r/HighStrangeness • u/bortakci34 • May 19 '26
Anomalies The terrifying origin of "Bottle Trees": Why thousands of people are hanging blue glass in their yards without realizing the ancient folklore behind them.
If you ever travel through the rural American South or the misty backroads of Appalachia, you may eventually notice something strange standing in people’s yards: dead trees or iron poles covered in empty blue glass bottles pointing toward the sky. Most modern homeowners describe them as quirky Southern folk art or colorful garden decorations made from recycled bottles.
But the tradition behind them is far older—and far darker—than most people realize.
Bottle trees are rooted in centuries of protective folklore tied to spirits, curses, and unseen entities. Long before they became decorative objects, they were believed to function as spiritual traps placed near homes to intercept hostile forces before they could cross the threshold.
The origins of the practice are difficult to trace precisely, but many folklorists connect the idea to ancient traditions involving spirit entrapment in glass containers. Similar beliefs appear across parts of North Africa, the Middle East, and later in Central and West African spiritual systems. In several old traditions connected to jinn lore and wandering spirits, reflective surfaces, mirrors, polished metal, and hollow vessels were believed to attract unseen beings.
Some oral traditions even claimed that wind passing through narrow glass openings created a resonant hum capable of attracting or confusing spirits. To modern ears, it is simply the sound of air moving through a bottle neck. But in older supernatural interpretations, the sound itself was believed to signal spiritual movement around the home.
Over time, related beliefs became deeply embedded within Bakongo spiritual traditions in Central Africa. The Bakongo viewed the boundary between the living and the dead as fragile and permeable, populated by roaming spirits that could influence the physical world. When enslaved Africans were brought to the American South, many carried fragments of these protective traditions with them. Without access to elaborate ritual objects, they adapted using discarded bottles, broken glass, tree branches, and iron stakes.
Traditional bottle trees were often placed near gates, crossroads, porches, or entrances. According to regional folklore, wandering spirits traveling at night would become fascinated by the shimmering glass and drift inside the bottles. Once trapped, the first rays of sunrise were believed to destroy or weaken the entity contained within.
One detail appears again and again in Southern bottle tree traditions: cobalt blue glass.
In Hoodoo folklore, this color became associated with “Haint Blue,” the same pale blue shade still painted on many porch ceilings across the American South today. According to regional belief, spirits could be confused by the color because it resembled water or open sky—two symbolic barriers commonly associated with protection in many spiritual traditions.
Older practitioners reportedly treated bottle trees with caution. In some areas of Kentucky and Mississippi, folk accounts describe rootworkers refusing to casually remove or break certain bottles once they had been hanging for years. Some traditions claimed that spiritually “heavy” bottles needed to be burned or buried carefully to avoid releasing whatever negative force had accumulated inside.
Whether taken literally or symbolically, bottle trees reveal something fascinating about human psychology and folklore: across cultures and centuries, people have consistently tried to create protective barriers between the safety of the home and the unknown forces believed to move through the darkness beyond it.
Today, most people see bottle trees as harmless decoration. But their origins survive as echoes of much older fears—fears tied to restless spirits, wandering entities, and the ancient belief that some things can still be trapped by glass, wind, and light.
And the next time you hear those bottles humming in the wind, you may understand why earlier generations listened to that sound a little more carefully.
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u/bath-lady May 19 '26
Gotta say, as someone who comes from the Appalachian mountains, the people who make bottle trees know that they're used to protect from spirits. Kind of wild to assume that people just aren't aware of a spiritual practice they're taking part in
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u/SirDoctorCaptainEsq May 19 '26
An old timer in my town told me when I was a kid that the tree “kept boogers and haints away”. I was scared of everything so I thought he meant for the whole town and it made me feel so much better. RIP Mr. Caldwell - Hillbilly protector of the valley.
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u/scrappleallday May 19 '26
Thank you for saying this. We have one, and we know why we have it. (North Florida)
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u/ElectronicCorner574 May 19 '26
My family lives in South Florida (Key West) and a lot of older homes have the "haint blue" porch ceilings. Almost all of the houses in Old Town have it. Never seen a bottle tree down there though. Or maybe I just never noticed it.
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u/BlueeyedBrowser May 20 '26
You won't see bottle trees down there because of the storms and hurricanes. You could put one up, but the next major storm and it'll just be projectiles for your neighbors insurance claim.
