Water unceasingly changes shapes and transforms itself. It is thus a model out of which everything can be born. Water, consequently, becomes a symbol of fertility that can be found in all the myths and all the religions. Beings and things are born of water. Water also possesses medicinal virtues. Some waters are recognized miraculous powers capable of healing the bodies.

It is also a source of purification. Purification for the individual beings but also for the whole of mankind. The Flood is a founding episode in numerous civilisations. Among Australia’s Aborigenes, a giant frog is said to have swallowed the Earth’s water to release it only when the other animals, dying with thirst, made it burst out laughing. The Flood in a re-creation of the world. One emerges from water in order to be reborn.

Mythology and religion

Water lies at the heart of all the myths and all the religions. In Greek mythology, Poseidon, god of the sea, is one of the most important deities. Deity of the tempest and of the earthquakes, he is, contrarily to Triton, his son, the one that punishes. In monotheist religions water constitutes a link with God. In the Old Testament it is the instrument used by God to punish (the Flood) or save (the Crossing of the Red Sea).

The New Testament will return to the symbols of the ancient Scriptures. Jesus will be baptised by John in the waters of the Jordan while the episode of the Wedding at Cana and the transformation of water into wine will mark Jesus’ first miracle. For the Muslems the spring in which Ismaël, son of Abraham and Agar, quenched his thirst has become a holy place