An abecedary of Sacred springs of the world: Vanuatu’s hot springs

Islands are of course uninhabitable without a good water supply and this was emphasised on Vanuatu in its creation myth according to John Paton in his 1890s Thirty years among the South Seas cannibals records that springs figure in the folklore concerning the origin of the islands. It is said that local god Matshiktshiki fished the islands out of the sea:

“And they show the deep print of his foot on the coral rocks opposite each island, whereupon he stood as he strained and lifting them up above the waters. Then he three his great fishing line round Futuna, thirty six miles distant, to draw it close to Aniwa and make them one land; but as he pulled, the line broke and he fell where his mark may still be seen upon the rocks, so the Islands remain separated to this day. Matshiktshiki placed men and women on Aniwa. On the southern end of the island, there was a beautiful spring and a fresh-water river, with rich lands all around for plantations. But the people would not do what M wanted them so he got angry, and split the richer part of Aniwa, with the spring and river and sailed with hem across to Aneityum…To this day the river is called ‘the water of Aniwa’ by the inhabitants of both islands; and it is the ambition of all Aniwans to visit Aneityum and drink of that spring and river as they sign to each other: Alas for the waters of Aniwa

Hot springs

Being a geothermal area hot springs are found on the island One such is the hot spring at Efate called the Takara springs. These arise in channels which are stone lined with beautiful blue clear water with some algal growth filling a large communal pool. It is thought that the water mixes with salt water giving the waters an unusual property. However it is when the water flows into the mud pools that it is thought to be particularly efficacious. Here the watery mud is applied to the skin and then after being washed off it is thought that it has the powers to rejuvenate the skin. The locals believe it has considering healing. However, these healing springs have a dark past too. John Paton in his 1890s Thirty years among the South Seas cannibals records:

“We retired to a Native house that had been temporarily granted to us for rest, and there pled before God for them all. The noise and the discharge of muskets gradually receded, as if the Inland people were retiring ; and towards evening the people around us returned to their villages. We were afterwards informed that five or six men had been shot dead ; that their bodies had been carried by the conquerors from the field of battle, and cooked and eaten that very night at a boiling spring near the head of the bay, less than a mile from the spot where my house was being built. We had also a more graphic illustration of the surroundings into which we had come, through Dr. Inglis s Aneityum boy, who accompanied us as cook. When our tea was wanted next morning, the boy could not be found. After a while of great anxiety on our part, he returned, saying, “Missi, this is a dark land. The people of this land do dark works. At the boiling spring they have cooked and feasted upon the slain. They have washed the blood into the water ; they have bathed there, polluting everything. I cannot get pure water to make your tea. What shall I do?”

One wonders if those wallowing in its healthy waters know they could have had another fate there?