Witch-Bottles of WitchTok

Witch-bottles were used in the seventeenth century to counteract suspected bewitchment. Filled with nails, pins, and urine and then buried, they were believed to harm the witch and lift the curse. Witch-bottles are still being made and used today—but no tradition survives unbroken or unaltered. Over the centuries, perceptions of witchcraft have changed greatly—and witch-bottles have adapted to these changes. This article examines the conception of the witch-bottle within the subculture of “WitchTok,” an online community of self-identified Wiccans and witches. It is within this subculture that we most prominently find the twenty-first-century witch-bottle, and through this we can consider how the practice is conceived in contemporary society and what adaptations it has undergone.