Lucky penny (wishing well) - pinning hope on a coin

coins offered to the water feature of Meijer Gardens tropical greenhouse, 6/2019

What looks like a child's piggy-bank that spilled onto the rock ledge beneath the walkway bridge is in fact the accumulated coinage of many weeks in the botanical exhibition of tropical plants at Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids on the west side of lower peninsula of the state of Michigan. Wikipedia has articles on Wishing Wells, Superstition, and Folklore regarding the concept of Luck in general and Lucky Penny in particular. Related is the idea of coin as source of power or charm. Other parts of the world have similar beliefs about the life-giving or healing power of a mountain spring, waterfall, or forest pool, for instance. The cenotes of limestone-rich Central America of the Maya heartland contain all sorts of offerings, as do some of the bogs that have filled in with peat in Europe over the centuries. Clearly there is a form of non-verbal communication or interchange between mortals and the rest of creation that lies outside the wakeful world of perception.

If one of the coin donors were interviewed or responded to a survey, perhaps they would shrug or laugh nervously in order to deny any serious intent. Instead they might say it is a quaint custom, but not a life-changing experience; something like the tradition of mocking death and distress by dressing up at the eve of All Saints Day; a.k.a. All Souls' Night (Hallows E'e'n, hallows evening, Halloween). Periodically this indoor, closed environment must be tidied up since accumulations of coins, dead leaves, or other detritus would overwhelm the natural cycle of decomposition and disposal. What happens to this legal tender is a question to consider. And could there actually be some modern-day followers of religious traditions in which such practices are normal and cherished; not as folk habits, but as methods to exercise one's belief and build a relationship to unseen forces.

Seeing hotel lobby fountains or medieval city water features that collect coins of tourists and some residents, too, perhaps is one thing. But to find an ancient tree near a forest walking path at Janet's Foss (small waterfall in North Yorkshire) that is studded with coins dating decades and decades earlier is a bit more serious - less the product of playful holiday makers and more the result of people making a journey to that site of significance to engage some force or spirit by anchoring their coin in the woody body and leaving their earnest wish there, too.

Special research methods are needed for investigating ideational subjects like religion, humor, an literary artfulness or aesthetics. Observation, participation, interviewing one or one or in focus groups can point to some of the important meanings at work or play. But still it is difficult to produce a complete picture of the concepts and practices since some of the matter is not always clear to the persons most closely involved. However, the world of beliefs and traditions is all the more intriguing for its elusiveness, both the parts that endure and the parts that adapt to modern ways and purposes.