witch balls Decorative glass balls made in England
from the 18th century onward, often hung in windows to
ward off witches’s spells or ill fortune. They appeared in
America in the 19th century. Witch balls measure up to
seven inches in diameter and are predominantly green or
blue, though some are decorated in enameled swirls and
stripes of varying colors. Others are silvered to act as
convex mirrors. Because they are similar to the glass
balls used by fishermen on nets, witch balls are associated
with many sea superstitions and legends.
In the Ozarks, a witch ball is made of black hair rolled
with beeswax into a hard pellet about the size of a marble.
It is used in curses. If a witch wishes to harm or kill
someone, she makes a hair ball and tosses it at the victim.
In Ozark folklore, it is said that when someone is killed
by a witch’s curse, the witch ball is always found near the
body.
Witch ball is also a term for a puffball fungus found
in parts of America, which burns for a long time. Indians
used it to carry fire from one camp to another.
See amulet
