Many of Seamus Heaney's poems are inspired by his childhood in a rural part of Ireland, and this one appears to be no exception. The poem doesn't make explicit reference to Irish folklore and superstition regarding wells. In fact, its primary allusions are to classical Greek myth. But wells, the subject of "Personal Helicon," carry enormous significance in Irish folklore. Certain bodies or types of water are considered sacred in nearly every culture, and Ireland's particular mix of Christian and pagan history is visible in the rituals and beliefs surrounding holy wells: they are treated as places of connection to saints, as holders of curative power, and as links to the intrinsic spirit of a given area of land. In some of his work, Heaney has referenced this particular folk tradition around wells more explicitly. Here, it hovers in the background, bringing additional depth to the poem for those who understand the sacredness of wells in Irish culture.
Though wells occupy a unique place in Irish folk culture (and to an extend British folk culture generally), Ireland is far from the only place where water is considered sacred or spiritual. In fact, many scholars have argued that every human culture performs water-related rituals or otherwise attaches spiritual significance to bodies of water. Catholicism, the majority religion in Ireland, observes the ritual of baptism and uses holy water—that is, water blessed by a priest—for a variety of religious purposes. Jews and Muslims both observe ritual cleansing, in which water is used not only for physical cleanliness but also for metaphorical purity. The Aztecs worshiped a water goddess, and the world's largest religious festival, the Kumbh Mela, is a Hindu pilgrimage to sacred river sites. This list is by no means exhaustive, touching on only a tiny number of these water-based rituals and symbols. Because such symbols are so ubiquitous, even readers unfamiliar with Irish folklore are likely to sense at least some of this resonance in Heaney's poem.
The tradition of holy wells has ancient roots in Ireland, and connects to the island's pre-Christian cultures. Archaeologists have unearthed what appear to be votive offerings and other spiritual objects dating from before the arrival of Christian missionaries, finding them in wells as well as in bogs, lakes, and other bodies of water. Throughout the history of Ireland, holy wells have generally been natural water sources, perhaps deepened or otherwise altered in order to aid human access. When Ireland became Christianized in the fifth century, it by no means traded its earlier pagan traditions for new, imported ones. Instead, the people of Ireland generally blended the two traditions, resulting in a unique mix, such that holy wells gained new associations on top of the ones they had long held. Thus thousands of holy wells that came to dot the country were now usually associated with a particular Catholic saint. On the other hand, they were deeply linked to the specific land on which they stood, incorporating not merely broader Christian beliefs but highly place-specific folk traditions.
Even throughout Ireland's turbulent nineteenth and twentieth centuries, holy wells have served as common gathering places and important parts of everyday life. Indeed, the sites have generally been used as a way of coping with certain types of turbulence. Residents of a given area might visit their local holy well in order to leave votive gifts for its patron saint or memorials for the deceased. Perhaps the most important ritual use of the wells is the curing of sickness. Beside many holy wells is a "rag tree," to which people tie fabric taken from the clothing of the sick as a way to bring the curative power of the well to those most in need of it. Some researchers see a link between these spiritual beliefs and contemporary medical knowledge, noting that the holy wells often contain chemicals useful in the treatment of ailments from eye infection to anemia.
Today, many of Ireland's holy wells are in danger of falling into disrepair or being entirely forgotten. This is in part because the increasingly mobile culture of Ireland and the world can somewhat obscure highly localized religious beliefs. Moreover, many of Ireland's sacred wells are unmarked and generally unremarkable-looking, though extremely important to nearby residents. Indeed, this local importance can make the wells more difficult to conserve: those who believe in the power of the wells and visit them regularly are often not eager to disturb or alter them. The researchers and activists who hope to preserve them must also respect the deeply personal significance they can hold—a significance that Heaney subtly attests to, not only with the use of the word "personal" in his title, but with his link between wells, self-examination, and private contemplation.
