Witch Bottles and the Hand of Glory: Discover 6 Bits of Magical History

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Belief in magic was commonplace in times past and as a result, plenty of spells and talismans were devised to help, hinder or otherwise harness this invisible force.  Let's take a look at...

  • The Witch Bottle
  • A Magical Love Potion
  • The Hand of Glory
  • Gingerbread Poppets
  • Creating a Homunculus
  • The Witch's Plough

Collection of old bottles on shelf
Witch bottles were DIY magical traps... (Nick Fewings)

The Witch Bottle

Did you know that many of Britain's old buildings contain strange bottles filled with bent pins and nails, Hair, nail clippings, urine, wood, bone, thorns and other even less identifiable substances concealed in their structures?  These strange charms are known as witch bottles, spiritual landmines to foil the attacks of witches.

The substances in these bottles were probably thought to have a presence in the spirit world.  The urine, hair and nail clippings might have been intended to attract the disembodied spirit of a witch to the bottle, so that the thorns, pins and nails (which had been "killed" by bending them) could trap or wound the wandering witch.

Once a bottle was prepared, it could be buried beneath a door, window or chimney - anywhere a witch might seek to gain access to a residence!

A Magical Love Potion

The idea of a "love potion" is something of a classic in literature, but a concoction found in "The secrets of Albertus Magnus: of the vertues of herbs, stones, and certain beasts" purports to induce love between a man and his wife if used in their meats - and even better, it's made from simple, inexpensive ingredients.

The recipe is pretty simple - take the periwinkle plant and wrap "worms of the earth" around it, then crush them to powder (I did say simple, not nice.)  Combine this with Sempervivum (houseleeks) and the mixture is ready for use!

The Hand of Glory

The consequences of being caught committing burglary were severe in centuries past.  Rather than a fine or prison, many convicts would find themselves on the way to the gallows... so some career criminals turned to the mystic arts for an edge.

The "Hand of Glory" was one such mystical aid.  Made from the hand of a hanged criminal, it was said that lighting the fingers or a candle in the fist would confer a number of mystical powers ideal for criminality.  Depending on the story, it could alert a would-be burglar to awake occupants... or keep victims from being roused by noise.  The magic would last while the flame burned, but the hand was unnaturally resistant to being put out.  One would have to wait for the hand to burn out naturally or submerge it in blood or milk to end the spell.

Recipes for a Hand of Glory varied wildly.  One required a hand cut from a criminal still on the gibbet, which would be pickled in salt and the urine of a man, woman, dog, horse and mare.  The hand would then be smoked with herbs and hay for a month, then hung on an oak tree for three nights, placed at a crossroads then hung on a church door overnight while the criminal kept watch.

Another recipe from the French grimoire "Secrets merveilleux de la magie naturelle et cabalistique du Petit Albert" called for the harvested hand to be entombed in a jar of saltpeter, salt, long pepper and zimet (cinnamon or spices) for fifteen days, then be left in the sun to dry.

The last step would be to form the preserved hand into a light source - either by wrapping it around a candle of human fat, or by stretching the fingers out to act as candles themselves.

Gingerbread person being dipped in drink
Magic at work? (hello aesthe)
Gingerbread Poppets

You've probably heard of voodoo dolls, but the idea of poppets representing the intended target of a spell has turned up more than once.  Perhaps the strangest version I've heard of is also the sweetest - using gingerbread to make the doll!

Many uses of these charms were fairly well intentioned, with the confection simply intended to bring luck to the one eating it.  Slightly shadier was the idea of using the dolls as a love charm - the idea was that the recipient would fall in love with the giver.

Things could go even further, with the figures being used as a focus for magic (helpful or harmful) directed at the person they depicted!

Creating a Homunculus

Ever wondered if you could make a magical servant?  Renaissance era alchemists certainly thought it was possible to make a homunculus, a miniature humanoid that could be an invaluable aid to the mystic arts.

The book "De natura rerum" was supposedly written by the famous alchemist Paracesus, though in reality it's probably a compilation of alchemical theories collected from several sources and published under his name for clout.  

The procedure within the book begins by sealing human sperm inside a cucurbit (alchemical vessel) and warming it in venter equinus (horse belly, usually interpreted as rotting horse manure.)  Eventually the substance inside should begin to move inside the cucurbit, at which point it would need to be fed "arcano fanguinis humani" distilled from human blood.  Eventually the mixture would form into a homunculus to serve its creator!

The Witch's Plough

Witches have a reputation for curses, and one tool used to hex a location was the witch's plough.  This strange contraption was a broken metal ploughshare suspended from cords, accompanied by a scourge constructed from a woman's hair and a dried bull's penis.

The ritual requires two witches to strip naked and parade around the borders of the territory they wish to curse.  One witch takes the role of the horse and has the plough cord bound around her shoulders.  The other serves as the ploughwoman, wields the scourge and carries the other end of the cord.  

The pair must circumnavigate their target without the ploughshare ever touching the ground, chanting incantations as they go - folklore suggests these included variations on the phrase "Not one stone shall stand upon another, and the land shall bear no fruit."

The ritual was said to be used for blasting the land, rendering it useless for farming and inhospitable to humans.  Perhaps that's why the elements of the plough (a broken ploughshare kept from the soil, a woman's hair and a bull's penis) all speak of fertility curtailed!

Thanks for reading - for more folklore, try...