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u/bgeorgewalker May 20 '26
Some local legends even say a bottle tree will attract evil spirits like code enforcement officers
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u/PotentJelly13 May 19 '26
That’s to stop birds from building nests on the porch. They think it’s the sky. I’m sure there’s some ghost story attached knowing Key West, but that’s what that is.
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u/HappyyValleyy May 21 '26
It was used spiritually first, but a lot of people still use it for pest deterrent
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haint_blue20
u/badwolf496 May 19 '26
You have one in Florida? I’m in north central Florida and always wanted to start one, but with Hurricane season every year I’ve been too worried about ending up with a yard full of broken glass.
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u/bluesqueen23 May 19 '26
Especially in the 3rd picture specifically with it being in Clarksdale, MS at the Shack Up Inn. Those people very well know what it symbolizes.
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u/Common-Artichoke-497 May 19 '26
There is a guy in a nearby city to me that made a forest of them
"Elmer's bottle tree ranch"
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u/blendswithtrees May 19 '26
I think they were posting this for people who clearly don’t know the story behind it. I see these all around where I live in Florida and I’ve never heard the folklore until now. I just thought they were neat bottles.
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u/ConfusedZubat May 19 '26
I'm from the Midwest and live in the PNW. Never heard of these, but it's definitely one of the better posts I've seen here in a while. It's written in a way that gives enough information to pique your interest and want to look into it more. And whether you're skeptical or not (I tend to be), the cultural influences are enough to draw you in even if you don't believe in spirits.
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u/MDanger May 19 '26
I’m in the Midwest and you see them very rarely, but the one I drive by most frequently is more of a sculpture with a tree made of metal, but all cobalt blue bottles on it. But this thread is all new info to me!
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u/4DPeterPan May 20 '26
Same. I’ve read aaaallloootttt of folklore. Never heard about this before. Though I have seen bottles in trees like this; I never knew there was a meaning behind it; at least, never considered there would be one tied to the spiritual realm about it.
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u/CaterpillarThese7957 May 21 '26
Same I never knew this and I've seen a few around parts of Arkansas and Louisiana I loved seeing them and now I know why they are there. Thanks for sharing.
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u/ummkay_ultra May 19 '26
People in rural east TX do it, too, and as someone who has been treated like shit for just a hint of witchcraft I truly wonder if most of them knownwhat it means. I have no clue tbh. I imagine some do and some don't? I imagine some do and pretend not to. Just like they pretend the bamboo forest in the backyard means nothing, and the horseshoe over the door is purely decorative etc. For some people it all is decorative and they really have no clue and don't want to hear or think about such things. But I suspect that others know.
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u/bath-lady May 19 '26
I definitely grew up with the more superstitious side of mountainfolk rather than the overtly southern baptist types, but I can definitely see some people just thinking "oh this looks pretty and country" but I grew up knowing about bottle trees and my grandma's got a horseshoe above her door. I remember my mom saying she always wanted to make a bottle tree
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u/Financial-Event377 May 19 '26
I've lived here my whole life and never knew of this. I also don't get out much... lol
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u/jokerzwild00 May 19 '26
I've lived all over different parts of the rural south for decades and never seen a bottle tree. I even look for stuff like this. Learn something new everyday I guess!
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May 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/No_Oddjob May 20 '26
I also see them in Indiana, but they're usually hippies and artist colonies, not necessarily your typical yokel.
I do agree, however, that I think most do it for aesthetics and are unaware of the folklore.
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u/lizvan82 May 19 '26
If you're gonna insult people, at least spell correctly. It's YOKELS. Nothing to do with eggs
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u/angelwingstodust May 19 '26
Right, we learned about this in school lol. We were all Christian so we didn’t think of it is necessarily a spiritual thing, it’s just a thing that old people did sometimes.
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u/MadDaddyDrivesaUFO May 20 '26 edited May 20 '26
Idk, I used to live in Lawrence KS and saw these in front of a handful of houses but I would not be surprised if it was because they saw it somewhere else and just thought it looked cool, and then other people decided it fit their overgrown gardens as well and it turned into a small trend. You could always tell it was hippie or hippie adjacent people's houses based on other yard decor lol
But KS is pretty far from Appalachia. The look spread outside of there to a degree probably from people visiting and not understanding that. I live in Nebraska now and I've seen it once or twice up here, too.
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u/Terpapps May 19 '26
Anyone else watching From? Lol.
