Urban Grimoire: The True History of Glass Fishing Floats

We had one of those green (ours was green, although they apparently come in different colours) glass fishing floats on the fireplace when I was a child. At the time I just knew that it was something to do with floating fishing nets. Ours didn't have string round it, so it just sat where it was, rather than hanging from somewhere.
I don't have references for this off the top of my head, but I think there may be a certain folklore going round that they can be/have been used as 'crystal balls' for divination. Of course they can. You can use anything for divination if you've a mind to. I'm however wary that these floats are in danger of being mythologised by the witch community. The only source I have for certainty is one of Terry Pratchett's books where he talks about 'traditional' witches, at times when being a witch was dangerous, using things as tools which didn't appear to be tools, & these floats are actually given as an example. Mark my words, if you try hard enough, you'll find it confidently asserted that in the Burning Times [which didn't happen] the adherents of the Old Religion [which didn't exist] used these floats as divination tools [which they couldn't have done, even if they existed, for reasons I'll spell out below]. With any luck you will soon find this asserted confidently on the internet & perhaps even referenced with this blog! To spell it out once again, the remaining evidence for ancient religion in Europe does *not* look like modern Wicca/witchcraft at all, the witch persecutions came in spurts, nobody thought an ancient religion was being persecuted until 1829 at the earliest, the word 'witch' has always had a negative connotation until the twentieth century, & the evidence strongly suggests that modern Wicca/witchcraft is a twentieth-century construction drawing on earlier occult movements & folklore.
Having hopefully estranged the *entire* Pagan community at this point, let's get back to our fishing floats. The historical evidence (the wikipedia page has no references but http://www.glassbottlemarks.com/glass-fishing-net-floats/, to which I'm also indebted for the picture of a float, gives the source as the production records of the factory mentioned in the wikipedia page) strongly suggests that these floats are even more recent in origin than the idea of Witchcraft as Ye Olde Religione:
'Norway was the first country to start production and use of glass fishing floats around 1840, many of which can still be found in local boathouses. Christopher Faye, a Norwegian merchant from Bergen, is credited for their invention. The glass float was developed through cooperation with one of the owners of the Hadeland Glassverk in Norway, Chr. Berg.
'The first time these "modern" glass fishing floats are mentioned is in the production registry for Hadelands Glassverk in 1842. The registry shows that this is a new type of production.
'The earliest evidence of glass floats being used by fishermen comes from Norway in 1844 where glass floats were on gill nets in the great cod fisheries in Lofoten. By the 1940s, glass had replaced wood or cork throughout much of Europe, Russia, North American, and Japan. Japan started using the glass floats as early as 1910. Today, most of the remaining glass floats originated in Japan because it had a large deep sea fishing industry which made extensive use of the floats; some made by Taiwan, Korea and China.' (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_float)
So they're actually exactly the sort of magical tool I like best - a remnant of modern life that then gets reused in a magical way. Of course the obvious way would be as a divination, or scrying, mirror, just like a crystal ball. The fact that they can be hung up in their cradle of string means there is an obvious crossover with another element of folklore, the 'witch ball'. This is a genuinely traditional bit of British folklore, that again has got taken hold of & distorted. They were traditionally hung in the window of the home to protect against witchcraft. Please read the last sentence again if it seems at all strange, & absorb what I'm actually saying: there were not two sorts of witchcraft, they were not prepared by a witch, they were to protect against the witch's wiles by their complex inner strands. What is *not* true is the comment about them on their wikipedia page, which significantly remains unreferenced - folklore has a habit of leaving evidence when it happens:
'The witch ball originated among cultures where witches were considered a blessing and these witches would usually "enchant" the balls to enhance their potency against evils. Later, they were often posted on top of a vase or suspended by a cord (as from the mantelpiece or rafters) for a decorative effect. Witch balls appeared in America in the 19th century and are often found in gardens under the name gazing ball. However, gazing balls contain no strands within their interior.' (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witch_ball)
This is arrant nonsense: it posits [unnamed] cultures at an [unspecified] date in the past in which the [undefined] witch figure got a positive press. I would be very interested indeed to see a respectable contemporary reference to those cultures. Very interested indeed. Actually almost keen. One website (http://www.sunnyreflections.com/witchballs-legends/) gives a history of 600 years for their use, which I would see no reason to question, & gives some interesting legends, which at least manage to be sensible historically as to the use of the w-word:
'~One legend of the mystical Witch Ball is that the beauty of the balls attracts negative spirits thought to be threatening a home's tranquility.  The swirling colors and uniqueness of the orb mesmerizes the evil.  After the spirit is drawn to the ball and touches it, the Witch Ball absorbs and traps the spirit's energy within the webbed strands of glass inside the orb, preventing the spirit from affecting its surroundings.
'~Another legend states that witches are curious creatures and are allured to the Witch Balls by the attractive colors, glistening bubbles, and sparkling strands of colored glass. The difference of this legend, though, is that the witches enter the glass ball on their own accord to investigate the miraculous sphere! Once inside they are trapped for eternity, unable to harm anyone any longer.
'~Yet another legend suggests the Witch's Ball acts like a magnet. The positive element of the Witch Ball attracts the negative energy in the air just like positive and negative poles of a magnet are drawn together.  This legend suggests one display the ball in an area such as the bedroom to help rid the home of evil spirits.  When one is ill or feeling depressed, the person should stay near the Witch Ball so the evil that is causing the ailment is attracted to and pulled in by the witchball.  The negative energy, illness, and spirits trapped in the ball may then be exorcised by wiping the dust from the orb.' (http://www.sunnyreflections.com/witchballs-legends/)
To me this would be the more obvious use of a glass fishing float. The whole purpose of them is to keep things afloat when things get choppy, so surely folklorically they can reasonably be used for that? And of course they have a 'labyrinth' of string to trap any nasties. So that's what the one I bought today is going to be used for - I'll give it a clean & hang it from a curtain pole or suchlike. I'm not imputing a 'traditional' use of folklore to them - I'm being my normal urban self & using what comes to hand for the purposes in hand. There is another popular culture reference as well: doesn't the float in the picture look like Rover in the 1960s TV series The Prisoner?
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