CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS: An apotropaic magical object intended to ward off witches is a witch bottle. Historical accounts from the United States and England describe them, while England in the 17th century has the oldest known reference to it.
'Witch bottles' of mystery have washed ashore on the Gulf of Mexico, and scientists are too terrified to open them.
However, these legendary artifacts come with a warning: "Keep them sealed," unlike the charming stories of romantic letters from seafaring people that lead to love and adventure.
Scholars, including researcher Jace Tunnell of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, have come up with "witch bottles" — mysterious artifacts that were formerly used to ensnare evil spirits.
The objects were discovered by researcher Tunnell on November 15 on a 60-mile stretch near Corpus Christi, Texas, as reported by Daily Mail.
What is the purpose of witch bottle?
According to Learn Religions, a witch bottle has two purposes. It acts as a protective charm for the user, guiding any evil energy or malicious intent back to its original source.
One might require the following supplies to make one: A small glass jar with a lid; sharp, rusty items like nails, razor blades, or bent pins; sea salt; red string or ribbon; and a black candle.
Something that "identifies the bottle as belonging to you" must also be included. Urine, hair, or wine infused with a small amount of spit are among the suggested ingredients, per GulfLive.com.
Subsequently, every object and ingredient is put inside the glass jar, sealed with candle wax, and stored in a secure location that will never be opened or disturbed.
According to the McGill University Office of Science and Society, "Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, there was a powerful belief in witches and their ability to cause illness by casting a spell."
"But the evil spells could be fended off by trapping them in a witch bottle, which if properly prepared, could actually reflect the spell itself while also tormenting the witch," McGill University Office added.
This would leave the witch with no choice but to break the spell and let the victim heal.
Witch bottles were not seen as eerie artifacts but as healing or medical cure
According to JSTOR Daily writer Allison C Meier, the idea of a witch bottle dates back centuries, and they have historically been connected to magic and the paranormal.
Witch bottles, despite their name, were not used by witches; rather, they were intended to thwart a witch's evil spell.
Interestingly, instead of being perceived as eerie objects, witch bottles were thought to be a form of healing or medicinal treatment.
In a 2020 edition of the scholarly journal 'Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft,' Dr Annie Thwaite, a research project coordinator at the University of Cambridge, contended that the history of this remedy dates back to the 17th century.
Thwaite said that the bottles would be filled with the hair or urine of the person believed to be cursed. Nails and pins are two more objects that could be inserted into the bottle for visual effect.
They would then bury the object beneath or inside their houses, boil it, or both.
In a 2000 research, anthropologist Christopher C Fennell revealed that bottles were occasionally placed in hearths or chimneys because it was thought that this was how witches entered dwellings.
The mixture was said to inflict the witch who cast the spell so much agony that she would either give up and reverse the spell or perish, therefore ending the curse.
Thwaite noted that over time, the phrase "witch bottle" and its meaning became associated with witchcraft, though the practice was not strictly considered to be such at the time.
Thwaite wrote: "… we should not only recognize the [bottles] as a facet of ritual, magic and witchcraft, but also as a facet of healing; and not as a preventative measure, but as a cure for a specific case of bewitchment."
8 witch bottles have been discovered in Texas since 2017
According to researcher Jace Tunnell, eight of the intriguing artifacts have washed up onshore since 2017 along a 60-mile stretch of beach close to Corpus Christi, Texas.
They are under the watchful eye of the Harte Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies and Tunnell told Fox News that he will not open them because they are said to contain "spells and stuff."
On November 15, Tunnell removed the most recent bottle, which was loaded with vegetation.
According to the researcher, gooseneck barnacles that had gathered on the green glass suggested that the bottle had been floating for some time.
Tunnell told Fox News Digital, "I don't get creeped out by them, but I'm also not going to open them. I mean, they're supposed to have spells and stuff in them – why take the chance?"
Over the years, some 200 bottles have been discovered buried underground, in dung heaps, and in walls.
In a video posted on YouTube, Tunnell talked about his expanding collection and mentioned that other sorcerers would toss their bottles into the sea.
He did, however, tell Fox News Digital that it's unclear if rainwater carried the bottles into a river and eventually the ocean.
These bottles are not being used for research by the Harte Research Institute at this time. Tunnell asserted that the main purpose of his posts is to inform readers about the potential sources of these bottles.
The William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research stated that bottles containing metal objects, such as nails, may be buried near the hearth to "energize the nails into breaking a witch’s spell" after a similar item was discovered buried in Virginia.