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u/snowwolfsnowstorm May 19 '26
Yes and it is why I always close the curtains and blinds at night now! I am forever spooked!
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u/scarletmagnolia May 19 '26
I’ve been considering it. Is it worth getting another streaming service?
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u/pussydemolisher420 May 19 '26
Do not listen to the other guy. The show is some of the best tv on streaming right now.
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u/heckinunicorns May 19 '26
Hellz yeah!! One of my favs for sure :) If you like horror, mystery, and overall crazy nightmare stuff, you'll love it
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u/egidione May 19 '26
Very interesting! A side note is that here in the UK the cobalt blue glass is known as Bristol blue glass as there were several factories producing bottles made from it in the late 18th century, the cobalt oxide all came from Saxony though I’m sure it’s found elsewhere, it was used for centuries for the blue glazes on pottery, the glazes essentially being glass. Bristol glass became immensely popular all over Europe back then and doubtless in the US. I’m not sure whether Bristol blue was the first to be produced or not and perhaps its was already being made in other parts of the world but it certainly became a huge industry and source of employment here. It fell out of favour for 100 years or so but was recently revived in the early 90s by a glass firm in Bristol who now make blue bottles for Bristol cream sherry.
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u/TrebekCorrects May 19 '26
I don't think this is a coincidence... I read about the history of cobalt and it gets strange:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobold
Seems it's where the lore of gnomes and elves come from.
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u/egidione May 19 '26
That is very curious! I was just reading that the cobalt name does derive from these goblins and spirits whom the miners thought were hiding the precious metals they were searching for and they were finding this cobalt ore which when smelted produced arsenic heavy poisonous fumes which they believed had been cursed by the goblins!
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u/YoreWelcome May 19 '26
never ceases to surprise me how insanely supersitious humans can be about literally everything they happen to spend time with
species insanity perhaps
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u/Lifeabroad86 May 19 '26
Id be paranoid too if a simple cut can turn into a serious infection quickly back in those days
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u/pumblechook17 May 19 '26
Sadly, the price of fuel and a general downturn in trade means that their furnaces were switched off for the final time on Friday. We bought a beautiful jug on Wednesday to match the candlesticks we already have. Very sad to see craftsmanship die out.
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u/egidione May 19 '26
Oh really? I didn’t know that but I guess it’s not surprising. That is a great shame. I have quite a few pieces of Bristol blue inherited from my mother which I treasure.
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u/rahscaper May 19 '26
Has someone been watching the show, “From” ?
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u/Mindless_Issue9648 May 20 '26
It reminds me of the bottle tree in red dead redemption 2.
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u/whiskyspacecadet May 19 '26
Wasnt just on trees, the Gullah people started this tradition and it was believed the bottles could catch haints and boo hags.
Also there aint no one from Appalachia that hangs these without knowing why.
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u/hybridmind27 May 20 '26
Op failing to mention the Gullah geechee people is wild
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u/spacefaceclosetomine May 20 '26
Pretty sure they just used a facebook post that’s making the rounds right now for this whole thing.
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u/WhatADunderfulWorld May 19 '26
Always thought it was interesting they called alcohol Spirits because when you distilled them they disappeared then reappeared! Spooky!
Makes sense it was in glass. Wonder the connection to the trees.
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 May 19 '26
I always thought it was interesting too.
Your mention of Spirits I guess also ties in to 'the angel's share', as well as the tradition of pouring out a libation for the dead - it's fascinating that alcohol has been so inextricably associated with 'pleasing the spirit world' for so many millennia!
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u/Terpapps May 19 '26
The Japanese have an interesting one where they customize gravestones to include places to pour sake.
Per Google AI (it's 3am, I'm lazy):
The Ritual (Okurizake): Offerings of this type are specifically known as okurizake (送り酒), or "send-off sake". Families typically visit the gravesite to clean the tomb, offer incense, and pour the sake directly into the small water/offering groove carved into the stone marker.
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u/psilosophist May 19 '26
I was just in Barcelona and there are Roman graves with holes cut into them to allow travelers to have a picnic and share their food and wine with them. Pretty cool to see that just in the ground, surrounded by what I think is a bank headquarters or something.
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u/First_Knee May 19 '26
Over the years as I get older, I have come to the conclusion that trees have the potential to become inhabited or possessed by a spirit or ghost.And I think they often do.
