12 Macabre Items Cultures Have Used To Ward Against Evil

During the Middle Ages and after, it was believed stuffing a mummified cat into your floorboards or ceiling rafters would protect the house from witchcraft. Many cultures believe cats to be magical creatures who are in touch with the spirit world, so perhaps it's not surprising that after death, they would serve as a metaphysical scarecrow of sorts. (Of course, some historians think the dead cats might also have been used as a real "scarecrow" to warn mice away.)

During the 16th and 17th centuries, witch bottles were all the rage. They were meant not only to protect the wearer from any evil spells a witch might throw their way, but to reverse the spells, sending them back to their creator. These bottles contained disgusting potions that often included various herbs and human urine - naturally. Anyone with bladder issues would boil their urine, so the witch would not only get her own bad juju back, but some brand-new bladder infections to deal with, as well. Sometimes they’d add nails and pins to the bottle of urine to cause their witch antagonist additional suffering.

In Chinese tradition, spirits are believed to only travel in straight lines, so curves can throw them off. They just loop right back around and go back whence they came. Traditional rooftops in China are also often topped with statues of mythical guardians and have inscriptions in the tiles to help ward off any wandering evil spirits.

Apparently, ghosts lose all common sense in the afterlife, because not only are they suddenly incapable of crossing water, but they’ll mistake the color blue for an entire body of water, or even for the sky. At least that’s what the Gullah, descendants of African slaves in the Carolina Low Country, believed. "Haint" (or ghost) blue is the mixture they concocted to look like water, since it's widely believed in many cultures that ghosts can't cross bodies of water. It’s often used to paint porch floors and ceilings throughout the American South. Basically, if you paint your front porch blue, ghosts won’t be able to get in. They’ll think your roof is the sky and try to fly straight up through it, or they’ll think your floor is the ocean and leave.

All it took was one priest in 14th-century England claiming he was able to trap the devil in a boot, and suddenly shoes became the gold standard of evil repellant. People began stuffing shoes in random openings wherever they felt evil could slip through, like cracks in the walls or floorboards, to keep demons and witches away.

Witch marks are symbols that ward off evil spirits and witchcraft. In medieval times, it was common to see these marks burned or carved into the floors and entryways of homes. They’ve even been found in 17th-century churches and other structures that were frequented by the superstitious. The markings could include a combination of V's and W's, asking the Virgin Mary for protection. Other popular markings included a compass, pentacle, or even a swirling maze known as a demon trap - the rationale being an evil spirit would follow the deceptive lines and lose their way.

An old bit of Scottish lore tells of elf arrows that fell from the sky to be used by the elves and faerie folk. With the arrows, they’d kill cattle and humans. Once these enchanted weapons got into human hands, though, they became talismans, able to protect humans from witches, demons, and the evil eye. It’s said that you can't find an elf arrow if you're actually looking for one, however; these mystical objects simply appear where they want to, and under the most unusual circumstances. As long as they are kept out of sunlight, they’ll remain protective objects. If allowed to reflect the sun’s light, though, witches will be able to find them and use them for evil.

In Japan, it is believed the oni, or demons and bad spirits, are able to travel into the realm of the living from the northeast direction. Because of this, the northeast corner of a structure is considered a demon gate, or "kimon corner.” In order to prevent these evil beings from slipping through, they erect guard towers in the kimon corner. For major architectural projects, an actual tower would be built in the northeast corner of the structure, as in Hiji Castle, for example. In a regular home, this could mean erecting a shrine and keeping anything that produces fire or water away from this corner (so as not to entice the oni). Having a bathroom in this corner is thought to be disastrous (apparently oni can travel through plumbing, too). On a much larger scale - around city limits, for example - the northeast corner of a region would contain a temple to keep the evil out.

Hag stones (or holey stones) are simply rocks that have natural holes in their center. Throughout Dorset and surrounding southwest England, these stones were carried, worn on chains, or hung over doorways to protect against demons and witches. Since witches were prone to stealing horses for their evil rituals, farmers would hang hag stones up over stable doors, as well. In addition to protecting one from evil forces, these stones are also believed to be portals into the fairy realm.

Rowan trees are long believed to possess magically qualities. They are prominent in Norse mythology, where they are thought to be the tree from which the first woman was made (the first man came from an ash tree). The rowan tree also saved the god Thor, and magical runes are carved in its wood. The berries on the rowan tree just so happen to have the protective symbol of the five-pointed star on the bottom. And throughout the British Isles, it was believed a rowan tree would protect the occupants of nearby houses. Pieces of the rowan were worn for personal protection on the Isle of Man, and crosses made from rowan twigs were considered powerful protectors. In Cornwall and Scotland, rowan twig crosses were bound with red thread and sewn into coat linings.

In Thailand, it’s assumed that spirits are pretty much everywhere, and if they are given their own house, they don’t need to come haunt yours. At some point in Thai history (thought to be before the widespread adoption of Buddhism in that region), they began building tiny houses next to their own homes to appease the spirits, like a mini Winchester Mystery House. Today, offerings of fruit and rice are often left out for the spirits in hopes that they will protect those who feed them. So not only do spirit houses protect people from hauntings, but the grateful spirits help ward off other, evil spirits that may try to enter the home. Pretty genius. The most famous spirit house is the Erawan Shrine, which was constructed alongside the Erawan Hotel in Bangkok. Apparently, the original spirit house was not good enough, so the spirits caused a lot of accidents and held up the hotel’s construction. The contractors stopped what they were doing, rebuilt a more glamorous spirit house, and the rest of the work on the hotel was fine.

Ancient Egyptians carried around all kinds of protection charms, but they also cast their own spells to ward of evil. In order to perform any magical rite, however, the priest had to be in a state of complete spiritual purity, and he could only use pure metal or ivory wands adorned with elaborate deities carved into them to scare off any lurking evil. These wands were carved with images of fierce protectors "stabbing, strangling or biting evil forces, which are represented by snakes and foreigners." These same protectors were also carved onto furniture, housewares, and protective amulets.