Your favorite glass ornament has a magickal origin story. Witch balls (aka yule balls or faerie balls) are an ancient pagan custom brought over to the U.S. from England in the 17th century. A witch ball is a pretty bauble designed to ensnare evil spirits and energies and protect the space they’re hung in. They look just like a fancy glass Christmas ornaments, with glass or thread fibers inside—and in fact, some say that Christmas ornaments developed out of this tradition.
Witch balls, though, aren’t tied to a holiday. They’re hung year-round, often in an eastern window, to fend off evil spirits, witches, illness, bad fortune, and curses—y’know, all that bad stuff. Ball me up, bb, because 2020 isn’t over yet!
Witch balls are highly decorative and sometimes contain different ingredients for extra magickal oomph. Their sparkly patterns and bright colors were believed to attract and mesmerize evil spirits. The bad guys would be drawn to the ball like moths to a flame, and when they touched it, their energy would be absorbed and trapped inside forever. Think of them like witchy Venus fly traps.
Even now, people still hang witch balls outside of their front doors, on their porches, at their windows, or throughout their homes to trap negative energy. And why not? They look cute too!
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Here’s how to make your own witch ball:
- Take a clear tree ornament (like this one) and remove the decorative metal cap and hanger.
- Carefully fill it with ground-up herbs or spices (like sage for protection, cinnamon for good fortune, or lavender for soothing energy) and/or crystal shards (like black tourmaline, jet, or labradorite, all of which have protective properties) or even ground-up seashells.
- Add some sparkly thread, ideally knotted and looped, to act as the trapping device for the bad vibes. Think of it like a sticky spider’s web, and the negative energy is the fly.
- If you’d like to, paint the ball in any way you wish. Blue is associated with serenity and tranquility, so it’s a popular color choice, but you’re the boss!
- As you assemble the ball, think about the protective energy you are trying to create and imagine it glowing with mesmerizing powers, ready to draw in whatever negative vibes are out there. Imagine the ball as your protector, helping keep you and your home safe.
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Of course, you can also buy a witch ball, like these:
Witch Balls
BellasMagickCauldron Anti-Anxiety Witch Ball
Now 11% Off
Witch Balls
LunarLightJewelryLLC Witch Ball for Protection
CatMeowDesigns Oceans 4" Aqua Speckled Witch Ball
SacredArtWitchery Witch Ball
AngelicGiftsbykimba Spirit Tree Witch Ball "Santa Lucia"
Hang up your ball wherever you feel it will work best, whether in your window (pandemic worries?), above your desk (toxic boss?), or over your bed (bad dreams?). When it starts looking tarnished, cloudy, or dull, that means it’s getting full of bad vibes. If that happens, simply empty it, clean it (you can let it rest under the light of a Full Moon for an extra ~glow-up~, just like charging crystals), and fill it up with new herbs/crystals/seashells/etc.
There you go! You’ve found some magickal protection you can use year-round—and it looks pretty too.
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Kerry Ward has been reading, teaching and creating tarot decks, books, and content for over 25 years, and is a horoscope contributor for Cosmopolitan UK and Cosmopolitan US. You can book a personal, written tarot reading with her, which comes as a beautifully illustrated brochure. She is also the published author of Power Purpose Practice, Card of the Day Tarot and Cardless Tarot. She also created the Good Karma, Crystal Magic, and Taroscopes tarot decks. She likes to self-publish unique journals in her spare time, such as The Guided Magic Manifesting Journal and the latest Haunted House Journal. She is a Gemini, so writing is her favourite thing!
Follow her on Instagram h for weekly forecasts, insights, and tarot teachings, or find her on LinkedIn.
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