From the Museum of London: 17th century stoneware jug used a witch bottle found containing a heart-shaped piece of felt pierced with pins and 11 nails.
Witch bottles originated in the late-Middle Ages in England and were used as protection against witchcraft or to cure an illness. It was believed that a witch or evil spirit could be lured into a bottle and the spell could be broken. A bottle sealed with a cork would commonly contain the victim’s hair, nails, body fluids and even twine; some would contain red wine, rosemary, feathers and whatever talismans seemed to work at the time. Then they were buried or hidden, often under a fireplace or inside a wall; they could also be tossed into a stream or river. The one cursed would be safe as long as the witch bottle was hidden and unopened. Superstitions and belief in witches and evil spirits helped explain the world around them. Belief in the power of witch bottles was carried over to Colonial America; a small number have been found in the U.S.
The Museum of London’s website had an article titled “Sorcery on Display: Witch Bottles” that presented an authoritative history if one is interested in further reading.
Jace Tunnell, Director of Community Engagement for the Harte Research Institute at Texas A & M, Corpus Christi, has found eight modern day glass witch bottles on our local beaches. He has not opened them and keeps them on a fence in his back yard as he wife will not let him bring them into the house.
The HarteResearch Institute Facebook page describes them this way:
“Folks in certain cultures around the world put vegetation or other objects in a bottle, They are counter magical devices whose purpose is to draw in and trap harmful intentions directed at their owners.”
Tunnel speculates that they come from South America or the Caribbean.
If I find one on the beach, I don’t think I will open it or bring it into the house either.
Witch bottle found by Jace Tunnell, Director of Community Engagement, Hart Research Institute at Texas A & M University, Corpus Christi
THE COASTAL CRONE 
How interesting Jo! Witch bottles, such a curious object, but then again, as you say, people did what they could to make sense of evil and curses.
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Yes, I thought they were curious too. I suppose preparing a witch bottle to cure an illness was just as good as having leeches applied or being bleed.
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very interesting! JoNell is the book you have an article in about cemeteries available in paper copy copy or just digital? thanks…have a great day…stay cool!
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I have seen some strange things on the beach but never a witch bottle. “Death’s Garden Revisited” is available as an ebook on Amazon for $5.99 and in hardcover and paperback at http://www.blurb.com but is a little pricey unfortunately. Thanks for asking about it! You stay cool too. Alice is always a hot place. I am getting ready for another hot summer.
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what is your regular email address? thanks
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did you get something from me on messenger, i don’t think i sent anything on messenger…
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Glad we made connection via a phone call! Great to get to talk to you. Thanks!!
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I knew that having a bottle tree in your yard was supposed to protect against evil spirits, but I had never heard of such a thing as a witch bottle.
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Well, we are even. I did not know a bottle in a tree was to protect against evil spirits. Maybe I will rig up a wine bottle in the back yard. Can’t hurt! Thanks for stopping by!
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They are very common around here. Allegedly, the bottle poked onto bare branches entice the spirit to enter and they are trapped. Blue is a favorite color, I guess related to the tradition of painting your porch ceiling Haint Blue. My cousin had one in her New Orleans home, but I do not think she has done one since she moved back to Texas. They are pretty and artistic.
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Terrific post, Jo. I had never heard of witch bottles before. I’m glad I never found one on the beach. I would have been tempted to open it.
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Thanks, John. I can imagine you being curious enough to open one and then writing a haiku about it. One can find strange things on the beach that includes plenty of trash. I once saw two tigers being walked on the beach. Thanks for the visit!
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The best thing I found was a lifeboat that was completely stocked with survival gear. It was broken up and a result of a ship hitting an oil platform. The boat was torn from the platform.
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That was something useful! Better than trash that tourists leave.
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Yes indeed.
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Wow …. Interesting and new to me – but it appears I’m not alone. Thanks for the info, Jo!
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Who knows…you may find one on one of your famous beach walks, Frank. Now you will know what it is.
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But I won’t open it!
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If only it were that easy to dispel bad things happening!
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Have never found one of those on the shores of Lake Superior, but I’ll keep an eye out!
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You never know, Marie! You are out there on the waterways often.
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I’ve heard of these but never found one. Definitely will not open it if I do. 🙂
Nice collection at the Museum of London.
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I am not surprised that you have heard about them. Yes, I thought what they had to say was fascinating and so much better than anything I could have written. I like the kind of magic/spirit you make! Take care and safe! Maybe your gnome will keep evil spirits away!
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Maybe your gnome will keep evil spirits away for you. I like your kind of magic/spirits! Yes, I thought the piece was very informative and better than anything I could have written.
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If one person — Tunnell — has found eight of them, you can imagine how many, many more of them are being found and taken home by other people.
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True! And they probably would not have known what they were. The first thought would be to open them to look for a message, not an evil spirit. Thanks for joining the conversation!
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I’ve found some bottles on the beach, but never one with something inside. Occasionally one has barnacles on the outside, but everything has barnacles. I did find a carved wax human figure on a Galveston beach once, with words inscribed on its back. I wondered if the currents might have carried it from the Caribbean, since it seemed voodoo-ish. I showed it to a man I knew who had grown up in Haiti. He took one look, refused to touch it, and said I should throw it back into the ocean. I did.
Your title made me laugh for quite a different reason. It reminded me of the Abbott and Costello “who’s on first” baseball skit. Our bottle skit could be similar: “Have you seen the witch bottle?” “Which bottle?” and so on.
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I would imagine that you would have seen a lot of things floating in the sea or washing up on shore. Now that wax figure is rather spooky. Best to toss it back! Anything is better than oil washing up on shore or tar balls on the sand.
“Which bottle did you mean?” You made me laugh. Those guys made the absurd funny.
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I’ve never heard of Witch Bottles before! Interesting!
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Even stranger to me is that somewhere today people are still doing this. But people believe what they want to believe! Thanks for the visit and comment!
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I’ve never heard of a witch bottle, but given the beliefs in witches at that time, it makes sense. It must have been seen as a way to control the “evil spirits” and protect your family. Fascinating!
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Yes, it makes sense to believe this could help cure an illness since doctors knew very little. And even later doctors were bleeding people and using leeches.
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An interesting topic well presented.
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Thank you. I enjoy exploring the obscure. Thanks for stopping by!
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Absolutely fascinating.
I’m with you, though. Best to let sleeping witch bottles lie.
Still, the opening of a witch bottle could make an interesting premise for a novel.
Thanks, Jo!
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Oh, yes, it would make a fine novel!
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❦🌹 ❦🌹
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I think you’re right to leave them alone 🙂
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Yes, best to leave the unknown alone!
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I’ve never heard of witch bottles before. Interesting! Thank you for sharing.
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Funny, I had not heard of them either, Amy, and stumbled on them in an article a magazine (The Islander) put out by Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi.
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I’ve never heard of such a thing – but I’m with you; I wouldn’t tempt fate by opening one!
Linda 🙂
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I am taking no chances at bad luck at this age! Thanks for the visit and read.
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