Hagstones & witch-deterrents
Meaning
A hagstone (adder stone, Odin stone) is a stone with a natural hole through it. Witches and evil spirits were thought unable to pass through the hole, and looking through it could reveal fairies. Witch bottles held pins, nails, hair and urine to trap or reflect a witch's curse.
Intent
Hagstones were hung by beds against nightmares ('hag riding'), in stables to stop witches riding horses at night, and on keys and boats. Witch bottles were buried under hearths and thresholds to protect against and counter-attack witchcraft.
Significance
They are among the most common British and Northern European folk charms, and hundreds of witch bottles, often German stoneware 'bellarmines' with a bearded face, have been excavated, evidence of widespread fear of witchcraft.
History
Holed stones are mentioned by Pliny and in medieval sources. Witch bottles date mainly from the 16th to 18th centuries, peaking during the 17th-century witch-trial era, and hagstone use continued into the 20th century.
Making yours
Beach-found holed flints on cord. A bellarmine-style stoneware jug for a witch-bottle replica.Folk Luck & Everyday Charms: the tradition
Modern Europe and America kept a rich tradition of everyday luck charms long after learned magic faded: horseshoes over doors, rabbit's feet, four-leaf clovers, lucky pigs at New Year, charm bracelets. In London, the collector Edward Lovett (1852–1933) bought amulets from working people, costers and sailors, proving that protective magic was alive in the modern city, and his collection is now in the Wellcome Collection, the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Cuming Museum. Archaeologists keep finding concealed objects in old houses: shoes, witch bottles, dried cats and ritual marks at doors, windows and chimneys.
Huehnergott
Hühnergott 2020-04-11
Custom Spell Jar
Hagstone Brooklyn 40mm by 5mm
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (3)
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (9)
Feuerstein mit Loch-Huehnergott
Hagstone 3, Sea of Azov
Hühnergott, 150615, ako
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (5)
Hühnergott 2023-04-13 Boltenhagen (2)
Knudshoved Odde - panoramio (104)
St-Martin-de-Corléans 2018 abc18
Strohfigur Lutterbek 2024 (2)
Ei im Löcherstein 3
Hag or Witch Stone, Keld Museum, North Yorkshire
Hagstone 5, Sea of Azov
Huehnergotthohwacht2010
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (7)
Linsenstein
Flint hagstone found on the shore of the Thames
Hagstone 2, Sea of Azov
Hagstone Hühnergott
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (4)
Hühnergott 2023-04-13 Boltenhagen (1)
Clitheroe Castle Museum editathon 076
Hag stone, North Lincolnshire Museum
Hagstone 7, Sea of Azov
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (2)
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (8)
Hagstone 4, Sea of Azov
Huehnergott Ruegen 2016
Hühnergott 2020-04-11 (6)
Hühnergötterbaum 2020-04-11 (1)
Nationalpark Jasmund Sassnitzer Blumentopf
St-Martin-de-Corléans 2018 abc21 lastra con foroMore from Folk Luck & Everyday Charms: British folk amulets (Lovett collection) · Troll crosses & modern revival charms
Every type in the gallery
Anything in the gallery can be made: any piece, any tradition, in its own material or yours, by hand from the documented original. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted before anything is made. I reply within one business day.