article in the Cauldron Magazine (Issue 76) about a rite that utilized the dewpond. A mirror bottomed copper bowl containing the client's urine was pushed out into the dewpond using a Moonrake, which is a long pole with a horseshoe attached. The light of the full moon is then reflected upon it as the desire and witch power is sent along the pole. The bowl is then brought back to the bank of the dewpond, where the urine is collected within a jar and later disposed of. Philip Heselton expounds on this subject and dewponds in general in great depth in his book 'Mirrors Of Magic' (Capall Bann, 1997).