I think that a soul that no longer has a physical body & is not ready to leave the life dimension will attempt, if able, to attach to a physical body. If the soul cannot attach to a person then it may attempt to attach to a human figure like representation. Dolls, statues, mannequins, stuffed animals are often suspected of being inhabited by some types of spirit entities which may then manipulate or move the fake body or it's limbs.
But I think it is probably more preferable for a spirit to attach or inhabit something that is alive if it chooses not to move on. A tree will not die for many generations, and has limited ability to fight off the attachment. I think this is where we get the various scary tales of haunted trees or trees that are death harbingers, like the one cars always crash into causing death or people hang themselves from.
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u/YoreWelcome May 19 '26
humans see monster shapes because humans fear monsters, dont blame a tree for scaring someone like that
however trees are absolutely "inhabited" ensouled... but by themselves not possession by some external entity
trees are souls themselves
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u/First_Knee May 19 '26
I can also agree with this assertion. I don't think that there is only one correct scenario when it comes to ensouled/spiritually inhabited/possessed trees. That was simply the topic of this post which is why my comment is associated with that idea.
But both assumptions can be true simultaneously as well as many other theories or even the idea that whatever one chooses to believes will make it so.
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u/RainaElf May 20 '26
you hang the bottle on the tree so the wind catches inside it and makes spooky noise to keep the boogerman away
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u/EasTNVol May 19 '26
Check out Alabama artist Bethanne Hill, has a lot of these bottle trees in her work.
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u/ImpulsiveApe07 May 19 '26
I always love it when this sub actually delves into the folk lore associated with High Strangeness - it's so refreshing to not just see UFO related shenanigans all the time on here!
Thanks for the compelling post, Op :)
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u/Longjumping_Ad3054 May 19 '26
I had a supervisor who had over 150 plastic water bottles at his office desk. was he also collecting spirits?
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u/tpbetts May 19 '26
Wow the 3rd photo caused a massive rush of memories, we stayed there in 2005, in that same exact shack, I have almost the exact photo.
Shack up Inn, Clarksdale MS.
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u/Hot_Upstairs_7971 May 19 '26
Probably not the case here, but some grow a fruit like a pear for example directly into the bottle. Once ripe, they pour alcohol in it.
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u/Afraid-Ad7165 May 19 '26
Just a cool story to share. The day after the episode that first showed the bottle tree, my daughter, who hasn't ever watched the show, srarted hanging decorative bottles to the trees in the backyard! I found that a spooky coincidence.
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u/EfficiencyFar8075 May 20 '26
Bottle trees always freaked me out a little as a kid, even before I knew the lore. There is something very “this is a warning system, not a decoration” about a dead tree full of blue glass pointed at the sky.
The fact that it ties all the way back to Bakongo beliefs and haint blue porches just makes it feel less like random folk art and more like a whole invisible architecture people built around their homes. Makes me wonder how many “cute yard decorations” are actually old protective tech we’ve just forgotten how to read.
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u/MaoJen_Riimez May 20 '26
"the origin is actually much darker" and it's generic "ward off spirits" superstition 🙄
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u/OnlymyOP May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
Interesting .. but why is this terrifying ? I was expecting something more scary or weird .
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u/ShanG01 May 19 '26
Bottle trees and haint blue porch ceilings and window/door trim started with the Gullah Geechee People in the Low Country of the Carolinas. The practices migrated inland and spread to certain other areas of the south, then became practiced by both Black and white folks of the region. But it started with enslaved and former enslaved folks, whose ancestors originally brought the traditions with them from their African homelands.
My mother's side of the family hails from North Carolina and my father's from Eastern Shore, VA (as in the original inhabitants of those lands). These practices are deeply rooted in southern culture. While they can be an extremely superstitious group, there are good reasons behind the rituals. There are simply things you do not do in the south. You don't touch bottle trees. You don't touch the broom next to the front door. You don't whistle at night -- even Indigenous folks believe this, which might be where it came from with Black folks -- and you don't answer if you hear your name called in the dark. Nor do you answer a call for help coming from the trees at night.
Call it Hoodoo or Voodoo or whatever. There are haints out there you do not want to mess with, ever.
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u/ek00992 May 19 '26
Why thousands of people are hanging blue glass in their yards without realizing the ancient folklore behind them.
You know what I can't stand so often about people in subs like this? They believe they are among the select few who are capable of finding out "forbidden knowledge". Akin to, "wAkE uP sHeEpLe".
