One of the many traditions steeped in the South Carolina Lowcountry history is the bottle tree. Over the centuries, the Gullah culture of our sea islands has lent many legends and superstitions to the rest of the Lowcountry and beyond, and the belief in spirits is one of them.
Many people have adopted this unique form of art and it can be seen across the Southern U.S., in Appalachia, as well as in most other parts of the country.
Odds are, you have come across a bottle tree at some time or another in your life. They’re pretty cool. A bunch of blue bottles arranged in an odd formation on the tips of tree branches.
Believed to have originated in the Congo in Africa around the year 900, according to the South Carolina Lowcountry Tourism Commission, the legend is, early African Gullah in America believed that when night rolled around, the bottles lured and trapped evil spirits in them and held them hostage until the rising morning sun could destroy them. The use of blue bottles is to attract the spirits and once they’re in the bottle, they can’t get out. When the wind blows and the bottle hums, you know that there is a spirit trapped inside.