A brief History
Witches balls are hollow glass sphere historically made of glass. They have been in popular use since the 18thCentury, but their origins is believed to be much older. These glass spheres would be hung in an eastern window or from the rafters in rooms to ward off evil spirits and evil spells. The theory being that the evil entity would be enticed by the glittering strands of wispy glass in the spheres. The witches ball originated among cultures where it was common folk practice to protect your house with talismans and amulets. They can be considered sea magic as the older glass balls resemble the floats used by fisherman, this also has a link to the theory that a witch wouldn’t sink because they were unbaptized and the water would ‘reject the witch’ and they would float on the water just like the glass bouys floated no matter the weight on them.
Witches balls are still used today to help ward off evil but we can use them for other purposes to, such as bringing luck and prosperity to a newly wedded couple, encouraging health or juts bringing calmness to a hectic home.
If you are looking to ease your way into using witchcraft in your modern life without friends and family thinking you are going through a midlife emo crisis the witches ball is a good place to start.
So why are witches balls a good place to start?
Mainly because of their size and their decorative nature. Its is a subtle way to bring magic into your life.
All you need to make your own basic witches ball is the make your own plastic baubles you can purchase in sets from any craft store, a sage incense stick, some thread (I use golden thread but the colour is completely up to you) dried lavender a cinnamon stick seashells cloves twine and glue
Simply use the sage smoke to cleanse the inside of the ball and surrounding air allowing some of the ash to fall in the ball itself, fill your plastic bauble with the thread, dried lavender (I like to leave the lavender on its stems and tie in a bouquet with some of the gold thread) cinnamon stick (which you will need to break in half) seashells, cloves in a way that is pleasing to you glue shut the bauble and wrap in the twine around the sealed edge (I tend to glue this for extra stability) while you are doing this think about your intentions for the ball. Once it has dried your witches ball is ready to hang.
You can choose to hang the witches ball where ever you want I would recommend if you are having nightmares or trouble sleeping hanging it above your bed or on your bedroom window, if you are after a more general outcome from your witches ball then hang it somewhere where you regularly spend you time like the kitchen or the lounge this way you will feel the effects on the ball more often.
Its nice to experiment with what you add to your witches ball. I tend to find myself gathering flowers and leaves on walks drying them and using these, Sometimes the ingredients are a gut feeling your inner power and intentional thoughts will know what you need to add.
The great thing about witches balls is they make great homemade gifts, I made a general witches ball that contained elements for protection, prosperity, fertility, and love and gifted it to my friends on their wedding day, I’ve also managed to help a friend who suffered with nightly night terrors I made her a ball using herbs and crystals that aid protection and sealed the ball using black wax this now hangs on her bed frame and she has had a significant drop in night terror visits.
I love making these witches balls as a quick and easy way to bring little bit of magic into my daily life, I hope you will too.