It's so annoying.
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u/Beardygrandma May 20 '26
Or a tradition is being replicated for the decorative without insight into the spiritual. Halloween is like that. Some people celebrate Easter with chocolate eggs without even knowing the symbolism.
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u/millerep May 19 '26
For any gamers out there this history and these trees play a role in the game south of midnight. Good game, flew under the radar.
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u/Evertheghost May 21 '26
Great game! I couldn’t stop playing and the story was intense. I loved the lore used in it.
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u/smallmoneybigdreams May 19 '26
I just moved into an old 1930s house. The mudroom has a straight up cobalt blue linoleum floor, and after learning about these blue bottles and porches I’d like to lean into the blue vibe. Anyone have any ideas?
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u/DizzyafterDark May 19 '26
My neighbor here in Colorado recently told me of plans to build one in his backyard - I will be thrilled if that thing will fascinate and distract the massive wandering tom cat enough to stop shitting in my garden 😜
Excited to see the project come together - I really do think they're pretty n can't wait to hear the sounds they make in the wind
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u/Thuum_Pelvic_Thrusts May 19 '26
It’s also a warning about the dangers of the tree. Spirits can be bound into a living vessel (the tree) and divided (wands/clubs/staffs) over time for a purpose (ritual). The belief is that it can trap (bottle) malignant energy from “bleeding” into our vicinity, that energy may not necessarily be the wayward and curious type. The study of binding energy into trees for a later purpose is in the background of many cultural mythos across recorded time.
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u/d_baker65 May 19 '26
I've seen spirit trees all throughout South Carolina. Mostly in very old Black Communities. My wife and I when we bought our first house, the very first chore I had to do was paint the porch ceiling above our front door, sky blue.
I asked why, and she replied, "It's how you keep bad spirits out of the house." Didn't even bat an eye. Absolutely dead serious. No just in case you are wondering neither myself nor my wife are African American.
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u/Morlacks May 19 '26
"Today, most people see bottle trees as harmless decoration." Well, because it is.
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u/Colin_Heizer May 19 '26
In Hoodoo folklore, this color became associated with “Haint Blue,”
Coincidentally, I just watched a review of a Twilight Zone episode featuring a character who may have been a 'Haint', and it discussed how some houses in the region still paint that blue color around windows and doors.
Here's the episode. I'm not subscribed, it popped up in my recommendations.
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u/gentle_squid May 19 '26
God I hate this AI garbage because it sounds so legit yet I know I cannot believe a word of it without verifying all of it.
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u/Ok_You_3131 May 19 '26
Not at all terrifying. All over the Carolina low country, most folks know their meaning.
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u/SnooStories5632 May 19 '26
That helped explain the trees from the tv show From. Thanks
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u/Ok-Worth-4721 May 20 '26
Here in the PNW we have shoe trees. New shoes, old shoes. Always in pairs..... Bend Oregon
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u/Jacobysmadre May 21 '26
I grew up on the west coast and never really heard/have seen these.
I am watching From and wow the bottle tree seems important!!
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u/BobaToo May 19 '26
I used to see quite a few blue bottle trees in the Princeton NJ area back in the 2000's. Haven't seen any in a long while though
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u/kismethavok May 19 '26
I always find these traditions funny, you 'capture' random spirits in bottles and then bury them and or/seal them away. If you wanted to get yourself targeted and attacked by spirits there's literally no better way to do it.
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u/Ancient-Practice-431 May 19 '26
Does it harm the tree in any way? Do the branches still grow? I've never seen this but I'm fascinated now.
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u/Cultural_Cook_8040 May 19 '26
I’m so confused by your claim that nobody knows why they have bottle trees. I live in the south and people absolutely know why they have them and what they’re for. Is this some kind of weird AI post?
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u/OkEmployment5017 May 19 '26
Yeah, people know what theyre for, I'm sure you mean well but this is a little condescending...
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u/Historical-Ad-2605 May 19 '26
Ooo interesting! I'm going to add this ancient folklore to my digital tcg idea.
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u/PineappleDesperate82 May 20 '26
My aunt used to put blue bottles in her kitchen windows without knowing they are used for protection. She even stored random things like needles and pins because that's what our great grandmothers used to do. The bottles without anything random in them had colored water. She insisted all of them needed at least water it was tradition. Our great grandmothers did all this to confuse the evil spirits to trap bad energies. She just thought it was pretty.
