Video: Magikal Uses for Urine

The resemblance between conjure-bottles and witch-bottles had been observed by

teachers. They each contained sure comparable magically-imbued supplies and

hid both inside partitions, beneath thresholds or in open areas. One

distinction was that conjure-bottles could possibly be buried beneath pathways and the sufferer

could possibly be ‘tricked’ as they handed over (Wilkie 1997: 88-9; Fennell 2000: 297;

Anderson 2005: 61, cited in Manning 2012: 131-2). Tricked, implied the casting of a

spell to trigger damage or misfortune.

Conjure-bottles enclosed human body-parts comparable to hair, nails and so on. akin to witch-

bottles (Wilkie 1997: 88) and powdery substances just like West African magical

concoctions. In Annapolis, a fragrance bottle holding soil and a seed was unearthed

beneath a constructing flooring (Cochran 1999: 28). The presence of powders or West

African associated objects presumably inferred the idea of minkisi or the usage of African

charms (Samford 1996 107-109; Wilkie 1997: 88-89). This prompt the

mixture of European and African appeal traditions.

An evaluation of conjure-bottle references in American folklore revealed three varieties of

conjure-bottles (Puckett 1968; Hyatt 1935, 1970-1978). The first kind had been an identical

to witch-bottles in contents and spatial places, the second type shared options

from Euro-American and Afro-American people traditions and the third variation,

contained solely West African religious parts (Manning 2012: 133).

One account from a black conjurer for assuaging sorcery with a bottle (Puckett

1968: 299) said:

“get 9 needles, 9 brass pins, and 9 hairs from your personal head. Cork

these up in a bottle with a few of your urine and set the bottle at the back of

your hearth. ‘Den earnes’ly ax de Lawd ter assist yer obbercome dat trick

what’s sot agin’ you.’ When the bottle bursts, all of your illnesses will depart

you.”

This model paralleled the unique English variant; nevertheless, the bottle-charm

included Christian connotations just like the Hellington witch-bottle. In an 1898

account from the ‘Southern Workman’, a conjure-doctor cured a affected person by pouring

rooster blood on his hand to guide him to a buried bottle enclosing bent pins and a

lifeless snake (Anderson 2005: 102). Once the contents had been destroyed the affected person was

‘cured’. The conjurer additionally reversed the spell onto its creator in a similar way to

English bottle-spells. This conjure-bottle mixed parts of African and Euro-

American witch-bottles. Another conjure-bottle with amalgamated practices was

described in an 1899 version of Southern Workman (1899: 112).

“Have a vial, put into it nails, red flannel, and whiskey. Put a cork in it, then

stick 9 pins within the cork. Bury this the place the one you wish to trick walks.”

The use of whiskey and red flannel is derived from Afro-American traditions however the

nails and burial are decidedly Euro-American. However, the usage of the bottle-spell as

a entice ready to ensnare a sufferer is primarily Afro-American in origin however the

piercing of pins onto the cork is in keeping with Euro-American examples.