Painted Bottle Spells

One of the oldest bottle spells that is not a witch-bottle or protective spell is the Break Up bottle. These are most commonly found in African American hoodoo magic, but their contents are related to similar "divorce from demons" spells inscribed in bowls that are found in ancient Jewish ruins.

Break Up bottles typically contain the hair of a black dog and the hair of a black cat -- so the people you want to break up will "fight like cats and dogs" -- plus red cayenne pepper powder, to make then angry, and a group of 9 needles, 9 pins, and 9 nails to cause them to hurt one another. Vinegar may be added to "sour" their relationship. A black candle inscribed with the people's names written back-to-back (to separate them) may be burned in the mouth of the bottle before it is sealed. After it is prepared it can be buried at their home where they will step over it or it can be shaken up daily as you name them and call down curses on their relationship.

A Compelling bottle to make someone keep a promise may be made by writing their name on paper, crossed by your command, folding the paper with herbs such as Licorice and Calamus that are used to rule and control people, and inserting everything in the bottle. A small purple candle is then stuck in the neck of the bottle and burned. It may be dressed with Olive Oil.

A Fast Luck bottle spell to get luck in a hurry is made the same way -- only in this case one writes the command first and crosses it with one's own name written out 9 times. A red candle for a love spell or a green candle for money magic or gambling luck.

Come To Me, Reconciliation, Peaceful Home, Lavender Love, Prosperity and other bottle spells are all created in a similar way: If there are two people in the case, appropriate herbs and minerals are placed in the bottle and when the petition paper is written out, your name goes on top of the name of the other party, to rule them. If there is only one party and the petition is for success, wealth, or luck, the petition is written first, crossed and covered by your name. Dress the candle with an appropriate oil or use olive oil.

Religious Bottles

Religious bottle spells are a special form of prayer-in-a-bottle. They are made to hold your wish or petition, written on paper, along with herbs and minerals deemed relevant to the case, such as Rose buds if calling upon the Virgin, two Balm of Gilead buds if petitioning to mend a broken relationship, or Frankincense and Myrrh in making a petition to the Infant Jesus. There are patron saints for almost every human occupation, location, or condition, and some of the popular saints who appear in painted bottle spells include Saint Expedite for fast results, Saint Christopher for the safety of travellers, the Seven African Powers. for devotion to the Orishas, and the Infant of Atocha for political prisoners and missing victims of kidnapping.

Once the relevant items are put in the spell bottle, a candle of the appropriate colour for that patron saint is inserted in the neck of the bottle and dressed with oil -- either a named Saint or Holy oil or simply pure Olive Oil -- and then lit.

One candle alone may be sufficient, but some people burn several, one per day, until they achieve satisfaction.

Finishing the bottle

Sealing the bottle concludes the work, but if your spell is ongoing, you may make a "shaking" bottle of it before you seal it. After the candle is burned out, add vinegar (for a harmful spell), water (for a blessing spell) and cologne (for a luck spell) and seal the bottle. Shake it for a few minutes, either every day or once a week, as you call aloud your blessing, wish, prayer, or curse. Hold the spell bottle between your thumb and middle finger and shake it rhythmically as you speak, as you would a rattle. Your words should be improvised and cadenced, like preaching, toasting, or rapping.

When you are done with a bottle spell or prayer bottle and feel that the work is completed, it should be given a ritual disposal in an appropriate manner. It may be buried under a doorstep, buried in a graveyard, thrown into a crossroads, have a hole punched into the cap before being made to sink in water, or kept on an altar, depending on what your intention was.

If the spell or prayer was to rid yourself of some person or condition, ritually dispose of the bottle.

If your intention was to keep someone close but not let them know what you are doing, bury the spell bottle in your back yard.

If the petition or prayer you made was performed for love, money, gambling luck, protection or religious reasons and you maintain an altar, then you should keep the spell bottle on the altar where it will continue to work for you.

Then the spell-work is finished when the action of deployment or disposal is performed and you cannot re-open the bottle to add more ingredients to it.

If you are working the bottle spell at your altar -- by shaking it, setting small altar lights in the bottle mouth, etc. -- you may continue to add things to it, as it is still a "work in progress."

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