Witch bottles were sealed with a good watertight lid and contained a number of curious items, including sharp objects such as pins, bent nails, broken mirror shards, plus any of the following: knotted threads (often red), ashes, salt, hair, vinegar, botanicals, dirt, sundry other items, and human urine.
This bottle was intended to protect a person from malicifica (malicious or ill-intentioned magic) directed at him/her. The containers were often made of glass or pottery. (Bellarmine jugs were popular in England.)
Folklore claims that witch bottles protect against magical attack and wicked spirits. It counteracts spells by drawing in and trapping any harmful intentions aimed at the owner/creator. These bottles were often burried outside in a lonely spot, hidden beneath the stones the fireplace, plastered inside walls, tucked under the floorboards, or locked in a chest/box. Several witch bottles have been found in the walls of old buildings in England.
This magical practice crossed the Atlantic to colonial America. Evidence for the practice was found in excavations at Governor Printz State Park in Essington, Pennsylvania. This American example probably dates to the 18th century--the bottle was manufactured around 1740 and may have been buried about 1748. A description of the "Essington witch bottle" is below:
This squat piece of glasswork with a bright gold patina over its dark olive color had been buried upside down in a small hole. Two objects were deposited under the shoulder of the bottle: a piece of a long thin bone from some medium-sized bird, possibly a partridge, and a redware rim sherd from a small black-glazed bowl. The bottle contained six round-headed pins and had been stoppered tightly with a whittled wooden plug.Here is a description from 19th century PA Dutch healing magic:
---Marshall J. Becker, An American Witch Bottle, "Uncanny Archaeology," Archaeology Magazine Archive, 2009.
Another Remedy to be applied when anyone is sick, which has effected many a cure where doctors could not help. --Let the sick person, without having conversed with anyone, put water in a bottle before sunrise, close it up tight, and put it immediately in some box or chest. lock it and stop up the keyhole; the key must be carried one of the pockets for three days, as nobody dare have it except the person who puts the bottle with water in the chest or box.The phrase "put water in a bottle before sunrise," is a polite way of saying "urinate into a bottle before sunrise." The urine belongs to whoever the bottle is supposed to protect. It is intended to act like a "decoy" to draw away the malicious intent from the bottle's owner/creator and into the bottle.
--John George Hoffman, Pow-Wows or Long Lost Friend, 1820, pp. 10-11
The sharp objects in the bottle are intended to shred the malicious intent. The vinegar and ashes are supposed to disempower the ill will. Vinegar is a solvent. Knotted threads bind it up. Sounds grounds it, neutralizing the negativity. The botanicals could be any sort of magical herbs or plants, opposing a broad range of ill. If the hair is human, it probably seems the same purpose as the urine.
Those Neo-Pagans interested in reconstruction or reincorporating older methods into their religious practice might take advantage of this technique from old British Isles folk magic.
Some modern practitioners prefer to use red wine intead of urine. Wax is often used by modern practioners to seal the bottle when closed. The seal may be made with genuine sealing wax or the practioner might use just the wax from a candle which was burned for illumination during the making of the bottle. Several modern practioners suggest sealing with wax from a black candle. Several Wiccan authors have written about this historical form of magic including Doreen Valente, Raymond Buckland, and Z. Budapest.
Sources:
Marshall J. Becker, An American Witch Bottle,
"Uncanny Archaeology," Archaeology Magazine Archive, 2009.
John George Hoffman, Pow-Wows or Long Lost Friend, 1820, pp. 10-11
Here's an example of modern instructions to create a witch bottle:
Dianic Wicca
Witch's Bottle Spell for Protection
This is a spell to bring Protection to you.
Gather:
Light your black candle and say, "Bless me for protection in all things creature of fire."
Light you charcoal using the candle's flame and say, "Bless me for protection in all things creature of earth."
Take each item and pass it through the smoke of the incense and say, "Bless me for protection in all things creature of air."
Place each item into the bottle.
Take the urine and say, "Bless me for protection in all things creature of water mixed with the essence of my life."
Pour the urine into the bottle.
Add three pinches of the Dragon's Blood incense into the bottle saying, "Protect me!" as you drop each pinch into the bottle.
Drip the black wax of the candle into the bottle three times saying, "Protect me!" as you drop each dripping into the bottle.
Then, lift the bottle to your mouth, allowing the breath to enter the bottle and speak this invocation aloud with focused intention:
"Goddess Hecate protect me from evil.Then, spit into the bottle and say, "This is my prayer. This is my wish. So must it be. Blessed be."
Goddess Artemis protect me from violence.
Goddess Hera protect my property.
Wyrd Sisters of the Fates protect my life."
Close the bottle tighly.
Using the black candle, drip the wax over the mouth of the bottle until it is sealed.
Never open this bottle.
Now, place this Witch's bottle in a secret hiding place, either under house, near the front door or just outside burried near the front door. The Witch's Bottle is now a protective amulet for you, your loved ones and your property.
Protective Magick
Aradia Goddess: Witch-bottle
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