While the meaning of bottle trees continues to evolve as it has for centuries, one of the more common interpretations is that they protect the home and garden by catching evil spirits, which some say are attracted to the bottles by their bright colors (sometimes made by swirling paint on the inside of a clear bottle).
How do you make a bottle tree?
Make a bottle tree out of rebar. Purchase a metal collar in which you can encircle your rebar branches or plan to weld the rebar together. Rent a conduit bender if you want to bend the rebar dramatically. Drive stakes into the holes where the rebar will go. Weld your rebar together if you want to.
What is the history of bottle trees?
The Origins of the Bottle Tree
- Bottle trees have roots (pun fully intended) in Africa. Rusted Roots, a bottle tree sculpture at the North Carolina Museum of History. Photo by Megan Burgess, 2017.
- The bottle tree helped ward off bad spirits and bring good luck. ...
- Today bottle trees can still be seen and have become part of southern lore. ...
What is the story behind the bottle tree?
The origin of the bottle tree can be traced back to Africa. Evidently, it was believed that shiny objects placed around the home would attract evil spirits away from the family. With the tragedy of the slave trade, the tradition found its way to North America and continued to evolve into the hanging of bottles in trees to "trap" the evil spirits. We don't believe bottles could in any way "trap" evil spirits.
What is the history of the bottle tree?
South America
- L. siceraria " mate " type.
- Calabash used as a container for drinking mate with a metal bombilla .
- Mate carved and decorated as a drinking container (also called mate, and the infusion also called mate ).
- Mate burilado in Peru
What does a bottle tree symbolize?
The folk-art legend of the bottle tree began in the Congo during the ninth century. Blue bottles were hung upside down on trees and huts as talismans to ward off evil spirits. Bottles were also tied to trees near important locations such as meeting places or crossroads to trap any spirits that were travelling.
What are bottle trees called?
bottle tree, any of various trees of the genus Brachychiton, in the hibiscus, or mallow, family (Malvaceae), with some 30 species, nearly all native to Australia. They grow to a height of 18 metres (60 feet). They are cultivated in other warm regions as ornamentals. The name refers to the peculiar shape of the trunk.
What is a haint bottle tree?
I am referring to the cobalt or “haint” blue-glass bottle trees that have stood in the same yards for generations. Granted, commercially manufactured trees are sold everywhere from Amazon to eBay.
Where do bottle trees grow?
Kurrajong bottle trees (Brachychiton populneus) are hardy evergreens from Australia with bottle-shaped trunks that the tree uses for water storage. The trees are also called lacebark Kurrajongs. This is because the bark of the young trees stretch over time, and the old bark forms lacy patterns on the new bark beneath.
Where did bottle trees originate?
The Origin of the Bottle Tree Most believe that bottle trees got their roots in the Congo area of Africa in the 9th Century A.D. and that the practice was brought over by slaves who hung blue bottles from trees and huts as talismans to ward off evil spirits.
What is the significance of blue bottle trees?
When African peoples arrived in the U.S., they created bottle trees from dead trees or large limbs next to their quarters and adorned them with glass bottles scavenged from garbage piles. Blue bottles were coveted, because they repelled evil and trapped night spirits to be destroyed by the rising sun.
What are spirit bottles?
Spirits glass bottles for wine, spirits, and liquor products. Available in various different sizes including 375ml, 750ml, 1 liter, and 1.75 liters. Common use with spirits, beer, wine, and distilling products. Common with bar top neck finish or screw neck finish.
What is a wine bottle tree?
The Bottle Tree: A Sparkling Glass Sculpture that You Design Placing empty glass bottles (wine bottles, antique bottles, colorful bottles) in the garden as a way to trap evil spirits is a Southern tradition.
What color is a bottle tree?
The creation of bottle trees during this section of history rooted the tradition in the United States' Southern culture. Blue, specifically Cobalt Blue, is by far the most popular color for bottle trees. The belief is that these particular bottles have healing powers.
What are bottle trees made of?
As a Southern tradition, bottle trees are always made from blue glass bottles (these could be wine or beer bottles) one saves over the course of several years. The bottles are placed over the branches of a dead tree or rod that stick upright out of the ground. Today, you will find bottle trees in gardens across North America, ...
What tree did African slaves use?
During this time, African slaves on Southern plantations began placing bottles on trees. They commonly used crepe myrtle trees, a tradition that may be connected to the myrtle tree's significance to slaves in the Bible.
When did the bottle tree tradition start?
Amazon. The folk art tradition of creating bottle trees carried over to the people of the Congo starting in the ninth century. African people brought the tradition of bottle trees with them when the slave trades began in the 17th century. During this time, African slaves on Southern plantations began placing bottles on trees.
What is the dominant color of bottle trees?
Today, blue remains the most dominant color for bottle trees. However, bottle trees often have multiple color bottles.
Where did bottle trees originate?
The folklore that surrounds the origin of bottle trees is truly fascinating. Glass bottles began circulating through Africa, Egypt, and Mesopotamia in 1600 BC.
Where is Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch?
A Southern California desert is home to Elmer's Bottle Tree Ranch on Route 66. Elmer Long turned his bottle collection into a bottle tree forest. Be sure to visit the folk art attraction next time you're in Oro Grande, California. Admission is free, but feel free to leave a donation.
What color is a bottle tree?
Bottle tree colors can range from blue, to clear, to brown, but cobalt blue are always preferred: in the Hoodoo folk-magic tradition, the elemental blues of water and sky place the bottle tree at a crossroads between heaven and earth, and therefore between the living and the dead.
Where did the glass bottle tree originate?
Glass ‘bottle trees’ originated in ninth century Kongo during a period when superstitious Central African people believed that a genii or imp could be captured in a bottle. Legend had it that empty glass bottles placed outside, but near, the home could capture roving (usually evil) spirits at night, and the spirit would be destroyed the next day in the sunshine. One could then cork the bottles and throw them into the river to wash away the evil spirits.
What is the Kongo tree altar?
Furthermore, the Kongo tree altar is a tradition of honoring deceased relatives with graveside memorials. The family will surround the grave with plates attached to sticks or trees:
Do trees need to be populated with bottles?
Trees need not be thickly populated with bottles. Malevolent spirits, on the prowl during the night, enter the bottles where they become trapped by an ‘encircling charm.’. It is said that when the wind blows past the tree, you can hear the moans of the ensnared spirits whistling on the breeze.
Bold, recycled and ideal for anyone with a not-so-green thumb, bottle trees are a Southern tradition with deep roots
Plastic gnomes and flamingos aside, the most perplexing objects I’ve seen sprouting from gardens are glass bottles. This upcycled specimen—a series of colorful, empty vessels branching out from a central trunk—is a bottle tree, and it’s as much a Southern tradition as pecan pie. But its origins reach back centuries and across continents.
What Is a Bottle Tree?
It’s generally agreed that bottle trees date back, at the very least, to the 9th century Congo. However, some garden gurus believe they go back even further—as early as 1600 B.C., when hollow glass bottles first appeared in Mesopotamia. In any event, the tradition carried over to the southern U.S. through the slave trade.
How to Make a Bottle Tree
The quickest way to get your garden glass going is to find a suitable tree and simply slide your bottles onto its branches. But if that’s not an option, you can always buy a pre-constructed metal frame.
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Amelia is a writer who covers both food and travel. Her favorite pilgrimages include Mexico City for the mole, Tel Aviv for the hummus and Wisconsin for the curds. She lives in Los Angeles, where she can be found forever exploring the city's street taco scene.
