Monday, July 7, 2014

Garden Whimsy: the bottle tree



Hoo Doo, You do. Do what? My bottle tree has none of the pagan superstition hoo ha associated with it. It's just a colorful addition to the garden that catches the light and glows at night with lights showing each of the colorful bottles. There are no spirits in my bottles. Nothing spiritual in the least but boy can it lift my spirits especially when the sun shines on the many different color bottles or in mid winter when everything is twigs and dried leaves under layers of frozen snow but the bottle tree comes to life with strings Christmas lights woven in and around it.

Bottle trees originated in Europe thousands of years ago, when glass was first made. Evil sprints were thought to inhabit the bottles and the light of day was believed to kill them. The superstition spread through European countries and into Africa. African slaves were said to have brought the folklore with them to America. Fielder Rushing's History of the Bottle Tree also says cobalt blue is the most desirable color of bottle because of the Kobold Gnomes of Germany. I think the red ones are the best because they're harder to come by.
These days the garden ornamental trees far outnumber the Hoo Doo trees but I just had to be clear. I wouldn't want anyone misunderstanding my spiritual beliefs.  There's nothing spiritual about my bottle tree. Now my prayer spiral is another story altogether.














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