There's a bit more to spirit lore than all the ghost stories. There are real spirits in these hills whose voices are heard from the graveyards and pews, and whose apparitions are multiple: from white bags of cotton tied to a bridge to floating lights wandering the forests late at night. There are spirits that are good and helpful; spirits that frighten us with warnings; and still others yonder, the ones that come for you and everything you got, sent by another or the Devil himself.
We test those malignant spirits by our faith, and we discern their intentions by the way our hair stands on end and the way our gut tells us to react. Many of the southern doctors of these hills conversed with and received aid from unseen friends. As a people who have been isolated in these dark hills, we've learned the noises that go bump in the night and the difference between real voices and those traversing worlds, nameless or not.
The ghosts of folkloric witches and conjurors peer through local stories and memories, hiding behind the hills and cliffs of Appalachia; the good neighbors, spirits who continue their shenanigans when the church bells aren't ringing. There are stories of giant bees, huge magic snakes that lurk beneath pools of water, and an unseen giant hunter named Tsul ‘Kalu, literally meaning “slanting eyes,” who stalks the cliffs of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Some of these we will meet here.
The granny witches primarily worked with God, as did the doctors of the Cherokee, Delaware, and Choctaw. God is always called upon in the most tender way in prayers for healing, often called “Papa,” or “Daddy,” as my Aunt Marie called Him. God is a protector. He brings justice and comfort, and “the God on the mountain is the same in the valley,” to quote an old hymn. He is thought of as the first conjuror, creating the world in six days. The beliefs and stories of these spirit folk are as varied in creed and belief as the folks who tell about them. We apply Scripture in the works here: we test to see if they are of God. Whether good folk, angels, saints, or ghosts, most of us belief they just are, as everything else in creation is under God.
By historical and oral accounts, only a handful of these spirits have been recorded and identified in the practice of the Appalachian doctor. Many times no singular spirit is spoken to, but instead a multitude is addressed. Spiritual occurrences during this work have also been recorded, from foggy morning mists taking the shape of unseen guests to invisible presences toking on a lit tobacco pipe. Likewise, patterns occur throughout these tales, especially with the class of spirits we call haints. These varied spirits are called many names such as spooks, hoodoos, boogers, mares, and angels.
Growing up, Nana spoke often of angels flying over when your hair stood on end, and said that a tree grows in the space where angels have trod. She spoke of “elves” who stole things and replaced them in the oddest places. When we dream of passed loved ones, we know they are truly visits. But if we dream of a birth or of someone being dead, it's an omen of death. There's a lot of trust placed in the unseen guests who come in the name of God to help or warn. We will meet some of them here. But first we need to know how to speak to them.
To dream of the dead isn't always a good thing, let alone if the person you see is currently alive. The mountaineers have held an age-old belief that spirits can come to us in dreams and that God gives some folks a special gift for dreaming this way. This is what we call “dreaming true” or “dreaming right” even though the contents of the prophetic inner play may be daunting. My mother and grandmothers have always been visited by spirits or saw future events in their dreams, and this gift is closely related to the sight.
Every time my mother has a bad dream, she'll wait until after breakfast before calling me. She's bound to the old saying that any dream spoken of before breakfast will come true. We don't chance it, especially with bad dreams. This gift is held by many people, including those outside Appalachia, but it cannot be controlled at will.
I have only dreamed true a couple times. I've tried everything from meditation to lucid dreaming to try to dream true at will, to just peer beyond a little bit, until I realized it's not by my hand but by that of the spirits who bring the message. It's very hard to tell the difference between regular dreams and those that are visions of future events. Generally, the messages of dreaming true will be remembered, while other times the dreamer is left only with a feeling that something ain't right.
There are a few common beliefs in Appalachia about your dreams held by normal folk. To dream of a birth or wedding is a sign of a death; likewise, a dream of a death is a sign of birth. To see a living person dead entails a death omen above their head. If you see someone who has already passed, they may be giving you a sign of how they are: if they're running around aimlessly, either their spirit is not at peace or they are in “hell,” according to Nana; but to see them calm, they are at peace.
