Glass witch balls were extremely popular in eighteenth-century England where they were hung in windows under the mystical belief that their shiny surfaces would mesmerize and…

A closer look

Glass witch balls were extremely popular in eighteenth-century England where they were hung in windows under the mystical belief that their shiny surfaces would mesmerize and trap evil spirits trying to enter the home; these hollow, colorful glass orbs were essentially the spiritual security cameras of their day, operating on the incredibly insulting assumption that demonic forces from the underworld were entirely incapable of walking past a house without being hopelessly distracted by a shiny object, kind of like a toddler at a carnival