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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 21336
[Archaeology]
Date Posted:
10/29/2009
7:21:59 pm EDT
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Views: 8,722
RSS: 18,931
Comments: 2
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Witch Bottle Discovered; Made To Ward Off Evil Spirits?
Author: National Geographic News Source: National Geographic News
Title: WITCH BOTTLE DISCOVERED; MADE TO WARD OFF EVIL SPIRITS?
In time for Halloween, a beer bottle-turned-talisman against malicious spirits has been found buried near a former pub in England, archaeologists say.
The newfound 17th-century witch bottle —originally made in Germany to hold other kinds of spirits—was discovered during a September archaeological dig in the county of Staffordshire.
"It's not an everyday find," said excavation manager Andrew Norton of Oxford Archaeology, a U.K. archaeological-services company. "Most of what we find are broken bits of pots and people's rubbish."
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Community Thoughts: There are 2 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| When She Called The Green Man | Oct 30th. at 8:49:52 am EDT
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Grumpy Raven (Eagle, Colorado) - Email Me
a "mythical evil spirit" it was unclear whether she was quoting Norton or not. Norton was the excavation manager for an archaeological services company, so who knows what his actual field of expertise is - he may be an expert on excavating but not an expert on English culture.
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| Letter To National Geographic | Oct 29th. at 8:19:09 pm EDT
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Dana Corby (Anderson Island, Washington) - Email Me
Dear National Geographic;
I’m shocked and dismayed at the inaccuracies in Christina Dell’Amore’s article “Witch Bottle Discovered: Made to Ward Off Evil Spirits?” Since when has National Geographic allowed work this slipshod to go out under your name?
She states that among the typical contents of a witch bottle were often found “bent toenails.” That’s patently ridiculous, as well as inaccurate. Both human nails (finger or toe or both) and iron nails were used in witch bottles, and it was the iron nails that were bent. The exact reason for this ingredient is no longer known, but it has been theorized that they were included either to ‘catch the evil spells’ sent at the maker and thus keep them from reaching their target, or to symbolize things not going the way they’re meant to, nullifying the spells. Either way, there were no ‘bent toenails’ in witch bottles.
Ms. Dell’Amore also states that the Green Man visage was that of an evil spirit of the woods; this statement would be accurate if she left out the word ‘evil.’ I’ve no idea why she even mentions it, as the Green Man, also called a foliate mask, is always depicted with leaves wreathing his head, often forming his hair, beard, and/or eyebrows, and sometimes issuing from his mouth like a ‘speech balloon’ in modern cartoons. There is nary a leaf on the pictured Bellarmine jug; in fact, I’ve never seen one with any face but that of the stern, bearded old man rather crudely applied to this example.
Last but not least, she says “Legend holds that Protestants smashed the jugs to defile the Catholic leader.” I believe she meant “defy the Catholic leader.” And even then, she’s wrong. Protestants smashed Bellarmine bottles because they believed them to be idols, as they believed the statues in Catholic churches to be, and just because they were associated with Catholicism. Ordinary folk used them as witch bottles because they were striking-looking and easily available – at least until the Protestants had at them.
I would appreciate seeing these errata corrected.
Sincerely,
Dana Corby
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