Spirit Traps in the Garden

Spirit Traps in the Garden

Bottle Trees in the Lowcountry: History, Lore, and Cultural Roots

From the Kongo to the Carolinas: African Roots and the Spirit World

The tradition of bottle trees is more than Southern Garden charm. It is a spiritual practice with deep African roots, tracing back to the Kongo people of Central Africa. In Kongo beliefs, glass, water, and other reflective materials were seen as powerful conduits or traps for spirits. The boundary between the spirit world and the living was flexible, and spirits could move freely between the two. Blue, in particular, was considered sacred and linked to the ancestral realm.

When enslaved Africans were brought to the Americas, they carried these beliefs with them. Despite the forced separation from their homelands, language, and families, many cultural practices endured. In the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia, especially among the Gullah Geechee people, the tradition of using glass bottles to trap or repel spirits took on new life. It evolved into the bottle trees we recognize today.

Adapting in the South: Materials, Isolation, and Survival

By the 1700s, these African spiritual traditions had begun to blend with the materials and realities of life in the Lowcountry. Blue glass bottles from medicine or liquor were easy to come by and were repurposed into spiritual tools. The Sea Islands and marshlands surrounding Charleston, Edisto, Wadmalaw, and the ACE Basin were geographically isolated, which allowed the Gullah communities to retain more of their African heritage. This includes not only food, language, and music, but also protective spiritual customs like the bottle tree. The bottle tree is one of many enduring symbols of this resilience.

Spirit Traps and Household Guardians

Bottle trees serve as a form of spiritual protection. They are said to trap haints, a Lowcountry word for spirits that are unsettled or out of place. These spirits, drawn to shiny surfaces and moving light, enter the bottles and become disoriented or trapped. As the morning sun passes through the glass, some believe it either destroys the spirit or drives it away.

The bottles may rattle in the wind, and that sound is sometimes interpreted as the spirits making noise while stuck inside. If a bottle falls and breaks on its own, old folks say a spirit may have been released or neutralized. It's customary to sweep up the glass carefully, sprinkle the area with salt, and bury the shards respectfully.

Why Blue? Color and Symbolism

Blue bottles remain the most spiritually significant. In African and Gullah spiritual traditions, blue is the color of protection. It wards off evil, confuses unwanted spirits, and marks boundaries between the worlds. This is the same reason many homes in the South have haint blue porch ceilings.

Green bottles may be used for healing or drawing in good fortune. Clear bottles are more controversial. Some believe they are ineffective unless ritually prepared or blessed. Mixed-color bottle trees have become more popular, blending spiritual function with personal or decorative expression.

Traditional and Modern Construction

Older bottle trees were often made from crepe myrtles or other hardwoods with bare limbs. Dead trees were especially valued because they were thought to stand at the edge between life and death, making them spiritually active. Over time, people began crafting trees out of metal, rebar, or iron, turning them into permanent fixtures that blend folk art with spiritual practice.

Where Bottle Trees Stand

Bottle trees are usually placed near the front door, at the eastern side of a property, in gardens, along footpaths, or at cemetery edges. In some traditions, setting them near crossroads or spiritually active places increases their power. In the Lowcountry, especially around Charleston, you might find them beside old praise houses, family burial grounds, and homes that still hold Gullah cultural ties and knowledge.

Lowcountry Lore and Regional Beliefs

There are tales of bottle trees that rattle in a storm and break bottles overnight. Some say these are signs of spiritual activity or that a haint tried to escape. In Wadmalaw, one woman told of her bottle tree losing a bottle each spring, followed by something unsettling happening in the community. She believed her tree was absorbing trouble so her home wouldn’t have to.

Dead trees, particularly crepe myrtles, were traditionally used to hold bottles. These were thought to be more spiritually open due to their connection to decay and transition.

In the deeper parts of the Lowcountry, bottle trees are also tied to dream protection, grief rituals, and ancestral honoring. Some families quietly pass the tradition down without ever calling it magick. It is just something you do, because it's always been done.

Bottle Trees Beyond the South

Today, bottle trees are appearing far beyond the Lowcountry. People across the country are rediscovering them, sometimes through folk art festivals, sometimes through spiritual exploration. And while that revival can be beautiful, it also brings a responsibility.

If you are white or live outside the South, it is absolutely okay to have a bottle tree, if you understand and respect its roots. This tradition is part of the African diaspora’s spiritual heritage. It is not just decoration. It is a living tradition tied to survival, memory, and protection.

What You Can Do

Learn the history. Share it when someone asks.

Place your bottle tree with intention, as a spiritual tool, not just an ornament.

If you’re up for it, put a small note or placard nearby explaining what it is and where it comes from.

