"What Is?" Wednesday

A Witches Bottle

Spell bottles (also known as "Witches Bottles), have been in use in England and the United States since at least the 1600's. Spell bottles were originally created to destroy the power of an evil magician or witch thought to have cast a spell against the bottle's creator. They were often ceramic vessels, filled with hair, nails, and even the victim's urine. They were also walled up into new homes as magical guardians. Spell bottles of this type continued to be used well into the 19th century.


These bottles are apparently of English origin, although one made from a glass wine bottle dated at 1740-1750 was found in Pennsylvania in 1976. Over the centuries these  protective devices have found their way from England to the United States with the colonists. Spell bottles of the type described above are rarely if ever made today. However, other forms are still in use. These consist of a container, usually glass, filled with various objects of magical potency.

Spell bottles are made for a variety of purposes, and are used in numerous ways. Some are buried or otherwise hidden, while others are placed in windows of the home or in other prominent spots. All are concentrations of energy, created and empowered for specific magical purposes.


The Witches' Bottle is a very powerful means of protecting your space. It is buried on your property (if you are an apartment dweller, you might try burying it in a potted plant at your door) in order to attract all negative things to it where it traps them. If you move, by all means, then dig it up and either destroy it or bring it to your new home.


Some Modern Spell Bottle Examples:

Witches Bottle For Protection 


Gather rosemary, needles, pins and red wine. Fill a small jar with the first three, saying while you work:


Pins, needles, rosemary and wine;
In this witches bottle mine.
Guard against harm and enmity;
This is my will, so mote it be!


Visualize these doing just that. When the jar is full, pour in the red wine. Then cap or cork the jar and drip wax from a red or black candle to seal. Bury it at the farthest corner of your property or put it in an inconspicuous spot in your house. Draw the banishing pentagram in the dirt above it. The witches bottle destroys negativity and evil; the pins and needles impale evil, the wine drowns it, and the rosemary sends it away from your property.


(Optional ingredients
Glass jar with metal lid, Sea Salt, 3 bent rusty nails ,pins, needles, razor blades, cactus spines, rose thorns, broken glass, 1 egg, herbs such as: Frankincense, Sage, Basil, Mint, Mistletoe, Yarrow, Rowan berries,Rue, Sandalwood, Myrrh, Garlic, Rosemary, Sealing Wax,3 drops of your blood,Urine instead of wine.)



Pet Protection Spell Bottle


What you need:                        

~ 1 bay leaf                              ~1 tablespoon of dill seeds

~1 tablespoon of fennel seeds     ~1 carnelian stone       

~1 cup of soil                            ~1 cup of salt
~1 white taper candle                 ~ 1 bottle
~ 1 stick pin




Put half a cup of dirt into the bottom of the bottle. Add half a cup of salt on top of that (to make layers). Next add the bay leaf and the dill and fennel seeds. Put half a cup of salt on top of this and half a cup of dirt on top of the salt. Drop the carnelian stone on top of everything.


Use a stick pin to carve the word "Protect __pets name here__" in the taper candle stick. Fit candle into the top of the bottle. If the taper is too big wedge it in (by circling it) until it stays securely by itself.
Burn the candle when convenient. You don't have to burn it all down at once, but eventually the candle will burn itself out (you could maybe burn it once a week or so). When the candle will not stay lit any longer, put the spell bottle near the place your pet spends most of his or her time.




Discovery News: Witches bottle found from the 17th century.