Pay attention to your dreams. Dreaming true isn't composed of symbolic meanings; what happens in the dream will happen in real life. So if a diseased relative tells you that Johnny is in danger, then he is in danger. Dreams are straightforward messages from God and the spirits. Symbolic dreams don't necessarily give specifics like that, but a “true dream” can be embedded in a regular dream. It takes years of heeding them to be able to tell the difference. However, aside from dreams, spirits can make their presence known in the most mundane of ways.
A few weeks after my Papaw Trivett passed away, we began to find small white feathers everywhere. In the strangest places they would be found, or they'd simply float down out of nowhere. We'd find feathers in the food cabinets, in pots stored under the stove, in the fridge, or we'd all be sitting in the living room and they'd fall down from the ceiling. We spent weeks trying to find where they were coming from. Only problem was, we didn't own anything stuffed with feathers. Never did and never have.
The feathers were often paired with the smell of Papaw's Old Spice cologne. On my grandparents' anniversary, my grandmother was heading to the store and found pennies laid out in a line going from the front door of the house to the driver's side of her car. She still has those pennies today.
Papaw always fixed dinner on Thanksgiving, and we looked especially forward to his famous chicken and dumplings. On the first Thanksgiving after his death, we decided to just eat out because those memories were too hard on us; he'd had his seventh heart attack on the day after the holiday that year. When we decided to eat out, the cabinet doors in the kitchen continuously opened and slammed shut for days afterward. He must've been mad that no one made his dumplings and the family didn't all congregate at the table. So we decided to cook the following year. As we were all sitting around the small, wood leaf table in the kitchen, we noticed that a luna moth had landed on the outer screen of the back door. “I'm glad you could make it, Daddy,” Mama said.
The luna moth is a fascinating creature of the Appalachian hills. Growing up, we were taught to never disturb them or catch them or it would bring bad luck, because they carry souls of the dead and messages from the other side. During their life span they go through a handful of stages before reaching adulthood. When they become adults and emerge from their wraps a changed creature, they no longer have mouths! You read that right. In the last days of their life, they no longer partake of the food of the living. The mountaineers would have had no knowledge of this, nor of the occult symbolism offered in this biological fact. Their last sole purpose during this stage is to reproduce. The mountaineers simply held to old tradition that they were associated with the ghosts of the dead. That fact, in itself, is amazing to me.
Dogs also play an important role in Appalachian folklore. Strange dogs bring messages from the dead, mostly in regards to danger or ill coming to the home. Whether it is a sighting of a black dog with red eyes that's come to warn of death, known as Black Shuck, or a simple white ghost dog that sits and waits in the front yard. Nothing will scare it away because it will not leave until its owner, Death, visits the home.
This same meaning is applied to many other animals, particularly those that are white or albino. White doves are a message of death. And if you've lived in these mountains all your life, then I presume you've heard of the “witching deer.” In both the Irish and Cherokee mythos, white or black animals are often thought to be witches or some creature from another world. This belief still persists today, and we've had countless people who wouldn't step foot in our home because of the black cats we had. The belief these animals were witches may have been the reason their furs, bones, or guts were used for various purposes, such as the rabbit's foot for good luck or the black cat's blood for healing rashes.
Other signs from the spirit world include sounds. You'll often hear bells ringing far off when angels or little folk are present. Haints and bad spirits make their presence known by breaking and throwing things or whispering in one's ear. Hearing babies cry that aren't there, either in the house or out in a graveyard, is also a sign of wayward souls.
The materialized form these lost souls often take is that of glowing lights floating about the graveyards and woods at night. The most famous of these lights, called jack-o'-lanterns or will-o'-the-wisps, walk about the hillsides and lead travelers and other folks astray down into the rivers or lakes to be drowned. These strange lights were explained as lost souls, beginning with the old tale of Jack.
