{"id":528,"date":"2023-06-09T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-09T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thesouthernlightdiaries\/?p=528"},"modified":"2023-06-09T08:00:12","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T13:00:12","slug":"no-your-witch-bottle-is-not-going-to-hex-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thesouthernlightdiaries\/2023\/06\/no-your-witch-bottle-is-not-going-to-hex-you\/","title":{"rendered":"No, Your Witch Bottle is NOT going to Hex You"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
16th-century Bellarmine jug found by Jim Ward.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Doom-scrolling for Witch Bottles<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n
The other day, I was on social media when I saw a video of someone creating a protective Witch Bottle. From historical records and excavations, we know that Witch Bottles were a bit of folk magic that protected those dwelling in a home from the malefic influence of a witch. It stems from the UK and has made its way through Europe and the US.<\/p>\n
The concept is simple. A clean bottle is filled with nails, pins, maybe thorns, hair and fingernail clippings of those in the home, and urine. Then it was capped and sealed in wax. Historically, it was placed up the chimney, in the foundation of the house, or buried on the grounds. The purpose of this item was twofold. First, it would create a decoy as a target for any baneful magic sent the families way. Secondly, it would trap the spell in the bottle getting suck in the nails and pins, sometimes even inflicting harm back on the caster. <\/span><\/p>\n
These devices have been documented as far back as the 1600s, and in modernity, they are used by witches as an apotropaic tool against hexes and curses sent our way. What surprised me when I went to comment on this creators video was the backlash in the comment section\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how you hex yourself\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cYou put your hair and pins in the same bottle with needles and peed in it?! That\u2019s asking to bring bad sh*t your way\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a sour jar\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re just cursing yourself\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cThose are baneful ingredients. I\u2019m not putting taglocks of myself in there!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Ect, ect\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n
Needless to say, I was disappointed. What this tells me is way too many people have been getting their education and information from tiktok, social media, YouTube, and very surface level resources.<\/span><\/p>\n
17th century Witch bottle found in London in 1904<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Folks, it\u2019s Time to Log Off Witchtok<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
In modern times, many of us use herbs, tools, and items that have correspondences associated with them (ie: roses for love, basil for money, yarrow for healing, and sharp objects for hexing). It\u2019s the basics of sympathetic magic. But if this is the extent of a practitioners knowledge, and they then go on social media to share that, a feedback loop begins in our community. Limited information only gets recycled and like a game of telephone, tends to become misinformation given enough time.<\/span><\/p>\n
Culture Matters<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
First off, let\u2019s address this. A Sour Jar is a hoodoo practice that involves using sour ingredients to sour someone\u2019s life. That\u2019s not what a witch bottle is. These two items cannot be compared. They come from two different backgrounds, cultures, and needs. Do not disrespect the African diaspora by ignoring their personal cultures and origins. When we make assumptions like \u201cthis looks like this, therefore they are the same\u201d we are not only erasing people and history, we are relapsing into the colonizer mindset. STOP THAT!<\/span><\/p>\n
Archaeologists discover this witch bottle in York county<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Intention isn\u2019t Everything, but it Matters<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
Next, we need to get into understanding how intention plays a part in our craft. When we use pins in a poppet to hurt someone, that\u2019s the intent. It\u2019s meant to sympathetically represent pain or discomfort with the pricking of a sharp object. But that same tool can be used to heal. If you fill a poppet with healing herbs, and chant:<\/span><\/p>\n
Healing herbs <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Bound within<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Heal (name)\u2019a heart<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Where I pin<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
Then use 9 needles to pin directly to the heart 9 times, it\u2019s very clear this isn\u2019t about causing harm, but directing the energy towards illness in the targets heart.<\/span><\/p>\n
Witch bottle found buried in West Bank New Orleans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Similar things can be said of most items and tools. Nails can harm, but also protect. The same plant that the blooms the rose, also produces the thorns. So when you make a hex jar with a taglock of your target (hair, fingernail clippings, a personal item, picture, or name and birthdate) and with deep malice put in pins, iron nails, thorns, and pee in it\u2026 well what do you know? That sounds a lot like a Witch Bottle, but it\u2019s not. Because you created it evoking baneful power. You created it with nefarious intent. You cast it specifically to curse.<\/span><\/p>\n
A Witch Bottle on the other hand is created to protect. The exact same ingredients are put in but with a completely different set of motivations. Hair, nail clippings, and urine create a representative of you (or those in the household). The pins and sharp nails represent a violent protector and defense against baneful work. It\u2019s buried on your property so that when that baneful work is sent your way, it acts as a decoy trapping the energy, the hex, the curse, and once inside, it\u2019s obliterated by the sharp objects within.<\/span><\/p>\n
Image sourced from Wikipedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Context Matters<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
Tools, plants, and magical arts have different correspondences and virtues depending on the doctrine of signatures, planetary connections, and cultural histories. Learning and practicing witchcraft means understanding that. So when I see someone on social media creating a historical Witch Bottle for protection and the comments read like a walk of shame, not only does my heart break for this creator, but also for the folks out there misinformed and deluded by the vicious cycle of limited information available on \u201cwitchtok\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to log off. It\u2019s time to hit the books. It\u2019s time to take a walk outdoors. And it\u2019s time we all collectively say out loud, \u201cNo, my Witch Bottle is not going to hex me\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n
From the crossroads of Texas,<\/span><\/p>\n
Marshall WSL<\/span><\/p>\n
For more resources on witch bottles, their history, lore, and how to make them:<\/p>\n
Witch Bottles: History, Culture, Magic by Daniel Harms<\/p>\n
New World Witchery by Cory Thomas Hutcheson<\/p>\n
Cunning Words: a Grimoire of Tales and Magic<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Doom-scrolling for Witch Bottles The other day, I was on social media when I saw a video of someone creating a protective Witch Bottle. From historical records and excavations, we know that Witch Bottles were a bit of folk magic that protected those dwelling in a home from the malefic influence of a witch. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4917,"featured_media":538,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[152,48,150,6,148,9],"class_list":["post-528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-apotropaic-spell","tag-folk-magic","tag-protection-magic","tag-witch","tag-witch-bottle","tag-witchcraft"],"yoast_head":"\nNo, Your Witch Bottle is NOT going to Hex You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Doom-scrolling for Witch Bottles The other day, I was on social media when I saw a video of someone creating a protective Witch Bottle. 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