Appalachian folk magic recipes are largely tempered by the micro-cultures they arise from. Just two generations ago in my area in east Tennessee, sex or kids before marriage was unheard of. So was divorce. This mimics the old children's rhyme, “First comes love, then comes marriage, here comes ____________ with a baby carriage.” While it is preferred for most that a child be born from love, that isn't always the case. However, after the old rhyme, fertility and children are next on our list after love and lust in the life of the old mountaineers. Many families back in the day had huge families with as many as twenty children, either by one woman or many. The average minimum was usually four to six children. Because of this, there are many old wives' tales regarding fertility, childbirth, and child rearing, whether it's how to get pregnant, stop having stillborn babies, ease teething, or weaning a child.
Everyone is different, of course, and, just like herbal remedies, not everything works for everyone. So some women would resort to different remedies until they found success. Just because something doesn't work for you, though, doesn't mean it won't work for the next person. These works may be used to help you conceive.
An old work to make a woman fertile involved having a preacher hand the husband or father a can of chickpeas. These were cast onto a busy road and, as they were ground into the mud by traffic, would bring fertility. If you can't find a preacher to help, bury a can of chickpeas at a church for a month, ideally when a blessed day such as Easter or Christmas comes and goes. Then cast the chickpeas into the busy road.
Boil chickpeas (you can do this after getting them from the church yard as well) as the sun rises while praying Psalm 113:9:
He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord.
Boil chickpeas in spring water until a third of the water has boiled off. Strain the chickpeas out and bathe in this water for three days. Then sew the dried chickpeas into the mattress you wish to conceive on.
Rub powdered milk on the skin side of a rabbit hide. Dust this with baby powder and place seven apple seeds in the center with a ginger root. Eat the apple first. Tie the hide into a bundle and baptize it by dunking it in fresh running water in the three highest names. Let it dry in a secluded place, then hide it under the bed. Back in the day, folks would sew something like this up in the head of the bed. This reminded me of a lullaby my grandmother used to sing to us called “Be-oh-bye-oh Baby,' which talked about the daddy going hunting to “catch a little rabbit skin to put the be-oh-bye-oh baby in.”
If you wish to have a child, have a friend sit their newborn on your bed or leave a dirty diaper at your house when they leave.
Eat juicy fruits, such as watermelons, apples, or pumpkins—but nothing acidic, like oranges. For twins, eat twinned fruits.
Carry a rabbit's foot dressed in rose water and baby powder. Pray Genesis 25:21 over the foot twenty-one times, substituting “Isaac” with the man's name and “Rebekah” with your own name:
And [Isaac] intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and [Rebekah] his wife conceived.
Make a hex bag of jack-in-the-pulpit root, pumpkin seeds, and a bit of bear's-bed. Wrap these up as the moon grows and lay the bag under the bed when attempting at the most fertile time of the month. As the moon grows, so will your chances of conceiving.
Another old-timer trick was to acquire butter from a woman named Mary whose husband's name was Joseph, or from a woman whose last name didn't change in marriage (meaning she married an unrelated man of the same surname). Eat a little bit of the butter each day, starting as the moon begins to grow, until you become pregnant. Alternatively, acquire a piece of fabric from such a woman and sew it into a piece of your clothing. Wear this piece until you are pregnant. After the baby is born, cut out the cloth and use it as the baby's first swaddle.
Sleep with an oblong, phallic-looking stone under your pillow on the night of the full moon and you'll allegedly be pregnant within nine months.
The following tricks, almost entirely based on sympathetic magic, are done to ease labor pains, stop hemorrhage, protect the mother from spirits while giving birth, and ensure safety of both mother and child.
A knife or axe is placed beneath the bed the woman lies on and a pocketknife or arrowhead is placed under the pillows to cut the pain down. I've seen this work firsthand. Some folks say she should wear the father's hat as well to help with the pains.
A Bible is placed, open to the Book of Matthew, on the mother's chest if she is in danger and on the mother's belly if the child is at risk in the birthing process.
It was said that in order to bring on labor, the mother had to walk in circles until she was exhausted.
Roots and charms were likewise employed next to physical activities such as sex, induced sneezing, or driving over railroad tracks to bring the child. One such recipe calls for tying asafoetida around the neck and placing a rabbit's foot under the bed.
To induce labor, the father's shoes are placed on the mother's feet while he says, “I gave you this burden and here I relieve you of it.” In other areas, the verbal charm isn't mentioned and the father's shoes are worn for strength.
If the birth is proving difficult, burning corncobs on the porch is recommended.
Snakeskin was also bound to the woman's thigh for a fast delivery, the basis seemingly being the child will slide right out like a snake.
Or sew a rattlesnake rattle into a bag and place it in the woman's hand for a smooth delivery. The mother isn't allowed to know what it contains and likewise is barred from opening it to view the contents.
To help bring the child through, a holey stone (a stone with a natural hole through it) was hung from the rafters of the old cabins back then, right over the mother's head.
To keep the baby from getting caught up, every open vessel was turned upside down and all knots untied. Additionally, it was recommended that all jewelry be removed from the house altogether. This was usually placed in a small bag or something on the porch until the child came. This not only helped “pour” the child out but also kept the child from getting tangled in the umbilical cord, which was buried in the yard (along with the placenta) afterward with salt. Or, if they wanted more children, the father would carry it over the same number of ridges as children they wished to bear.