What to Avoid

Don’t call it just a Southern thing or strip it of its African and African American roots.

Don’t commercialize it or sell it without acknowledgment.

Don’t mock or trivialize the beliefs that made it.

Honoring the tradition is how we help carry it forward. The bottle tree remains a quiet sentinel, guarding the threshold between worlds, offering protection, and keeping the stories alive.

Creating a Bottle Tree

1. Gather Your Bottles

Color matters. Traditionally, blue bottles are used, especially cobalt blue, as it's said to ward off evil and attract spirits into the glass where they get trapped by the morning sun.

You can also mix in green, clear, or brown bottles, depending on your intention:

Blue: Protection, peace, spirit trapping

Green: Growth, healing

Clear: Amplification, clarity

Brown: Grounding, stability

Don’t use red if you’re aiming to keep angry spirits away. Red calls things in.

2. Cleanse the Bottles

Wash them with vinegar or salt water to remove physical and spiritual residue.

As you clean each one, say something simple, like:

“I wash away the past. This bottle is now a vessel of purpose.”

Some folks pass them through incense smoke or leave them overnight in the moonlight to spiritually "charge" them.

3. Add Personal Touches (Optional)

You can put items inside for added magick:

A pinch of salt for purification

Protective herbs (like rosemary or rue)

Small charms or sigils written on paper

A few drops of Florida water or holy water

A prayer or Psalm verse (Psalm 121 or 140 are traditional for protection)

Just be mindful of moisture buildup, keep things dry unless sealing it.

4. Choose the Tree or Post

Traditionally, a dead tree trunk, a crepe myrtle, or a wooden post with metal arms is used. The bottles are placed on the branches or poles so they catch the morning sun. Some folks even bury a piece of iron or nails at the base of the tree for extra protection.

5. Place the Bottles with Intention

Slide the bottles over the branches or poles, neck facing out. As you place each bottle, speak your intent out loud. Something like:

“You who come with harm or hate, enter here and meet your fate.”

Or simply:

“This bottle watches. This bottle protects.”

Some speak to ancestors or spirits while doing this, asking for help in keeping the home safe.

6. Activate the Tree

Once all the bottles are placed:

Clap your hands three times.

Sprinkle the base with salt or sweep around it with a broom.

Light a candle or incense nearby and speak a blessing, like:

“From root to leaf, from glass to sky, may harm be trapped and peace draw nigh.”

You can also walk around the tree clockwise three times, whispering protective words or the names of those who dwell in the house.

7. Maintain It

Wash bottles occasionally or wipe off dust with a blessed cloth.

If a bottle breaks, replace it respectfully, say a few words and bury the broken glass away from the home.

Some folks "feed" the tree with offerings, flowers, coins, a splash of water, or rum.

Bottle Tree Chant

(Say as you place each bottle)

Spirit, shadow, hate, or harm,

This glass holds tight, you lose your charm.

By sun and wind, by root and tree,

You’ll find no welcome here from me.

Into the bottle, go and stay,

Be still by night, be gone by day.

(Optional final line for each bottle:)

With this glass, my home I shield, 

By charm and root, my peace is sealed.

You can hum between verses, especially if the wind picks up. It’s said the wind helps carry your words into the spirit world.

Granny’s Rockin’ Chair Bottle Tree Chant

with all the porch truth, side-eye, and no-nonsense protection a Southern granny would give. Picture her in her house dress, feet up, fan in hand, and a broom by the door just in case.

(Say this with each bottle, like you mean it)

Well now, listen close and mind your way,

This bottle ain’t for show or play.

If you come bringin’ trouble, turn on back,

This yard don’t suffer no haint or hex or hack.

By salt and sun, by root and rain,

You won’t cross me with your pain.

I trap you here, I lock you tight,

You’ll sit in glass till the morning light.

Your foolish business is done, done, done.

So hush your fuss, and take your leave,

This porch don't play, and I don't grieve.

Granny’s Blessing for the Kind Spirits

Here’s how you can honor the good spirits, the ancestors, the watchful ones, the old souls who keep an eye on things from the shade.

You can say this after the main chant for each bottle, or just once when you’re finished setting up your whole tree. Think of it like leaving out a plate for company, you’re lettin’ the right folks know they’re always welcome.

To the ones who walk with love and grace,

You’ve got a seat near this sacred place.

You bring no harm, you bring no fear,

You’re welcome close, you’re welcome here.

May you rest in breeze, in sun, in shade,

And know this home remembers what you gave.

Leave a sign, or whisper low,

Just let me know you passed by slow.

I see you, I thank you, I set a place. 

You’re never far from this old space.