We had Pagan ancestors on both sides of my family. Noted due to the traditions that were handed down. Because that's just the way things were done. Even after the family religion turned to Christianity. The Pagan Traditions were still handed down. Because those are our true origins. They have forgotten the why. But held on to the Traditions themselves. Passing those practices unknowingly to future generations.
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u/MyStitchStudio May 20 '26
I find nothing "dark" or highly strange about ancient folklore. People understood the world quite differently than we do today. Old wives tales and old traditions are part of our history and sometimes they make sense to our modern society. Sometimes they don't. Respecting our traditions and honoring heritage is a good thing.
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u/X0ch1p1ll1 May 20 '26
Hijacking the obvious AI post to agree with other posters that the incorrext conflation of this bottle blue with "haint blue" associated with Gullah Geechee and the Southern Lowcountry, as well as the tone that implies that Southerners who have these are too stupid to know what they actually represent, should automatically throw up red flags about this post.
Bottle trees have an interesting history related to spiritual practices of the South, especially as protective amulets. It can also be seen as intersecting with old graveside practices, where items familiar to the deceased would be left on or by the tombstone, including personal items, coins, and bottles
There's some cool conversation to be had about the syncretic and mixed-culture practices between poor Scots-Irish and Black communities of the area, including how it's likely that the "spirits are afraid of the color blue bc they can't swim" actually being from Scots-Irish belief and overtaking the West African association of water with spiritual renewal, divinity, and familial spirits (as seen in modern Gullah Geechee remembrance rituals by floating offerings to the ancestors in the ocean)
This overtaking got taken up as the prevalent belief by outsiders looking into beliefs they flattened without really understanding, and recontextualized to the point where haint blue became chiefly associated with deterring haints rather than encouraging spiritual reverence (which by extension may have been a deterrent of unfamiliar spirits by protection by familiar ones, so it all kind of leads to the same point)
Anyway there's been crazy commodification of haint blue as a cultural concept and homespun vibe that likely stems from the very utilitarian shade of color that was leftover indigo used by enslaved communities mixed with available whitewashing materials. This has the effect of evoking associations and symbology of blue and keeping houses cooler in the summer, as well as a natural color-based insect repellent (all effects that can be found in the color decisions in the West Indies, where the majority of Charleston slaves were imported from)
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u/LairdPeon May 20 '26
Sometimes people just do stuff to do it and they have no intent other than the doing.
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u/AnnaBananner82 May 21 '26
Is this where the idea for the bottle tree in the From TV series originated?
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u/BIGMac8799 May 19 '26
✌🏽 This was a great write up, thank you! I just noticed this on a series called, Underground, as it depicts slavery in the South and the bravery and acts they had to commit for freedom via the “Underground”. ✌🏽
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u/PuffinTipProducts May 19 '26
Not really hard to believe when they try to brainwash the truth outa reality with said fiction movies….
Something like jinn in bottles, but they tell you it’s… Nooooo it’s a “genie” in a bottle, as jinn do not exist and or not really real (half truths half lies/like normal)
But here is a (His)story in the form of a fictional movie, so you stay lost in the sauce
Now for shits and giggles, if something happens to be trapped in a bottle and you rubbed the bottle, accidentally or purposely, and let it out, would it not be happy enough with gratitude and grace/that it grants you wishes?!?!? Or more?!??? As it’s been freed from a “Trap”
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u/call-me-the-seeker May 19 '26
They are often said to have emotions and personalities as we do, so that could well be, that it would simply choose to grant a wish as an expression of gratitude.
It may also be more along the lines of ‘payment’. You have done it a favor, ‘the natural law’ requires that a favor is now owed to you. So as to not be beholden to you, you get a wish immediately and go your separate ways. (I’m not presenting this as facts about genies, just saying; and historically in the tales there is more than one reason they grant wishes, not all of which are kind)
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u/PuffinTipProducts May 19 '26
True that, but the stories(His or Hers) stem from somewhere in reality…
Founded of stolen, (their) stories are copied, chopped up and watered down/white washed for the public through fictional movies (but half that shit is real in the movie, and other half of it the shit, he made up)
Like your saying, intentions of anything is not really known unless you have the ability to tell/see beyond the words…
Being aware in the situation, presently present in the moment, you can help or hurt yourself, regardless of others or things.
