origination of the Witch Ball?

[KylalaKitty]

I've seen popping up in the past few years in new age shops both in real life and online selling something called a Witch Ball. Apparently their colorful glass balls that hang in a window or outside to protect your house from evil spirits and so on. Well I was browsing online looking at Witch Balls one day and my boyfriend came in the room. He asked me why I was looking at glass floats for fishing nets. I told him they were Witch Balls. Well I did some research and found out that they both look pretty much the same and supposedly popped up around the same time in history (17 to 1800s). SO my question is how exactly did the Witch Ball come about? Did someone with a float think it was better used for protection against evil spirits than a float or what? I'm almost thinking it was something that could be purchased for cheap and then resold for more money by calling it something else. Does anyone know?

http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=z-XZTeimN4na0QGS3MX8Aw&ved=0CDkQvwUoAQ&q=fishing+glass+floats&spell=1&biw=1152&bih=596

images of the fishing floats

http://www.google.com/search?um=1&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&biw=1152&bih=596&tbm=isch&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&q=witch%20balls

images of the witch balls.

[Umbress]

LMAO - I tend to agree with the notion that selling a glass fishing ball under the name witch ball to be a monetary ploy much like I experience in crafting - Bead boxes with individual small compartments cost $10.00 A fishing tackle box that is the exact same design just less colorful cost $5.00 - Yeppers it happens all the time - some one saw a fish ball and saw $$$$ by merely making them more colorful and changing the name!

[LunaWolfe]

I'm pretty positive they are the same exact thing. And Umbress, I've seen that too. I have a few bead boxes, but didn't buy them until they were on sale for a lot less. Haha.

[~Runa~]

This looks very familiar to me as I've seen one. When I was a kid, I came across it when my cousin showed it to me. She told me that our grandma gave it to her. I felt a bit jealous at the time being only 13 and one day I stole it from my cousin's room when she went home. Later I found it missing from my room and obviously my gran had been in there, took it and gave it back to my cousin. I didn't know it was a "witch ball" just thought it was a nice dangly thing. It was a round green stone inside a gold netting fabric that looked like a pendant. I see plenty of witch balls in shop windows of these candle shops.

[Terra Mater]

This story was told to me by my grandmother who actually had four huge floaters hanging on the porch in bits of fishing net.

Once upon a time a poor fisherman was bemoaning his luck on the water. His wife, a sensible woman talked to a local witch. the witch promised to give her a spell to bring riches to them if the fishwife would bring her the largest floater her husband used on his nets and a segment of net to carry it. The fishwife told her man what the witch had said and he gave her the largest float from the net which was easily 30" in diameter. As the woman carried the floater down the lane to the witch's house, people would stop her and ask her what the object was and where she was taking it. The woman told each person the same story "The witch down the lane has asked for this object from my family who has many of them. She has promised me riches beyond measure for just a single of these balls." Each person then would offer the woman a great sum for a 'witch ball' which the woman promised to deliver one the witch's ball had been delivered. When she reached the witch's hut, the witch presented her with a single gold coin. The woman asked "Where is the spell I was promised?" The witch replied "You mean the one that made sure the road would be full of future customers for you as you brought this to me?"

My grandmother told me that the story had been handed down along with the floaters through many generations of our family. Don't know about the story, but an appraiser verified that the floaters my grandmother still has hanging in her home are commercial net floaters hand blown during the 1890's and we have documents showing that my great great grandfather was a fisherman around that time.

[MonSno_LeeDra]

OK let me preface this with all that follows is things I was told over the years but have never seen it written in a book so can't say if it is truly valid or simply urban legend type stuff.

One of the first places I encountered Float Balls was while I was stationed in Northern Japan, 1981 time frame. While there I found it interesting that so many nets had these flaot balls. Averaging in size from about 5 inches to as large as a couple of feet. I was told they were initially used in water magics, one of the reasons they were greenish or blue-green in color. (granted most hand blown glass was a greenish color so that may just be added folklore) Sometimes a float would be plugged with various things added to them to ensure a good harvest and for protection against foul seas and diaster. Better a float ball be lost than the ship or the whole net be shredded. What I was told was usually lure's that were associated to specific fish species or other nautical items to ensure safety. Saddly when I returned to Japan in 89 time frame you didn't see many float balls left and seldom found them washed ashore as we did one my first tour.

I got into a discussion while I was stationed in Groton Ct (abt 1989) about them and was told that what I saw in Japan was correct but they were more than that. The water witches used them to see upon the sea's and ocean's. Perhaps more specific to the American Northeast like the widows walks on the old homes. They were taken with the long voyage whaling and fishing fleets though I can't say they were not taken with other shipping types as well. They could be used to call calm sea's for a ship or fleet but could also be used to whistle up a storm as well as just letting a waiting spouse know thier husband / lover / family was still alive and alright.

So to the sea faring peoples they were protection and for success. They were colored to favor the sea's and the color's of the sea. Coastal waters being a greenish blue while deep sea is a blue black color but most fishing was done near shoaling beds so it was greenish-blue. To some extent this color association holds true for major lakes and such as well, though I was told one might find a brownish ball for use on inland rivers and lakes, yet i've never seen one of those.

Witch Balls probally grew out of a merging of the old Witches Bottle (normally ceramic or pottery) with the rise of hand blown glass objects with encounteres with the sea magics of the coastal towns and sea faring peoples. Of course that is just my opinon for what its worth.

[Raven_Rin]

I don't know if this is historically accurate but I was told the following by the owner of a Pagan shop.
Witchballs did indeed start out as fishing net floaters. Somewhere along the lines it became a common fear that witches would curse the family of the fisherman for her own gain while the fisherman was at sea. To protect the family the floaters were hung outside the home because it was believed that the witch would become entranced by the glass balls and her evil soul would be trapped inside. With the modern revival of Witchcraft the idea evolved into trapping evil spirits instead of witches' souls.

I've also heard that the idea of witchballs evolved out of the African tradition of a bottle tree.
http://www.squidoo.com/bottletrees (for more info on bottle trees)

I don't know if there is any truth in either.

[Nola]

my uncle has a victorian one. the giant Christmas bauble type, rather than the fishing float type.

the story that has always gone with the ball is that it contains lots of cotton threads. if a Witch sees her, obviously hideous, reflection, she will attack it, the ball will break and her long fingernails will become entangled in the cotton.

whearas now they seem much more used by Witches than against Witches. to reflect negative energy back away from a property.

they're pretty. that's my take on them. and I have a few modern ones. admittedly purely for decorative purposes.

[KylalaKitty]

awesome. thanks everyone. :ballonsmi I wasn't able to find anything online. Terra mater thats an awesome story and thats cool that some of you have seen these "witch balls". They are pretty so if I can ever find one for cheap I might get it.