Jack was a mean old drunkard who kept having run-ins with the Devil come to take his soul to hell. Each time, Jack outwitted the Devil and bought himself more time. After a while, the Devil got tired of it all and moved on. When Jack finally died, he was locked out of heaven for his drunken deeds, so he took the road down to hell. But alas, not even the Devil wanted him anymore, and so Jack couldn't get in. He was left to wander the earth alone forever. But the Devil felt sorry for Jack, so he tossed him a hot coal from hell to light his way. Jack hollowed out a gourd and placed the hot coal inside, and thus the jack-o'-lantern was born.
The Cherokee were especially afraid of these “fire carriers” and dared not go near them or try to investigate. Folk belief tells of fire carriers bringing madness and rage to those who see them. I have never dared call these up, and neither should you. Lord knows what would answer on the other end of the line.
The word haint applies to a multitude of different spirits with varying dispositions, including “demons,” lost souls, and ghosts, plus Yunwi Tsunsdi' (yun-wee joon-stee), or Cherokee little people. It is basically a southern corruption of haunt. Many devices and taboos were developed against their intrusion into our homes, dreams, and lives in a negative way.
Iron has historically been a universal method of protecting against a massive number of things, from disease and evil spirits to bad tempers and the evil eye. Because of this, many charms and tricks have developed on either side of the pond into modern times. To keep one's livestock from being shot by the magic of the little folk or witches, you would use slack water, which is the water used by a blacksmith to cool the iron. Add this water to the waterholes or buckets the animals drink out of, or pour it out over their backs while saying the Lord's Prayer. To avert the evil eye or any other enchantments being placed on a newborn, a 9-inch nail was driven into one of the posts or legs of the crib. Local lore prescribes you to touch something made of iron after someone compliments you or you suspect ill intent in their words.
As I mentioned previously, a horseshoe wrapped in tinfoil and hung on the door will keep away conjurings, witches, and haints. Another remedy for haunting with the horseshoe was to place it in the fireplace and throw a handful of salt over it. As long as the horseshoe remains warm, no evil can enter the home.
Charms that may be carried to guard against haints and evil spirits include a bag of new salt hung around the neck; an iron nail in the pocket; a toby containing mistletoe, tobacco, and lichen or moss from the east side of an oak tree; and a rabbit's foot. You could even just keep your pockets turned inside out.
To keep the dead out of your dreams, hang coral on the bedpost. Some old-timers in Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and others recommend tossing a few handfuls of salt and mustard seed on the doorstep at night based on the premise that haints and evil spirits cannot enter until they've counted each grain and every seed, by which time the sun will be up and it'll be too late for them to pester you.
The scattering and counting belief is rampant through Europe and the Americas. Other forms of this are to keep a Bible by the front door so the spirits will have to count every letter on every page, or hang a sieve on the outside of the door so they'll have to count every hole in the mesh. May seem a bit wacky to have a kitchen utensil hung there, but really, who isn't strange in these hills?
In Appalachia there are multiple methods for seeing and conversing with spirits. We covered the communication via dreams at the start of this chapter, separated because it occurs in the dream state and is often involuntary. The dead show up in dreams to bring us messages, in contrast to us calling out to them for assistance. But spirits regularly interact with us in our daily lives, often without our knowledge, except in extreme circumstances.
There have been many occasions when my mother or me have had close calls while driving because we've seen in the rearview mirror my papaw sitting in the backseat. Other times, my grandmother will be sitting in her recliner at home and Papaw will rock it from the back like he used to, to get her attention.
Other tales are told of speaking with spirits through knocking on tables to get their attention, which seems to be common among root workers everywhere in the South who knock on the ancestor table when leaving offerings or calling out for help.
Those with the sight are best able to communicate with spirits. Sight is separate from regular psychic abilities and exclusively given by God at birth. It's said to be given to a child born blue or with a caul over their eyes, although some regions of Appalachia hold a superstition that being born via C-section or at night—and specifically at midnight—can enable you to see spirits as well. This enables the person to see and speak with spirits as well as foretell the future or just know things with no explanation. However, not every person born in one of these circumstances shows the ability, nor can it just be claimed.