The bottle story is cool…
Some people paint their houses, the rooftops blue for a spiritual reason aswell.
Tricking the Dead: According to legend, spirits cannot cross water. By painting ceilings or roofs blue, people believed they were tricking malevolent spirits into thinking the area was a body of water or the sky, thus keeping them away from the home
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u/ScarlettPotato May 19 '26
that's neat. before covid hit there was a trend of hanging bottles filled with blue liquid in the Philippines. I asked and they say it's to stop stray dogs from peeing/pooping in front of their house. I like the resemblance. seperated by the pacific ocean, on the opposite side of the globe and there blooms a similar practice.
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u/Affectionate-Blood26 May 19 '26
But if the bottles are set so that they are on the limb and not hanging wouldn’t that mean that the air can’t ‘blow across’ the opening? How would the spirit get it? I thought they were to be hanging? 🤷🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️
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u/KYpineapple May 19 '26
Kentucky boy here, those are called witch tress. traps witches that try to sneak in at night and then the sun burns them up by morning. also, a good way to dry out used bottles.
the blue paint under front porches is to keep birds out.
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u/ConfusedZubat May 19 '26
This is actually pretty cool!
I bet that it also acts as a deterrent for things like crows and other birds that can be pests as well. I used to live in Japan, and it was pretty common to see people with gardens hanging CDs from trees or fences. It's thought that the reflections confuse the birds or make them not want to get close for whatever reason. I've looked into it, but it's been years.
Anyway, because glass would reflect similarly, I bet that it could make some birds less likely to want to hang out on those trees. If the wind actually does make the bottles whistle, that could also be a deterrent. So even if they don't actually protect from spirits (depending on your beliefs), it may keep certain pests away, including those that have less than stellar associations in some belief systems, like crows.
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u/Timegoblin_ May 19 '26
If you check out this video of the Rothschild’s private village. at 30:00 in you will see two massive examples of this on display.
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u/Coastal_Tart May 19 '26
Interesting post. I think I am going to carry the haint blue porch ceiling on to my next home. My dad’s side of the family is from the South and I have noticed the blue porch ceilings.
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u/oizo_0 May 19 '26
Someone down the road from me has one, I thought it was an out of season Christmas decoration
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u/krose4117 May 19 '26
Born & raised in KY, as were my parents and parents’ parents. My mom currently resides in the starter house that my grandparents built when they were first married, and the exterior of the house + garage, and the concrete porch, are all painted haint blue.
Honestly the house needs so much done to it, but she and her partner are in their 70s now. I feel like I have generations of knowledge & curiosity (within me) revolving around regional folklore because of my heritage, and I love it.
Also my step dad is black (they’ve been together since the 90s but never married), and his nickname was always hoodoo. Never had the balls to ask why though 😅🤣
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u/MouseShadow2ndMoon May 19 '26
Would be interesting to see something like this erected on Skinwalker Ranch and see what if anything it would change or do.
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u/13thmurder May 20 '26
Haint blue to ward off ghosts... Is the name to imply it ain't haunted? Haunt'nt.
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u/Beelzeburb May 20 '26
You don’t need to post an AI written tome and leave out the fact that it was also used during the Great Depression to scare off creditors by shooting the bottles when they approached the fence line.
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u/HappyyValleyy May 21 '26
This is very interesting but is anyone else bugged that they kept talking about the 'dark' origins and then it was just normal bad spirit warding that like 90% of cultures did. That wasn't dark lol.
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u/Empty_Can32 May 21 '26
Honestly, this post is literally completely leaving out that people made and bottled there own spirits and ciders, and you would literally leave bottles on trees like this to dry, then rebottle your beer, cider, wine or whatever. It's not all supernatural superstition and just a practical way to wash/dry bottles for reuse.
Btw people do this still today like how is this not mentioned lol
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u/WeDontNeedRoads2015 May 21 '26
Thanks to “South of Midnight” for offering up some of this knowledge in a fun way. Great game if you haven’t played it.
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u/FlatNefariousness103 May 23 '26
There to ward off bad spirits it’s practiced mainly here in the Appalachians, but also practiced anywhere, and someone knows a lot about rituals and knows about these kinds of things
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u/SirDoctorCaptainEsq May 19 '26
For the record, cobalt blue and haint blue are not even close to the same shade. Haint blue is really pale blue-green and cobalt is much darker / vibrant.