'Witch Bottles': Creepy, Occultic Items Discovered Along Gulf of Mexico

(Photo by Dustan Woodhouse on Unsplash)

A Texas researcher has stumbled upon some truly curious — and creepy — items on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico: so-called “witch bottles.”

Listen to them on the latest episode of “Quick Start”:

At least eight of these bizarre, occultic items have shown up on the shores of a beach near Corpus Christi, Texas, since 2017, Fox News reported.

Jace Tunnell, director of community engagement at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, told the outlet the latest bottle was found Nov. 15.

According to UPI, witch bottles date back to the 16th and 17th centuries, and are filled with fingernail clippings, human hair, bodily fluids, and other items intended to protect people who believe they’re the targets of curses or spells.

Those who create witch bottles apparently intend to stop the supposed power of a witch’s spells by “trapping” the spell inside the bottle. As researchers for the McGill University Office for Science and Society noted, some believed these bottles could “actually reflect the spell itself while also tormenting the witch, leaving the witch with no option but to remove the spell.”

As for Tunnell, he said he’s not freaked out by the findings, though he has no intention of opening them.

“I don’t get creeped out by them, but I’m also not going to open them,” he told Fox News. “I mean, they’re supposed to have spells and stuff in them — why take the chance?”

The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies shared an image of one of the bottles on Facebook earlier this month, further explaining their significance.

“Witch bottle!” the post began. “We find these every once in a while. Folks in certain cultures around the world put vegetation or other objects in a bottle. They are counter magical devices [whose] purpose is to draw in and trap harmful intentions directed at their owners.”

Tunnell said it’s unclear where the bottles originated or when they were put together.

It should also be noted that, while some might laugh off such antics or take them lightly, Scripture makes it clear engaging in the occult and other related practices is prohibited.

Such preclusions are present throughout the Bible, including in Revelation 21:8, which reads, “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (NIV).

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