In folk magic and in alchemy, it was believed that pee retained a magical connection to the person who peed it (the pee-er?). This is why urine was used in various folk remedies and for magical purposes.
In the 1600s, if someone within the household became ill and believed that he was cursed by a witch, he would put some of his hair, nail clippings, and pee in a jar. This was placed inside the chimney with the belief that the one who hexed him would be drawn to the house and her identity revealed.
To harm the person who has placed a hex on another person, it was a common practice for the victim to pee in a bottle and then set the open bottle on the fire to boil. The boiling of the hex-tainted pee would, in theory, cause harm to the hexer.
Of course, if you would like to protect yourself from getting cursed, you are supposed to allow a drop of morning pee fall onto one of your feet. The superstition does not state if it should be the left foot or the right.
The pee jar used in more modern forms of folk magic and witchcraft recognize the old beliefs that pee provides magical protection. A person wanting to protect his property from negative influences might pee in a bottle that has been filled with nails. The bottle is then sealed and buried on the property.
Pee has also been used to curse people. For example, a person would collect the urine, hair, and nail clippings of the person he wished to curse. He would place all of these elements inside a bottle, along with some pins. The bottle was then sealed and buried on the victim’s property.
The result was that the victim would suffer great pains until the bottle was dug up and the contents poured out onto the ground.
