A Little Known Fact About Bottle Trees

Spend any time at all driving through Appalachia or parts of the American South, especially in rural areas, and you may get a glimpse of the phenomenon known as the bottle tree. Typically made from blue bottles, the bottle tree is said to trap evil spirits and keep them out of your home.

THREE THINGS TO NOTE:

• Bottle trees are popular throughout parts of the American south, and are believed to entrap spirits and keep them out of homes.
• There are particular trees associated with magic because of their perceived spiritual significance and use as bottle trees.
• It is believed that when the wind blows, the sounds emitting from the bottles in the trees, are actually the moans of spirits trapped in the bottles.

In some places, the bottles are hung from the tree with twine, but in most places, they are stuck on the ends of branches. There is a Hoodoo tradition that says the bottle tree should be created at a crossroads.

Bottle trees date back to the Congo region of Africa around the 9^th Century A.D.

CREATING A BOTTLE TREE

One can create their own bottle tree easily. Obviously, start by collecting bottles. Although in some places the bottles on the tree are multicolored, traditionally cobalt blue is used. Blue has been, for many years, associated with spirits and ghosts in Southern folk magic.

One can use wine bottles, apothecary bottles, or even the blue glass ones that products like milk of magnesia used to come in. Once a bottle is acquired, they should be washed out so as not to attract unwanted critters in the bottle tree.

To hang the bottles on trees, place them on the ends of the branches. 

In many regions, the tree used is not important, although the traditional tree used is the crepe myrtle. However, one can use a collection of large tree limbs bundled together, or even a dead tree, if live trees are not available to decorate.

Pagan blogger Springwolf says that certain species of trees, in particular the crepe (or crape) myrtle, are associated with bottle tree magic, because of their spiritual significance.

In Richard Graham’s article, From African Spirit Catcher to American Folk Art Emblem: The Trans-Atlantic Odyssey of the Bottle Tree, the author suggests that there are even more magical properties to the trees beyond the colors of the bottles, although color is significant as well. He says,

“Other elements and ideas incorporated into bottle trees suggest the efficacy of its magical properties, at least according to the more mystically minded makers. On their trees, the throats of the bottles are likely to be greased with fat to facilitate the capture of evil spirits fatally attracted to the colored glass. Once sucked inside, it is believed that the spirit cannot escape, the morning sun sealing their fate.”

– What do you like about Bottle Trees?

– What don't you like about them? 

– What purposes do Bottle Trees serve? 

– How would you use your Bottle Tree?