In Appalachia we have a few unspoken laws: never lie, never steal, and never cheat. It is simply taboo, and anyone known to do these things will, from then on, be seen as flawed in character. When it comes to these gifts, I've never heard of one person ever claiming they had it. It was always said of them by other people, or the person would keep their humility, saying, “I don't know why folks insist it's me who does it when it's just the Lord.” To those with a gift, they were simply following God and doing His will. The person's sight was further proven through their tried-and-true reputation of predictions and dreams given to them through the gift either for themselves or others.
Most folks in Appalachia simply pray to the dead in mourning or during adversities. We sometimes think God's heard enough from us, so we will occasionally turn to the dead first with our pleas. There's been many a time I've heard Mama pray, “Daddy, help me with this.” Some people, however, just can't get past the dead being gone, which is reflected in some charms and recommendations for someone without the gift to be able to see or speak with spirits.
The first I ever heard of was to wipe the slick from the corner of a dog's eye with your finger and rub it on your own eyes. Another one says to eat a tablespoon of salt every morning for nine mornings upon waking. Don't speak to anyone, or speak at all until the salt is consumed (without drink). (This seems nearly impossible to do.) The last method is to go to the site of a grave on the ninth day after burial and it's said you'll be able to speak with and see the deceased.
Many old healers from back in the day are said to have done something to please the good neighbors so much they were gifted with particular knowledge, whether through a chance meeting or from falling asleep under a hawthorn, which is still said to make folks go mad. Others are said to have walked backward three times around a graveyard while saying the Lord's Prayer and afterward they just knew what to do.
The crossroads is also an important place for spirit work in Appalachia. Not only does it symbolize the cross, but it also brings together the corners of the earth. Cross-streams are sometimes used as well; the place where two creeks meet and become one is said to be a location of powerful healing. Crossroads are used in opening the path to remove obstacles, or close someone's roads so they can't get away with something, like a criminal or thief. The crossroads represent coming and going, movement and deadlock, and communication between us and the spirits, in that in-between space where the living and the dead speak.
Aside from places such as crossroads or graveyards, there are also particular times that are best for speaking to spirits, such as the hour of midnight. My family holds fast the belief in the ghost hour of 3:00 a.m., when you're most likely to wake up startled to “nothing.”
Other times aren't based on the clock at all but by natural phenomenon, such as when the clouds roll down the mountain or the fog hangs low and dense, and the spirits “rise down” the hills. There's a special spirit to the fog here in East Tennessee. She seems to rise and blanket the land in mystery. It's said if you peer into it long enough, you'd see the dead walking around: civil war soldiers, slaves, handmaidens, farmers, Cherokee mothers. Shadows of a people gone but not. A memory of a time that was and still is . . . somewhere.
This I have experienced firsthand in only two cases. The first was driving to the gas station on a foggy morning at 3:00 a.m. As I was passing by the churchyard down the road, I saw what I thought were two people walking. Upon getting closer, a streetlight revealed that all that was there were two foggy pillars of smoke. As I continued on by, they dispersed. The second one occurred right after midnight and it was real foggy. I was driving through the hills (between Kingsport and Boone's Creek, for you locals), and I saw a woman walking on the side of the road, clear as day, dressed in old-fashioned attire that consisted of a deep red blouse and a long, gauzy white skirt, complete with glasses that sat on the bridge of her nose. As I drove by, she turned and looked at me through her spectacles and the glare from the headlights reflected back at me. After passing, I could see no one in the car mirrors.
Remember Miz Wilson? Folks say she'd chant and whisper, entertaining the dead and other spirits in the rocks and riverbanks; she'd chant and charm all night. Come daybreak, Ol' Miz Wilson would retire to her shack and the spirits would return to their place in the rocks. Folks would see her come out, right early in the morning when the sun had just risen and the mists and fog were rising from the water's surface. She'd get her a round stone and twirl it in her hands, rubbing her thumbs around and around on it, while whispering and gazing into the fog, seemingly hypnotized by it. Folks say she was talking to the dead, the little folk, or the Devil himself. While no one knows for sure whom Ol' Miz Wilson was talking to, I figure it had to be an interesting conversation, don't you think? This technique seems to be a preoccupation of the thumbs and fingers rubbing over the stone, perhaps to subdue and distract the “right mind” for spiritual communication. I've tried my hand at it before and have my stone still, and as far as I can gather, it helps ease you into another space.
