The “emptied” witch bottle. Courtesy Fiske and Freeman.
From 2007 until its demise in November 2018, I served as the Senior Editor of New England Antiques Journal. It was a great job that never felt like work, and I had the great privilege of learning from John Fiske, Editor-in-Chief, and the many freelance contributors NEAJ hired during that time. Much of my antiques knowledge comes from those days, but it was a “Yours Sincerely” post in John’s latest digital venture, Digital Antiques Journal, that inspired this entry in Where There’s A Will:
Faye Everett handed the package to Arabella. This belonged to my late aunt, and I’ve always admired it. It has a wonky lean to it, which to my eye makes it a more interesting piece, though unfortunately it’s missing the original stopper. I believe at one time there were some old pins inside of it, but they’re not there now, and I haven’t been able to find them. I assume my aunt tossed them, more’s the pity. I was hoping you could tell me something about it.”More’s the pity? Arabella would have liked to tell Ms. Everett that her aunt’s ignorance bordered on vandalism, but that sort of judgement was best left unsaid. Besides, it was her late aunt. It wasn’t right to speak ill of the dead. She examined the jug carefully, turning it this way and that, until she knew what it was. Or at least what it used to be.
“What you’ve got here is a witch bottle. At one time it would have contained handmade pins, rosemary, and…urine.”
Arabella resisted a chuckle as Faye wrinkled her nose at the mention of urine. “Nicer households might have used wine, but either way, they would have buried the witch bottle under the hearth to capture any evil that happened to get into the house, impale it on the pins, drown it in the liquid, and send it away on the rosemary.”
“I’ve heard of burning sage to cleanse a house of negative energy, but I’ve never heard of using rosemary. Or pins and urine.”
“Burning sage is a ritual called smudging. Its roots are in First Nations cultures and traditions as a way to cleanse negative energies or influences. Rosemary was used by the Greeks and Romans, was believed to grow only in the gardens of the righteous, and was thought to have exorcising qualities that could cleanse people and places of evil spirits. It would be planted around houses to ward off witches, though many believed that if rosemary flourished outdoors it was a sign the woman was boss.” Arabella laughed. “There are reports of Colonial husbands sneaking out at night and cutting off the plant’s roots so that it would wither and die. Apparently the thought of witches in the house was preferable to a woman ruling the roost.”
Unfortunately, Digital Antiques Journal, and its archives, are no longer available, having closed following the death of its founder, John Fiske. It was a wonderful treasure trove, and a tribute to John’s passion and knowledge. He is missed.
A Civil War cola bottle containing rusted nails that may have been a witch bottle. Courtesy Robert Hunter, William and Mary College.