Appalachian folk magic is a form of traditional American folk magic that originated in the Appalachian region of the United States. It is a blend of various cultural and spiritual practices brought by the early European settlers, particularly the Scots-Irish, as well as the Native American tribes that inhabited the area. The practice of Appalachian folk magic is characterized by its strong emphasis on natural elements such as herbs, plants, and animal parts. This form of magic is deeply rooted in the belief that these elements possess spiritual energy and can be used to harness the supernatural powers. One of the key components of Appalachian folk magic is the use of charms and talismans. These are objects, usually small items like stones or pieces of cloth, that are believed to possess specific magical properties.
“I like to tell people that the single most important job that a Wiccan priestess has is to make sure that no candle wax gets on the carpet or floor of the hall that you rented to do a ritual in,” said Ballard. “When everybody else is gone, she’ll be on the floor scraping wax up with her thumbnail.”
Because mountain dwellers were often nowhere near a doctor s office, and the cost of professional medical treatment was prohibitive, it often fell to the local women to provide healthcare for their neighbors, setting broken bones, treating fevers, and caring for the terminally ill. Practitioners often tended to the needs of women; they worked as midwives and assisted in the birth of new babies but could also be counted upon to provide herbal remedies if a young woman didn t want to become pregnant.
These are objects, usually small items like stones or pieces of cloth, that are believed to possess specific magical properties. They are often carried or worn as a form of protection or to bring about a desired outcome. Another important aspect of Appalachian folk magic is divination or fortune-telling.
Byron Ballard keeps Appalachian folk magic practices alive
Known as Asheville’s village witch, Byron Ballard practices what she calls “hillfolk hoodoo,” a form of Appalachian folk magic. Ballard came by hoodoo naturally, growing up in a poor community in the mountains of Western North Carolina where hoodoo was practiced. She laments that the practice is disappearing: “Local hillfolk are no longer practicing hoodoo, but it’s within living memory. There’s a kind of sadness that the culture of the hillfolk is fading.”
Hoodoo is different from voodoo, she explains, even though the words sound alike. Voodoo originated in Haiti and follows the West African Yoruban religious tradition. Hoodoo, on the other hand, is a nonreligious practice with cross-cultural roots. It grew out of the interactions of three cultural groups — the Scots-Irish who immigrated to Western North Carolina, the indigenous Cherokee and the Pennsylvania Dutch (Germans) who migrated to the area through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.
Ballard goes on to say that immigrants from Europe, fleeing religious persecution, settled in isolated mountain coves that gave them the privacy and freedom they sought. Theirs was a hardscrabble way of life, but it gave them independence, she says. In the 1930s, when the textile mills moved into the area, the culture began to shift from agricultural to industrial. The money was better, but it took away the independent streak of the mountain people, who were selling just enough of their cash crop to buy coffee and other goods they couldn’t grow. With contact from outside people, their folk practices began to erode, she continues.
“I call myself a forensic folklorist,” says Ballard, “because I’m excavating the practices from older generations.” She aims to preserve what she can of the traditional folk practices, and her book Staubs and Ditchwater is the result of her research into her Southern Highlands roots and its practices.
Although Ballard admits she is attempting to dispel the “hillbilly” and “redneck” stereotypes in her book (she prefers “hillfolk” to “hillbilly”), she nevertheless reclaims them: “I am totally a redneck. I grew up wild and poor in the country … understanding that violence is a way to solve problems. I am stubborn and willful, and I hate authority. I’m always having to suppress my tendencies toward violence.”
As the hillfolk culture is thinning, Ballard says, it is also becoming gentrified by “outlanders” — the affluent people who move into the area. These outsiders are hungry for folk traditions that feed them spiritually and are willing to appropriate any of the practices for their own benefit, she says. But she calls this process of stripping away pieces of the local culture by outsiders “cultural strip-mining.” The culture itself gains nothing and is in fact left weaker by the exchange, she says, comparing it to mountaintop removal and clear-cutting.
Ballard confesses that she is torn about whether it’s better to let the cultural practices die with the people who practiced them or pass them on to the larger world, which may be able to use them for spiritual and environmental purposes.
Although she’s “excavating” a dying culture, she is also actively practicing it, relying on what she learned as a child. Like the “cove doctor” of her forebears, Ballard’s carrying on the tradition of “workings,” or magical spells, to help people heal or get what they want. She gives an example of a working she might do to help someone get a job: “It could require dressing a candle with particularly potent oil and having the person burn it while focusing on their intention to get a new job.” Ballard adds that she tells the person to keep looking for a job meanwhile. “This is definitely a belt-and-suspenders type of magic,” she says.
Most people who come to her for help want healing work, she notes. “Healing is a big thing. The culture we live in is diseased. Hoodoo can help on a one-to-one basis.” She uses herbs, or “yarbs,” for the healing of many physical ailments, noting that they are often more effective than allopathic remedies. Ballard tells the story of her daughter, who saw many doctors to get rid of a wart. None of the treatments she received was effective. Finally, she tried bloodroot, an indigenous herb, and the wart went away.