Working with the dead is one of the most popular yet least understood practices in folk magic. Many people read about it online and just hop down to the graveyard for some dirt, but it isn't that simple. Spirits don't just make miracles on request. They'll do favors and offer services in exchange for something—usually pennies or other coins, jars of moonshine, cigarettes, food, or perfume left on the grave. When I am buying dirt from a grave, I will simply tell the spirit, “I ain't stealing nothing, cause I'm leaving this here in its place,” or “I'm buying some of your dirt here for such and such reason for such and such offering.”
Graveyards are the focus of all kinds of weird tales, and they have become a place of importance in the making of many formulas for protection, luck, love, healing, and cursing. Some recipes call for dirt from the grave of a police officer or a doctor for varied reasons. Then people go out and get it with no question. But the problem here is that you are employing the aid of a spirit you know nothing about. What if the doctor in life abused his patients or the police officer was crooked? Not everything can be found in a Google search or a book. Not even here. Usually folks were buried in a family hilltop cemetery, so family stories have information about who did what as a profession—whether they were a miner, a shoemaker, a sheriff, a doctor. Folks knew everybody in town back then as well. It's not like this anymore, so you need to be careful of who you approach in the graveyard.
The dead aren't all kind, and there are more secrets in each grave than you'll ever know. We work with the dead to have them complete a task on our or someone's behalf and will use the dirt from the grave in the tricks to bring their power into the work. When you go to a graveyard to employ a spirit or buy dirt, I encourage you to use the previously mentioned ways of protecting yourself from haints. Other precautions I take at a graveyard include the following: Never step over a grave, as it will bring misfortune. Don't point at a grave, or you'll be stricken with illness. Come alone and leave alone, and as you leave do not look behind you until you pass the first crossroads home, or you'll be vulnerable to a spirit hopping on your back. I won't even look in the rearview mirrors of the car until I pass the first crossroads. You can avoid this vulnerability by wearing a hat of some kind; most folks always wore a hat or bonnet to funerals and grave decorations anyway.
If you're still wondering about being stricken with illness, it does happen. Half of the time, weird illnesses can be caused unconsciously from the lingering ghosts of relatives pining for their family, and it will especially affect a person they were particularly close to. Other times, it can be a conscious act on the part of the spirit. But believe me, if you piss off the dead, bringing sickness is barely the bottom of the bag of tricks they have in store.
Before doing any work with a spirit you have no prior experience with, in life or death, it is always best to test the spirits to “see if they are of God,” or that they mean well and can be trusted. Remember that even the Devil can recite Scripture. Always trust your gut. Say a prayer asking God to give you the spiritual power of discernment to see if the spirits mean well. Uneasy feelings like knots in the pit of your stomach, gusts of warm air, chills, and wind blowing from the north are signs you need to hightail it out of there.
Now that's not to say we never work with bad haints. It's just not recommended for those who aren't trained to do so, as the spirits of thieves and criminals can go rogue. Some of the above signs can be results of fear, but you don't need that here. My Mamaw Hopson always said, “fear is just faith backward.” It means you're looking in the wrong direction instead of trusting the Creator and your ancestors. I don't believe wiser words have ever been spoken in these hills. Some of the old formulas recommended gathering dirt from the graves of certain people, mostly based on profession, habit, and cause of death: a man who was a drunkard, a sinner, an unbaptized child, and someone who died badly are the most frequent targets. But for now, I recommend you stick with the folks you knew in life.
