[Witches, Jars, and Burying ‘Em tumblr repost June 4th, 11pm]

I can’t be the only one that sees how many witch jar spells tell you to bury said jar in the ground and winces. Why? Because reasons, that’s why.

Don’t roll your eyes. Read on.

Here’s a few reasons why burying all the witch jars you make can be a pain in the ass:

1. It can break. Broken glass can eventually make its way to the surface and that barbeque you’re having can turn into a trip to the hospital. This is especially dangerous if the glass was coated with or holding poisons, rust, metal, or other harmful materials.
2. Finding the jar again. Let’s say you want to undo a spell. Or you just need to find the damn jar after you buried it. If you didn’t mark it, you’re going to be playing the guessing game on locating it in the earth.
3. Too many jars makes for a full garden. Think about it. Bury six jars in small space then try to plant a garden over it. You can do it, absolutely, but that’s a lot of earth being taken up for a spell.
4. You’re burying a perfectly good glass jar. I hate using glass jars for spells. I prefer to use and reuse glass jars until I can’t any more. By can’t I mean they shatter, are given away, hold poisons, or contain a smell that can’t be dispersed.
5. It isn’t your land. (Maybe) You’re renting? Live in an apartment? On campus? Maybe you shouldn’t be burying shit in places you don’t own a deed to.
6. Someone else could dig it up and find it. And how much would your plan suck then?
7. Glass doesn’t decompose. Technically called devitrification (if I remember correctly) only some glass actually “breaks down”. In this process, the glass crystallizes as typically seen in art glass, crazing, warping, etc will occur before the glass actually becomes so fragile it will break. This occurs over long periods of time. Some types of glass can be broken down with chemicals such as hydrofluoric acid. But most glass we use, such as silicates, don’t break down naturally.

So what the hell am I bringing this up for and what am I suggesting otherwise? Because I find a lot of people are bottling things up and shoving things in jars as a matter of course. It’s just what you do. And, that might be personal practice and belief coming into play but it’s not necessary. Easy and convenient but not necessary most of the time (from what I can see).

Ask yourself this when gathering ingredients for a spell:

1. Does it need to be buried? Does it really? Are you sure? There isn’t some other way to solve the problem?
2. Is this a short term spell? Maybe burying it in a potted plant is better.
3. Does it need to be liquid? You can soak herbs in vinegar, hot sauce, protection oils, water, etc. without needing to fill a jar. It might even be easier to soak said herbs then leave them for the spell’s target to stumble upon. Hell, you could even spritz some vinegar/water/oil/etc on it and it would probably work (depending on your paradigm and all that).
4. Does the spell need to be contained? Sometimes spells don’t need to be contained. Sometimes you need them to leech into the soil, earth, and world. If it doesn’t need to be contained, perhaps you should try putting it in a paper bag or a “biodegradable” bottle (most of these aren’t fully biodegradable and don’t do it in five years as advertised so keep that in mind) Jars contain things. Why would you put something in a jar if you want it to get out?
5. Is it a funeral? A lot of the time I see “bury this” spells is because you’re suppose to be given it a funeral. If you aren’t doing that, then you may want to rethink burying it.
6. Is it a secret? I don’t bury my protection witch jars. Instead, I hang them up. I put them on display. I let the world know this place is protected. Besides, it also serves as decoration. (Obviously, if you’re in the closet or the spell has a secret purpose, this isn’t an option).
7. Will some other container make do? I paper bag half my “bury this” spells. Especially if they don’t contain liquid. And the ones that do sometimes don’t need that much liquid. Instead of shaking the jar, I’ll shake and squish the bag instead.
8. Can you reuse the jar? One your spell has gone off, are you willing to dig up the jar and use it again? I’m not talking about the ingredients. I would bury the organics and bring the inorganics to a recycling station or dump. I’m talking about the jar itself. This comes down to personal belief and practice. I go either way on it personally but to each their own.
9. Does it need to be sealed? Many witches seal their jars in wax. Why not make a container of wax instead?  Or seal a paper bag or whatever. It’s still sealed and yet you’re not burying glass.
10. Does it actually need a jar? Many jar spells don’t need to be jar spells. It’s for convenience. You can pour hot sauce or vinegar over paper to curse someone. You don’t always need to stick it in a jar.

I’m not talking about just curses. This applies to ALL spells. And sure, I still make spell jars. It’s easy to make a jar. It’s harder to deal with a spell when it’s messy and everywhere. And I’m not saying everyone should suddenly not use jars. But I hope this little spiel has given at least one person a second’s pause before they reach for that glass jar and consider an alternative.

In the end, this is going to come down to personal practice, personal belief, and convenience. Do what you do and I’ll do what I do.