Many people in the mountains are known for doing disease-specific healing, Ballard reports. “I had a great aunt who could rub a wart or a mole between her fingers, and it would disappear,” she says. “The whole time she would say something like, ‘I don’t know why people think I can do this,’ and in three days it would be gone.” A characteristic of folk magic, Ballard continues, is that practitioners deny they have the ability to do the healing — perhaps out of humility, acknowledging that the power is merely passing through them. She points out that other hillfolk use a different remedy to remove warts — wrapping the affected area in a dirty dishrag, then counting or saying the Lord’s Prayer, followed by burying the dishrag off the property.
Ballard says we often don’t know why traditional folk remedies work. She gives the example of catnip tea, which is given to infants to prevent hives. One theory about how it works, she explains, is that after some of the tea is given to the child, the mother drinks the rest of it. Since it’s a soporific, the mother is more relaxed, which helps her milk production. As a result, the child is healthier from being better nourished.
Often Ballard is called upon to do love spells, but she always refuses. “The problem,” she says, “is that they work. And sometimes the person asking for the spell ends up not being as interested as they thought they were, or they draw a person to them in an unhealthy way, such as stalking.”
Although hoodoo is not a spiritual or religious practice per se, Ballard notes that it can often involve a spiritual or religious overlay. She says that although there are religious-specific pieces, such as reading a part of the Bible to stop the flow of blood, hoodoo works regardless of the lens that’s used. “Religion can be an important part of the cultural practice,” she says, but “utilizing the earth energy is what works. It just depends on how you access it. … Hoodoo is about using earth energies in the quest for personal agency. It’s all about moving your position in the world to where you want it to be.”
Ballard points out that folk magic practices were developed by cultures in the Old World that lacked a sense of agency. “When you live in a feudal system, you don’t have a lot of access to justice or healing,” she says. “Their practices became a form of peasant medicine and psychology.”
When folk magic practices were brought to southern Appalachia, they took hold there as well because they helped provide a sense of personal agency and justice for impoverished mountain dwellers. “The ability to access justice is thin unless you have money and time,” she says, “and the hillfolk had neither.”
Acknowledging the issue of class and economics in the discussion of folk magic “honors the people who developed and practiced it, who are either our literal blood ancestors or … our spiritual and practice ancestors,” she says. “It honors them to say they were not people of great means for whom personal agency was easy.”
Ballard continues the tradition of using hoodoo to bring about justice. “I don’t work for peace. I work for justice,” she says. “I believe, and I think tribal people in Europe believed, that when you have justice, peace is a byproduct of that.”
Ballard teaches local courses about hoodoo. Information about them can be found on her Facebook page, Asheville’s Village Witch, or at myvillagewitch.com.
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About Susan Foster
Freelance writer passionate about wellness and spirituality, clinical psychologist, avid hiker and reader. Follow me @susanjfosterphd
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In 1908, John C. Campbell went to Appalachia to conduct a study of living conditions in the mountains. The result was a book called The Southern Highlander and His Homeland. According to Campbell,
This can take various forms, including reading tea leaves, interpreting dreams, or using playing cards. Diviners often use their intuitive abilities and knowledge of symbolism to provide insight and guidance to those seeking answers. Spells and rituals are also an integral part of Appalachian folk magic. These can range from simple rituals performed for protection or good luck to more complex spells designed to bring about specific outcomes, such as healing or love. A notable practice within Appalachian folk magic is "granny magic." This involves the use of spells and remedies passed down through generations of women in the community. Granny witches, as they are called, are highly respected for their knowledge and skills in healing and protection. Despite its rich history, Appalachian folk magic has often been misunderstood and marginalized. It has been dismissed by some as mere superstition or folk belief. However, to those who practice it, Appalachian folk magic is a deeply spiritual and transformative tradition that offers a connection to the natural world and a means of tapping into unseen forces. In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in Appalachian folk magic. As people seek to reconnect with their ancestral roots and explore alternative forms of spirituality, they are turning to this traditional practice for guidance and inspiration. * Overall, Appalachian folk magic is a unique and diverse form of traditional American folk magic that blends the cultural and spiritual practices of early European settlers and Native American tribes. It emphasizes the use of natural elements, charms and talismans, divination, spells, and rituals. Despite being marginalized at times, it has experienced a resurgence in popularity as people seek to reconnect with their ancestral roots and explore alternative spiritual practices..
Reviews for "The Power of Appalachian Graveyard Magic"
- Sarah - 2 stars - I did not enjoy "Appalachian folk magic" at all. While the concept seemed interesting, I found the execution to be lacking. The characters were underdeveloped and the writing felt forced and rushed. Additionally, I had a hard time connecting with the story as a whole. Overall, I was disappointed with this book and would not recommend it.
- John - 1 star - "Appalachian folk magic" was a complete letdown for me. The plot was predictable and cliché, and the writing style was amateurish. I felt like I was reading a book written by a high school student. The characters were flat and lacked depth, making it difficult for me to care about their journey. I found myself bored and disengaged throughout the entire book. Definitely not worth the time or money.
- Emma - 2 stars - I had high hopes for "Appalachian folk magic," but unfortunately, it fell short. The story felt disjointed and lacked focus. The characters were unremarkable and their motivations were unclear. The pacing was also off, with the plot dragging in some parts and rushing through others. While the premise had potential, the execution was lacking, and I was ultimately disappointed with the book.