When entering a graveyard or cemetery, there's a widespread tradition of giving an offering to the guardian spirit of the cemetery in order to enter and be under their protection. There are two beliefs about this guardian spirit. The first originates from the African traditions. They believe that the guardian spirit is the first person laid to rest in the graveyard and is charged with the duty of keeping watch over it forever. In Scotland and Ireland, they believe it's the last person to be buried who is charged with keeping watch from sunset to sunrise every day. This guardian is discharged only when the next person is buried.3
The dead are employed for multiple reasons. Usually, your own beloved departed can manage just about everything you need help with. If you need protection, go to the grave of that person who was an old-fashioned “mama bear” and gather the dirt from the heart of the grave. If you need money, go to the luckiest person you knew. My Papaw Trivett used to go down to Cherokee and gamble a lot. He had a bit of a problem, but it was rare that he lost. He also owned his own contracting business, and he ran a good show at restoring and flipping multiple houses throughout my mama's childhood. If I ever need help or an extra buck, I go to his grave.
Stories from from the Irish, Scottish, and Cherokee continue in Appalachia about little people who live in the caves and treetops, creeks and hills, and even tunnels beneath old colleges. The Cherokee held these beliefs long before the white foot fell on this soil. The little people from Cherokee stories were called Yunwi Tsunsdi'. They were described as being like the Cherokee in attire and language, and somewhat in culture. They are a handsome people and barely knee-high, with long hair to their ankles.
The Cherokee speak about one particular little “wizard” who acts like an Appalachian puck in his hillside activities. (Puck, or puca, in folklore is an English trickster spirit.) This malicious trickster dwarf is De'tsata (day-jah-tah). His story goes like this: A young Cherokee boy ran off into the forests to avoid getting a whopping from his mother. Ever since, he has remained invisible to avoid the spanking from his mother. Whether he became invisible on his own or he ate the food of the Yunwi Tsunsdi' is up for debate amongst storytellers. (Eating the food of the little people is a universal phenomenon and usually traps the person in their realm. In a similar Cherokee story, a young boy goes to live in the woods and can't return because he has eaten the animal's food, and became the first black bear himself.) They say the invisible boy loves to hunt birds and make a ruckus in the forests. Anytime deer are spooked by something or birds flutter in great numbers from their resting places for no apparent reason, they say it's him chasing them for fun.
The Cherokee hunters would often lose their arrows while hunting, and they blamed it on De'tsata. To find them, the hunter would threaten him with a spanking. The Cherokee believe that De'tsata has been invisible for centuries and in that time he has had multiple children who look just like him and also have his same name.
The little folk aren't very trusting of humans, especially the white man. Cherokee lore tells us they aided lost travelers in the forests, warned the people of impending danger, and helped the conjure or medicine men of the tribe through whispers and dreams. Some stories even tell of layfolk Indians, those not versed in magic or medicine, owning little people and feeding them cornbread or milk in return for protecting their property from theft or vandalism. They also led people to safety and even taught the medicines of a plant in dreams for the sick. They were also the ones who took the human soul to the spirit world.
It takes a lot to gain the trust of the little people and acquire their aid in times of adversity. They don't accept being mocked or gossiped about, and there are many tales of them bringing sickness to those who do so. One story I heard growing up was of a boy walking along a river when he saw a little man sitting on a stone in the middle of the water. The man told the boy not to come any farther, but he persisted and didn't want to be ordered around by a short man such as him. The little boy threw rocks at the man, and each time the rock hit the man it had no effect. He was unharmed. The little man began to laugh and disappeared. The boy went home and told his parents about it all. The father scolded him and told him he needs to go back and apologize before all sorts of bad things befall the family. The boy wouldn't listen. Every night after that, the boy would be found sleepwalking and close to throwing himself out the window. After a few days of this, the father forced the boy to take some food back to the river where the little man was seen. After that, the little folk were appeased and nothing bad befell the family.