Infant mortality used to be around 50 percent in days gone by. Thankfully, that number has gone down. But it still occurs, whether due to chance or a medical condition. While I'm not prescribing or guaranteeing anything, I do believe that faith and prayer work; and when put together in a root, your chances are improved. My grandmothers used some of these remedies.
An old superstition for curing the condition or luck that causes stillborn or early death of infants that usually has no cause is to name the next male child Adam. After him, it's said it will stop.
When Nana had stillborn children, she waded in the ocean at Myrtle Beach. After that, she had no more complications. You may also wade in the water while praying Psalm 113:9 (see page 160).
Tie a bundle of church dirt, baby powder, and dogwood bark around your waist to prevent miscarriage.
Any and all complications were eased by the mother, secretly pregnant, sitting on the unknowing husband's lap.
A rabbit's foot is carried to help increase the chances of safe delivery. This may be due to the fact that rabbits have many babies so very often, being able to conceive another litter while still carrying a previous litter. They seem to be experts in this area.
It's hard to believe a section on abortion is here, considering the conservative religious influence in this work. However, what the church doesn't know never hurt them. Sometimes a woman would have sex before marriage and end up pregnant. In fear of her family and others, she would resort to anything to be rid of this burden. By all means, see a doctor for this! That said, you have your beliefs, and I have mine; this is here for historical and educational purposes only.
Physical abortions (no magic involved) were rarely spoken of back in the day and of course were seen as a major sin. I heard they used to tell women that after they died, their aborted babies would scratch their eyes out. Physical abortions were done with a large number of things, none of which are recommended, including alcohol, saltpeter, black pepper, turpentine, castor oil, and more. When a procedure could not be done for fear of being caught, women looked to the spiritual roots that abound in these hills.
An old tale says a woman who wishes to get rid of her child should go to the oldest grave in a cemetery before sunrise. She was to kneel behind the gravestone facing east. As the sun rose, the shadow of the headstone would pass over her belly and take the child with it.
A red yarn was moistened with turpentine and worn around the waist for nine days to cause abortion.
It was always said that if a woman continuously carried a pack of salt, it would cause miscarriage. Having a tooth pulled during pregnancy was believed to cause miscarriage, too.
When the moon was in the bowels (Virgo), a woman would stand on a tree stump on a high hill and switch the stump with cottonwood branches as the sun set. This was usually repeated every Friday night until her flow came and the child was gone.
A woman would boil an egg in her urine, naming the egg for the child while praying that it not come. She would then bore a hole into the narrow end of the egg and rub graveyard dirt into it. Next, she'd take the egg to an anthill and leave it there. As the ants consumed the egg, so the woman miscarried.
Women would also squat over a pot of stewed onions to bring a miscarriage.
An old work that was done back in the day, and is still performed now, is to find out a child's future profession. There are of course many variations, but I will only detail a couple here, as the variations are usually minor and only affect the specific items used and the number of them (usually three or five).
A child is sat on the floor facing east before three objects, symbols of their predicted occupation. Whichever one the child grabs or goes to first is the answer for them. Growing up, the items consisted of an empty liquor bottle, a Bible, a piece of wood, a dollar bill, and a bowl of dirt. If the child goes for the liquor bottle, they will be a drunk. If they go for the Bible, they will be a man of God or a churchgoing woman. (If a regular book is used, the child will be very smart.) The piece of wood shows they will work hard for their money, and sometimes predicts a future in carpentry. The dollar bill says they will be wealthy and money will come easily to them, while the bowl of dirt suggests they will be poor all their life. That last one isn't necessarily a bad thing—you can be rich in more ways than with money. Remember, every parent should love their child to death, so this shouldn't have any hinderance on how they are treated or raised. Like with everything, this can change as life goes on.
Certain formulas were developed over time to ensure a child's success in life. These methods varied greatly but the majority of them had the child's best interest in mind.
To ensure book smarts, folks would place a bunch of books under the cradle with the belief that as the child slept over them, they would become more intelligent.
Arguably, the birthplace of country music is in Appalachia; so it's no wonder so many roots and tales were made surrounding musical talent that could have the potential to “take you to the big city.” For this, mothers would rub three living ladybugs on their child's lips or tongue to give them a good singing voice. For musical talent, they would use a cricket.
To make sure the child will be successful, it was said the child should first be carried upstairs before going down stairs. If the house was just one level, a chair was used to step up on.
If a mother, while pregnant, becomes interested in an art form, whether music, art, building, or cooking, then the child will be gifted in it.
Likewise, bodily signs gave an idea of their success: if a baby has long fingers, it suggests musical talent.
Historically, a baby's first bath should be done when they are four days old in lightly salted water. The salt must be new and bought by an aunt if it's a boy, or by an uncle if it's a girl. If no uncles or aunts are available, parents do it in the same gender respects.
Make a pouch from the first socks the child wore. On one sock, add a dab of molasses for a sweet life, three quarters for enough money, a pinch of salt for good luck, a piece of bread for abundance, and some church dirt for their angels. Lay the other sock over these and sew them together at the edges. Roll the package up and place it under the baby's cradle. After they are grown enough, this is then placed in a Bible with a lock of their hair at Psalm 23.
Now having and rearing kids was only half the job done. The other half was making sure they survived. Remember, with no modern medicine, a simple cut on the hand could quickly fester and lead to death. And diseases that we have vaccines for now, such as hives and shingles, were major risks. So, naturally, the second aspect of raising a family was to keep that family healthy. Because without health no work could be done—and you can't survive if you can't make due for yourself. Here is where faith healing and root doctoring come into play.