What is a Spell Jar?
Spell Jars, also called Witch Bottles, is a type of spell that dates back to the 17th century. They have a wide variety of uses depending on the ingredients used. Historically, a witch bottle would be used to lure and trap evil spirits so they could not cause harm in the home. Witches and folk healers would create these bottles with things such as teeth or a hair of the person who needed protection or who they thought to be causing them harm, urine or vinegar, rusty nails or bent pins, and ashes or bone.
How to Make a Spell Jar
Today, this is an easy and accessible type of magick for most people who wish to do witchcraft. Most of us have access to repurposed glass jars and natural materials, such as herbs and stones. You can make a spell jar for absolutely anything by choosing the right ingredients and intentions.
Ingredients To Choose
Herbs
An essential ingredient to any spell jar is herbs. Match them to your intentions for this spell. This should make up the bulk of your jar.
Crystals
Small tumbled crystals are another great personalized addition to a spell jar. Add a crystal or two that correspond with the intention.
Salt
Use salt for protection and setting spiritual boundaries. Additional properties vary depending on the type. You can use table salt, pink salt, black salt and more!
Sharp Object
For a protection spell, consider adding a sharp object such as a nail, thorn, or razor. Historically, bent pins were thought to act like a barbed-wire fence between your household and a malicious spirit.
Sweetener
On the other hand, adding a sweetener to your spell jar such as honey, sugar, or stevia, can improve your interactions with certain people, or overall cause others to see you in a positive light.
Eggshells
Life forms inside an egg and the shell is what holds it together and keeps it safe. Eggshell powder is commonly used in protection spells for this reason.
Coins
A coin in your currency represents prosperity, success, and monetary abundance. If you have paper money, this works just as well! You can use numerology or a number that corresponds with how much money you wish to bring into your life.
Loose Incense
Add powder or resin to the jar if you feel it fits your intention. Dragon’s Blood, for example, is often used to add a power boost to a spell jar, or cinnamon to speed the result.
Seashells
These can have a variety of uses depending on what you use them with. If you associate the sea with feeling calm, it can be used with calming herbs and crystals, or you can think of how it protects sea life and use it in a protection spell.
Colored String
This is a great way to incorporate some color magick into your jar spell by choosing a color that corresponds with your intention. Tie it around the neck of the jar or the lid, depending on the shape of your jar after you build the spell but before you seal it.
Wax
To seal the spell jar, we will use wax in the same color as the thread. If you have a wax melter, you can use that and pour the wax over the top of the jar, or you can let a candle burn down on top of your jar (make sure to watch it until it is finished burning for fire safety).
How to Prepare Your Jar
Boost with Petition Paper or Taglock
A petition paper is made by writing your intention on a piece of brown paper, dating it, and sealing it with your signature. Depending on if you are manifesting or banishing something, you will want to turn it in the appropriate direction while tearing the edges and folding it. This can be a great addition to your spell jar in order to focus its energy to one specific intention. If you are interested in adding a petition paper, see a step-by-step in the article Petition to the Universe: Fire Spell for Beltane.
A taglock can be used if you are directing the spell to a specific person. This can be something with a person’s DNA such as hair, fingernail clippings, signature or fingerprints, or a photo of them. Anything that connects the spell to an individual is considered a taglock. With this method though, you need to be sure that what you are using really is from the intended target. For example, you want to make sure that piece of hair is really theirs and that no one else is in that photo you are using or else it may affect more than that specific individual.
Add a Charm or a Sigil
Another way to personalize your spell jar is to tie a charm to the string that corresponds with your intention before sealing the jar with wax. If you have a personal sigil or a rune that corresponds, you can paint that on the outside of the jar, matching the paint color to the string. You can even craft your own sigil specifically for this spell to make it even more personalized.
Spell Jar Suggestions
Peace Spell Jar
This concoction can be set anywhere you need a dose of calm most, whether that be your sacred space, a certain room in your home, or your office at work.
- Pink Himalayan salt crystals
- Seashells
- Dried lavender
- Dried lemon balm
- Tumbled aquamarine crystal
- Sandalwood powder or chips
- Blue string
- Blue wax
Directions: Fill the bottom of the jar with the salt and seashells. Layer the dried herbs to fill the rest of the bottle, leaving enough room at the top for the remaining ingredients. Add the crystal, sprinkle with sandalwood, and close the jar. Tie the string around the jar and seal it with wax.
Prosperity Spell Jar
Made similarly to the Prosperity Bowl, use this combination to bring monetary abundance into your life.
- Coins
- Bay leaf
- Dried peppermint leaf
- Dried ginger root
- Tumbled green aventurine crystal
- Lodestone powder
- Green string
- Green wax
Directions: Fill the bottom of the jar with the coins and bay leaf. Layer the dried herbs to fill the rest of the bottle, leaving enough room at the top for the remaining ingredients. Add the crystal, sprinkle with lodestone powder, and close the jar. Tie the string around the jar and seal it with wax.
Positivity Spell Jar
This is often called a “sweeten spell” and can be used to bring positivity into your life by causing others to react favorably toward you.
- Sweetener of your choice
- Dried rose petals
- Dried calendula flowers
- Tumbled citrine crystal
- Arabic gum or copal resin
- Yellow string
- Yellow wax
Directions: Fill the jar with your sweetener to about one third of the jar. Fill the rest of the bottle with the dried herbs, leaving enough room at the top for the remaining ingredients. Top with the crystal and resin and close the jar. Tie the string around the jar and seal it with wax.
Passion Spell Jar
The ultimate manifestation spell, this jar gives you the motivation to go for your dreams and reach your goals.
- Dried patchouli leaf
- Dried jasmine flowers
- Cinnamon stick
- Tumbled carnelian crystal
- Powdered dragon’s blood
- Red string
- Red wax
Directions: Layer the dried herbs to fill the jar, topping with the cinnamon stick and crystal. Sprinkle with dragon’s blood powder on the top before closing the jar. Tie the string around the jar and seal it with wax.
Protection Spell Jar
Instead of bringing something in, this protection jar repels negativity.
- Salt
- Eggshell powder
- Ashes from burnt incense or smoke bundles
- Dried stinging nettle
- Dried blessed thistle
- A sharp object of your choosing
- A black crystal of your choosing
- Black string
- Black wax
Directions: Combine the first three ingredients together and fill about a quarter or a third of the jar. Fill the rest of the bottle with the dried herbs, leaving enough room at the top for the remaining ingredients. Top with the crystal and sharp object and close the jar. Tie the string around the jar and seal it with wax.
How to Dispose
Once your spell jar has completed its work, you can deconstruct the spell jar, removing the items you wish to keep such as coins or crystals (cleanse them first before using for another purpose!) and use one of the four elements to dispose of the rest of the ingredients: burn them, bury them*, release them in a flowing stream or on a windy day.
* If you used salt in your spell, do not bury it in the ground as this will upset the natural balance of the soil.
* If the wax you used is a natural wax such as soy or beeswax, it is okay to bury. Never bury paraffin wax or a mixture because it is terrible for the environment.
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