The little people of Appalachia are separated in different clans or tribes based on their temperament. The Rock clan is composed of malicious dwarves whose sole task is to lead man to harm or death. The Laurel clan are tricksters, yet rewarding to work with, as their tricks almost always include a bit of humor. The Laurels are to blame for fishing hooks getting caught in rocks and logs at the bottom of lakes and rivers; however, they were also the cause of babies laughing and smiling in their sleep. (Today, this is attributed to angels.) The Dogwood care the most about the human predicament. They are the primary helpers of lost children, the starving, and people in danger on the mountains. The little people, regardless of clan, have been detailed to have white, black, or golden skin like the Cherokee. Sometimes they speak Tsalagi, the language of the Cherokee, but other times they talk in their own native tongue.
To eat the food of a tribe of nature spirits meant that person was now part of that tribe and would never return to or see their kin again. The story of Forever Boy tells this tale. Forever Boy did not want to grow up. All of his human friends talked about what they wanted to do when they became men, how much game they would hunt. Forever Boy didn't want this. He wanted to stay a kid forever and have fun in the creeks. He didn't want the responsibility of a man.
His father told him he needed to learn certain things soon so he would be ready for manhood. His father said he would take him the next day to his uncle and there he would learn everything about being a man. (In Cherokee society it was the closest male relative of the mother who taught her sons about being a man.)
The boy went to the creek and cried his heart out. He didn't want to go to his uncle's house and learn to be a man. He was content with being just a boy. The animals of the forest had gathered around him and were telling him something. “Come back to the creek early tomorrow, in the morning.” So he went home.
In the morning, he went back to the creek and the animals were waiting for him. They were telling him something different now: “Look behind you.” Forever Boy looked behind him and found all the little people happy to see him. They told him, “You don't have to grow up. Come and live with us and you'll never become a man. You can play with us in the creek forever. We will pray to Creator and He will give your parents a vision that you are safe.” The little people gave the boy a root of some kind that was roasted. Some say it was a duck potato (Sagittaria latifolia). Legend has it he has remained with the little people and is still a little boy.
Those taken in by the little people either by welcome or by trapping often remain gone from their people for years, although the celebrations and festivities held by the “neighbors,” as I call them, only last until dawn. To this day, a lot of people (native or not) will shy away from any strange music or laughter heard in the forests. Many times you wouldn't find the source of the drums or singing anyway, because the direction it comes from will change. Other times, you will find it. Lord have your soul if your intrusion angers them, too.
They are said to have joined in the dances of the tribes, appearing as beautiful young women who enticed the men so much, they didn't notice the goat or deer legs the women had until sunrise when the women would start walking off and disappear with no trace. If you decide to work with these neighbors, never go searching for them. Don't intrude on their space or try to find them. Simply take an offering outside and start talking to them. They'll hear it if they happen to be around. Make a deal with them—continued offerings for a task done on their part—and then lay the offerings down. Never throw their offerings or gifts on the ground, because they aren't animals. I can't stress this enough.
Sometimes, the little people can be petitioned for emergencies or things that are a lost cause. However, if things go wrong, it can't be undone. When you go to them, you are recognizing that whatever charms they perform for you can only be reversed by them. You never want to go to them for love workings. More often than not, it will not be like you hoped, and it is hard to convince them to reverse the charm. The chances of them actually doing this for you are low—even if you offer tobacco, which is traditionally the best offering to anything in these hills.
In the lore of the Old and New World, white animals were believed to be connected to the little people or actually be little people in animal form. This was often paired with the transformational abilities attributed to witches. Other times, white animals were simply believed to be messengers from the dead or angels in heaven. Strangely, the native people of Appalachia hold beliefs parallel with this, especially the white dog. These mixed, and the mountaineer's stories filled with “witchin'” animals such as the albino weasel, snake, deer, bird, or fish. They were attributed with supernatural powers and were honored by tradition as omens of luck, death, and witchcraft. Examples of these are the white dog come to warn about coming death and the witching deer said to be the source of the most powerful madstone, as it was used by natives and colonizers alike.
This section isn't about animal spirit guides; I'm talking about working with the actual spirits of deceased animals. Appalachian stories are filled with tales about animals that stem from Europe or the native tribes. My father taught me that the black bear was watched to see what plants and berries were good to eat. Stories abound with animals bringing luck or death. Remedies are filled with prescriptions utilizing the feet, eyes, urine, and organs of animals.
