I first learned about witch bottles when I moved to an old farm in Berks County, Pennsylvania. This was back in the late 1980s.
As my mother and I began cleaning out decades worth of stuff collected by the previous owner, my mother discovered a Pennsylvania German witch bottle tucked inside the chimney.
The bottle was small, originally a glass pill bottle, and it was filled with dried beans and who knows what else. We never officially opened it because it was obviously for either protection from spirits or to bring prosperity.
The origins of the witch bottle are unknown, but some believe they may have originated in the early days of the British Isles, when people were thought to be under constant attack from witches, ghosts, and evil spirits.
The more common witch bottles were often filled with items such as nails, pins, and broken glass, which were said to pierce the heart of any evil spirit that came near the home.
Witch bottles were used in Europe and North America during the late 17th and 18th centuries. They were usually made from a glass bottle, with a cork stopper. The witch bottle was then buried in the ground near the home of the person who was being targeted by the witch or it was hidden by a door or window.
Witch Bottles Today
People continue to use witch bottles today for many of the same purposes as our ancestors.
For example, to protect your home from negativities from the outside world, fill a glass jar with broken glass, nails, tacks, and even thorns. Some people will even go the extra step and pee in the jar or fill it with vinegar. Next, screw the lid onto the jar tightly and bury it somewhere near the front door to your home.
Penny jars are another form of the witch bottle spell. People will fill jars with pennies and other loose change and tuck them away inside the home to draw in more prosperity. Like draws like.
Jars filled with buttons can spark creativity and a jar filled with red marbles can draw love into the home.
Endless Options
The things you can put inside a witch bottle are endless.
Small bottles, such as the ones below, can be cheaply bought and filled with glitter and crystals, sand and salt, and pins and pine needles.
Herbs can also fill bottles and with them you can make personalized witch bottles for protection, love, energy, prosperity, and so much more.
To learn more about how herbs are used in spell craft, I highly recommend the classic Magical Herbalism by Scott Cunningham.
As for crystals and semi-precious stones and their magical significance, I recommend Crystal Decoder by Sue Lilly.
I keep both of these books on hand as references.
