The Legend of the Bottle Tree

Friday, April 28, 2017

Springtime brings many beautiful flowering bulbs, shrubs, and trees. I love all the bright colors. One tree I had never known before we moved to Richmond is the bottle tree. Perhaps you've seen one somewhere. 

 

Bottle trees tend to "grow" close to people's homes and although they may have a variety of glass "blooms" on them, the original ones are said to have been blue -- Milk of Magnesia bottle blue. 

It is said that bottle trees came to this continent from Africa. Enslaved families placed them close to their homes to trap evil spirits in the bottles at nighttime so they could be destroyed by the sun the next day. Some say that when the wind blew at night through the trees, they could even hear the cries of the imprisoned spirits longing for their freedom. 

Over the years, the lore of the bottle tree made its way to Appalachian culture but can be found predominantly in the southeastern part of the country.

Lord, I'm so thankful that I don't have to depend on some homemade contraption to protect me from evil spirits. Thank you for defeating the evil one once and for all. And thank you for making your home in my heart -- there's no room for anything else there!