Witch ball

Witch ball, 19th century V&A Museum no. C.108-1916

A witch ball is a hollow sphere of colored glass that contains a few thin fibers strung inside. Historically, they were hung in cottage windows in 17th and 18th century England to ward off evil spirits, witches, evil spells, ill fortune and bad spirits.[1] Usage has continued to a smaller extent in America up to the present day.

Origins

The witch ball originated among cultures where harmful magic and those who practiced it were feared. They are one of many folk practices involving objects for protecting the household. The word witch ball may be a corruption of watch ball because it was used to ward off, guard against, evil spirits. They may be hung in an eastern window, placed on top of a vase or suspended by a cord (as from the mantelpiece or rafters). They may also be placed on sticks in windows or hung in rooms where inhabitants wanted to ward off evil.[2]

Witch balls appeared in America in the 19th century and larger, more opaque variations are often found in gardens under the name gazing ball. However, gazing balls contain no strands within their interior. Glass studios traditionally make a witch ball as the first object to be created in a new studio.

Because they look similar to the glass balls used on fishing nets (which are often red), witch balls are in some lore associated with sea superstitions and legends.

Purpose

There are several variations relating to the purpose of witch balls. According to folk tales, witch balls would entice evil spirits with their bright colours; the strands inside the ball would then capture the spirit and prevent it from escaping. Another tradition holds that witch balls or spherical mirrors prevented a witch from being in a room, because witches supposedly did not have a reflection or could not bear seeing their own reflection.[1] Yet another variation contends that witch balls were used to avert the evil eye, by attracting the gaze of the eye and preventing harm to the house and its inhabitants.[3]

In the 17th century, witch balls and witch bottles were filled with holy water or salt.[4] Balls containing salt were hung up in the chimney to keep the salt dry. Salt was a precious commodity, and breaking the ball or bottle was considered bad luck.[5]

Types

An example of a blue witchball

Witch balls sometimes measure as large as seven inches (18cm) in diameter. The witch ball is traditionally, but not always, green or blue in color and made from glass (others, however, are made of wood, grass, or twigs instead of glass). Some are decorated in swirls and brilliant stripes of various colors. Witch balls normally have a hole in the top where a peg can be inserted; string is then attached to the peg so the ball can be hung in a chimney or over a window. Early witch balls often had a short neck sealed by a stopper.[5] The gazing balls found in many of today's gardens are derived from the silvered witch balls that acted as convex mirrors, warding off evil by reflecting it away.

In the Ozark Mountains, another kind of witch ball is made from black hair that is rolled with beeswax into a hard round pellet about the size of a marble and is used in curses. In Ozark folklore, a witch that wants to kill someone will take this hair ball and throw it at the intended victim; it is said that when someone in the Ozarks is killed by a witch's curse, this witch ball is found near the body.

In the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, tradition holds that witch balls were made by rolling cow or horse hair into a small ball. A witch would draw a picture of the intended victim, then throw the ball at the part of the victim they wished to injure.[6]

Christmas ornament

It is sometimes claimed that the modern Christmas ornament ball is descended from the witch ball. The ornament was allegedly originally placed on the tree to dispel a visitor’s envy at the presents left beneath the tree. However as the modern Christmas bauble's origins are documented in Lauscha, Germany in 1847, the provenance of this claim is debatable.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ezell, Margaret J. M. (July 2004). "Looking Glass Histories". The Journal of British Studies 43 (03): 317–338. doi:10.1086/383598. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Davison, Mildred (Apr–May 1936). "Some Nineteenth Century American Glass". Bulletin of the Art Institute of Chicago (1907-1951) 30 (4): 52–54. doi:10.2307/4116804. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  3. ↑ Gardner, Gerald Brosseau (June 1942). "British Charms, Amulets and Talismans". Folklore 53 (2): 95–103. doi:10.1080/0015587x.1942.9718298. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. ↑ Butterfield, Oliver (Jul 1978). "Bewitching Witchballs". Yankee 42 (7): 172–175.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Willey, Roman R. (June 1970). "Witch Balls". Western Collector 8 (6): 34–37.
  6. ↑ Combs, Josiah Henry (Jul–Sep 1914). "Sympathetic Magic in the Kentucky Mountains: Some Curious Folk-Survivals". The Journal of American Folklore 27 (105): 328. doi:10.2307/534625. Retrieved 28 October 2014.