Bottle Spells

Today some thoughts while I wait for a train on this, one of my favourite magical acts. Bottle spells have a venerable history, are easy, and endlessly adaptable to your circumstances.
First it is necessary to feed my pretensions to this being an intelligent witchcraft blog, so here is the theory (why) underpinning the practice. These spells reference three in particular of the laws of magic (I reference Bonewits's version of these laws, although they have also been framed by other people, since he is one of the few Neopagan authors I would recommend unreservedly):

The Law of Association
Essence: if any two or more patterns have elements in common, the patterns interact "through" those common elements, and control of one pattern facilitates control over the other(s), depending (among other factors) upon the number, type and duration of common elements involved.
Remarks: This is probably one of the most important of the magical Laws and is directly connected to most of the others.
Keywords: "Commonality controls."
The Law of Similarity
Essence: Effects are liable to have an outward physical or mental "appearance" similar to their causes.
Remarks: Having an accurate image/sound/smell of an object or being facilitates control over it or them.
Keywords: "Look-alikes are alike."
The Law of Contagion
Essence: Objects or beings in physical or psychic contact with each other continue to interact after separation.
Remarks: Everyone your character has ever touched has a psychic link with him, though it is (probably) pretty weak unless the contact was intense and/or repeated frequently. Naturally having a part of someone's body (nails, hair, spit, blood, etc.) gives the best contagion link. Almost as good are objects of clothing, handkerchiefs, bedsheets, etc., that have absorbed sweat or other bodily fluids from the being your character wishes to magically influence.
Keywords: "Magic is contagious."
Source

The theory is necessary since the usual reason spells fail or have unforeseen consequences is that people don't fully think through what they are doing, and fall at the first hurdle.
There are actually two approaches to the 'bottle' (the approach applies to any spell involving a container): it will either function as an arena for what is going to happen to the target of the spell, or it will function as the actual target of the spell, in whom or which something is going to happen by the spell.
First it is necessary to make some kind of magical link with the object of the spell, often done by using some part of them (classically, hair from a comb or nail clippings, etc), something which has been in contact with them, or if push comes to shove, if you have a psychic link with the person or thing, you can create an object link.
The only essential part of this is that the object makes some deep association for you personally with the object of the spell. If making a 'voodoo' doll does it for you, so be it. The advantage of that approach is that by your handling the doll while making it the connection is increased. If you have something of the person this can be incorporated in the doll, and the doll's anatomy can be used to represent the person's, for example sewing up the mouth to stop gossip, sewing up a rapist's genitals to give him erectile dysfunction, etc.
I find that if I am ready to do a spell the materials for it will either already be to hand or will come to hand while I am thinking about it.
If you see someone wearing jeans with a red tab on the seat, you know the manufacturer of these jeans without having to look at the leather label which will certainly be also there. Similarly every time a company writes to you they give you an object link in their logo. Other possibilities are an individual's signature (we all sign things all the time without thinking where it is going; I personally have different signatures professionally & privately); the cup someone has drunk from; photos are easily obtained online nowadays; you get the idea. At the risk of being repetitive the important thing is that it makes you think of the subject of the spell.
If you don't have an object link all is far from lost. I have cast spells using china ornaments & even a pig's ear, which reminded me of the subject. Dorothy Morrison has the wonderful idea of using Barbie dolls, which can be further personalised to look like the person & also lend themselves to having things done to them.
You could even use the person's name written on paper, which you then magically charge to 'be' the subject. You do this in whatever way works for you: magic is so like sex in this respect that it is quite difficult beyond Witchcraft 101 to give firm prescriptions; it also explains why people grow out of the books & teachers from which they learned so much. Whether you're a bells & smells witch, or a pure mental magic type, again the key is to do whatever you have to do to make the total connection between the object and the target of the spell. Personally I find I'm 'doing' less as I go on, & if I badly enough want that connection I'll make it be going over that neural pathway often enough.
The same applies for consecrating the 'bottle' as the object of the spell, if your spell requires going down that route. Remember in The Witches of Eastwick (I still can't see Cher as a convincing witch but the book is much more realistic, & provides a good example of an ill-thought-out spell going wrong) when they turn a biscuit barrel into a woman & then put feathers & things in it, which the woman keeps coughing up? Just like that. They baptised it, and by all means do so if that's your bag. Starhawk's Spiral Dance gives a formula to consecrate a poppet as a person as part of the binding spell.
If all this seems terribly arduous, magic is like decorating, the key is in the preparation, and so in time terms we are more than half way there.
The next step is to do to your object link what you want to happen to the object of the spell (Laws of Association & Similarity): this is why your connection between the object link & object of the spell is so important.
Bottle spells can be used for the binding spell with a twist, to contain & isolate the person's harm. I tend to use large glass jars for bottle spells, since the links I use are often large, & will often wrap them in foil to make the person's actions impact on themselves only.
What you put in the jar depends on the spell: honey to sweeten, vinegar to sour, garlic or chilli powder to remove, nails or pins to prick, glue to stick, and so on.
I do not recommend this, but if you had a sexual goal for the object you could ejaculate into it or put in menstrual blood.
The traditional witch bottles always had pins in, and this is still a major way of catching unwanted vibes around the house, without an object link. You fill the bottle with nails, pins, broken china & glass, and then fill it up with your urine. This is traditionally buried by your door, or can be kept in a dark corner.
If you have consecrated the bottle itself, obviously what you put in it is aimed at the object, for example honey to seeten a person.
One this is done what you do with the bottle depends on the spell. Traditionally they were put in a river if you wanted to wash something away. As I've said before I have difficulty forgetting completely about the spell, and these spells are ideal because you can either repeatedly put things in the bottle, give it a shake, etc, with the disadvantage that this tends to keep the object near you.
For total disposal I would still recommend the drain for liquids, recycling for recyclables & the bin for solids. For closure how you dispose of the things is very good, such as burying an object link. I know I'm over-egging the cake, but as the Hound of Hecate I like to put my waste in a dog mess bin!
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