Believing that a magical link existed between the witch and themselves, they tried to put the magic into reverse, and turn it back upon the sender.
They used their own hair, nail-clippings, urine, etc., as the magical link ; and a heart, cut probably from red cloth, to represent the witch’s
heart, which they pierced with pins.
Sharp nails were added, to nail the witch ; and salt, because witches were supposed to hate it.
Then the whole thing was buried in some dark and secret place, in the hopeful belief that it would cause the witch to decline and perish.
However, this spell could be used offensively also, if the practitioner got hold of someone else’s hair, nail-clippings, etc., to form the necessary magical link.
Nor, in those days when sanitation was decidedly primitive, and the chamber-pot a very necessary and often handsome article of furniture, would it be too difficult to obtain some of the hated person’s urine.
The pin-pierced hearts which have been recovered from these witch-bottles, seem to be going rather far for self-defence ; and the
very nastiness of the spell would give satisfaction to a hate-filled mind.
But why the choice of a Bellarmine bottle for this uncanny business ?
What had Cardinal Bellarmine to do with witchcraft ?
The answer, most probably, is nothing ; because the face on the bottle does not represent the Cardinal at all, but something much older.
Some of the earliest examples of this ware have a triple face on them ; that is, three faces combined into one symbolic countenance.
This bearded, triple face dates back to pre-Christian times in Celtic Europe, and represented an ancient god of Nature.
