Witch Bottles

Witch Bottles were originally sold by Matthew Hopkins and other such

self-proclaimed "witchfinders" who promised that their bottles would protect

their customers from all of the hysterical nonsense and ickiness they tried

to blame on Witchcraft. These enterprising ecclesiastical extortionists had

a captive clientele, because if you didn't buy one of these creations from

them, you might just get accused of being a witch yourself. Where these guys

got the idea in the first place is still a matter of dispute. It's quite

possible that the idea originated with the Witches in the first place, and

Hopkins and company stole it from folk magic they grew up with or discovered

as they traveled through Europe decimating villages.



Witch hunting was nasty stuff, but the technique of using a Witch bottle is

still magically useful, and if some good can be brought out of the sorrow and

pain of the past, perhaps we should do so. The Witch bottle has bogus

beginnings, but it is fertile with potential applications nonetheless--the

idea of working magic with a bottle as the primary medium of expression is

just too good to let languish because of some ill-mannered louts.



Using bottles for magic pre-dates the Inquisition by a considerable stretch.

The whole process of blowing glass to make a bottle was an alchemical art in

and of itself. Old bottles seem to have a charm to them, a quality or

character that makes them somehow special. Perhaps there was something to

the notion of the glassblower emulating the gods by blowing life-breath into

the glass in order to form it. There are all manner of romantic notions you

can draw on to add color to this particular practice of folk magic.



To make a Witch bottle, first select a bottle you want to work with. Your

bottle may be clear or tinted. If it is colored, select a color that suits

your purpose. If you want to see the contents, obviously you'll want to

avoid using brown bottles. Tinted bottles are wonderful for spells that make

use of color correspondences.



Once you have a bottle, wash it with warm soapy water, then magically cleanse

it, and bathe it in the light of the Full Moon. If you want to be more

finicky, choose a time when the Full Moon is in a favorable zodiacal

sign--check your empemeris or Llewellyn's Moon Sign Book for more information

about the Moon's signs.



When the bottle is clean, it's time to fill it. There are a lot of options

when it comes to the contents. Some suggestions are:



*To make a Witch bottle to aid in grounding, such as in a training group,

fill your bottle with sand, small rocks, granite dust, or other such

materials. Seal it with colored wax or a cork, and place the bottle in view

when it is to be available for use. If made for a training group, upon

graduation/initiation you might consider pouring out a share of the charged

material for each student to make their own bottle.



*For protection from unfriendly forces, you can fill a bottle with sharp

objects such as pins, needles, and nails. You can find ideas for this sort

of Witch bottle in the book "Magical Household" by Scott Cunningham and David

Harrington.



*By collecting appropriate herbs, resins, leaves, and spices and filling a

bottle with them, you can concoct a wide variety of wards, spells, or

talismans. Add vegetable oil or cider vinegar, and you have wonderful gifts

for your friends that not only can enhance their lives with magic, but can

enhance their food as well.



*Colored sand can be sifted into a bottle in order to create patterns of

rough symbols like a rune or planetary sigil. This takes a bit of patience

and care. You need a thin stick, like a tongue depressor, to move the sand

around in order to build the symbol from the bottom up. It takes some

practice, but once you get the hang of it, this looks very impressive,

especially if you use your color correspondences or the more advanced

flashing colors of the Golden Dawn.



*You can use iron or other metal filings to create a magical battery or

repository for specific sorts of workings. Let the filings acquire a good

charge from various rituals, then use them in divination or spellwork as

desired.



*Fill your bottle with different sorts of sawdust from various trees,

according to their magical properties. This is a bottle that can be charged

during the particular month, season, or sabbat appropriate to the wood(s)

used. You may even want to use this sawdust to start ritual fires for

specific sabbats or rites in order to add something special to the

proceedings.



*A bottle filled with ashes from special campfires, or pinches of soil from

campsites you've stayed at, makes a powerful memory catalyst and allows you

to carry some of that energy with you, or to bring it to another ritual or

sacred space like a talisman.



*You can also fill a bottle with a variety of flower petals selected for

their healing properties, attributes, or correspondences to planetary or

other forces. You may want to include a bit of alcohol, vinegar, or olive

oil to preserve the flowers.



Witch bottles are versatile, eminently useful, and can be a lot of fun to

make and share. Once you start playing around with this idea, you'll come up

with your own unique uses and applications.