'Witch Bottles' Washing up on Gulf of Mexico Beaches
Nov 26, 2023 7:35:40 GMT -5
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Post by JoannaL on Nov 26, 2023 7:35:40 GMT -5
'Witch Bottles' Washing up on Gulf of Mexico Beaches
Gulf of Mexico beachcombers who come across a “witch bottle” should either leave it alone, or if taken home, leave it sealed. These bottles, intended to entomb malevolent spirits, may contain herbs, plants, nails, hair, or even bodily fluids such as urine.
According to Jace Tunnell, a researcher, he has found eight of the bottles containing curious artifacts on a 60-mile stretch of beach near Corpus Christi, Texas, since 2017. Most recently, he came across a green barnacle-encrusted bottle filled with vegetation. “I don’t get creeped out by them,” he said, “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?” Instead, he took the bottle home, where he has a sunlit section in the backyard to display his occult finds. “My wife says I can bring shells inside, but no spell bottles,” he added.
In the UK, numerous witch bottles hidden in walls or buried have been recovered by contractors and homeowners. “Back in the 16th and 17th centuries, there was a powerful belief in witches and their ability to cause illness by casting a spell,” the McGill University Office of Science and Society reported. “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, leaving the witch with no option but to remove the spell, allowing the victim to recover,” a Society spokesperson advised. “The most common items in the European bottles are nails and human urine.”
However, the bottles found by Tunnell, thus far, contain vegetation. “When it comes to man-made debris, it’s about telling people if you see a piece of trash on the ground, pick it up,” he continued. Some of the bottles are “real thin yellow vinegar bottles” manufactured in Haiti that often exhibit signs of “sea turtle bites,” he added.
While it is unclear whether those casting spells toss the bottles into the ocean or if they are carried to shore from inland locations, Tunnell doesn’t believe they originate in the United States. I think “they’re coming from somewhere in the Caribbean or South America,” he said.
Sources: Christina Coulter, Fox News, November 26, 2023, and McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.