Now here's where I need to make a legal statement: Animal abuse, stealing animals, and hunting and fishing out of season are illegal in the United States. Any part or byproduct of migratory birds is illegal to possess in any form, be it eggs, feathers, nest materials, or other things. This is according to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. You also need to know about what animal parts you can import or posses in the state you live in, as well as which animals are endangered.
That being said, some remedies and tricks call for crow or robin eggs, salamanders that could be endangered, and the extraction of things from an animal while it is still alive or having it die for a charm. For example, an old cure for whooping cough, seizures, and pneumonia was to catch a rainbow trout on a Sunday and lay the live fish on the chest of the patient, letting it flail about until it dies. As the fish dies, so does the disease or sickness. These types of formulas are many and include such things as suffocating, drowning, gutting, and so on.
I will not speak more on those here; I simply bring it up to remind you that this work was not coined by people who “sought a connection with nature.”
Since the purpose of this book is to exhume Appalachian folk magic from its deathbed, I also took into account the current laws regarding the possession and hunting of animals as well as the vulnerability status of all these animals. We live in a different Appalachia today than our elders did. We have to admit that Appalachia has changed and its laws have changed with it. Because of this I promote ethical practices in regards to using animal parts and plants. Do so legally, don't buy things you're not allowed to have in your state, and don't further endanger a species for your own gain.
What I will offer is the bit of lore available in regard to the spirits of animals and how you can work with them. I have a coyote pelt tacked to my living room wall. Surrounding the pelt are chicken feet and flowers. I contracted a deal with the spirit of the coyote to warn me in my dreams of danger and to run off my enemies. I've tenderly named him Ol' Blue. Sometimes, upon returning from somewhere I will scratch the pelt between the ears to show some love.
Now, before I begin a relationship with the spirit of an animal, I always get their consent. Some animals have a huge distaste for humankind due to us destroying their habitats and the abuse they've endured at the hands of man. Some will never be forgiving. This reality is echoed in the Cherokee story of how and why medicine was created: At the start, man and animal had a covenant set between them. The animals would willingly give themselves up in the hunt, giving meat for food, horns for weapons, and fur for warmth, as long as man did the prescribed rituals of prayer and thanksgiving in return for the sacrifice. Man eventually abandoned this practice, hunting deer in large numbers, with no regard given to the beasts and always taking more than was needed. The animals banded together and realized that man can no longer be trusted. Man would no longer acknowledge the covenant between man and beast, so in retaliation the animals decided that for every hide stolen and for every beast killed without gratitude they would send a disease of some kind to the humans to make them suffer and die. In response to this, the plants of the forests and hills spoke and said for every disease the animals placed on man's back, they would offer a medicine to cure him. However, in Cherokee healing, some animals also assisted in healing certain diseases and ailments: the buzzard helped ward off all illnesses, the beaver aided with teething children because of its strong teeth, and the deer helped with frostbite because its hooves are immune to it.4 The wolf and fox were also called for help with frostbite.
This story is the reason so much care was taken in the hunting and handling of the body after the animal was killed. I do the same with any animal part I acquire. I will pray to their spirit, apologizing for any harm brought to them by man, and I will wash the bones or fur tenderly, trying my best to ease the pain of its soul. When I collect the fresh blood of an animal or fish, I will drain some of it first on the ground or in the water to “give it back.” The natives believed that by doing this and covering the blood up with fallen leaves, the animal would rise back up from the ground reborn and unharmed.
After washing and tending to the parts, I will tell the spirit how the fetish will be used. Sometimes, they wish to help a bit spiritually, while other times they wish to rest in peace. This is especially common with roadkill. Every piece of animal I use is always done with consent, because I wouldn't want just anybody taking anything they wanted from my dead body. I wouldn't care what it was for. They deserve the same respect. In Appalachia, hunters and fishers try to never waste anything. You can go to any flea market, antique store, or fair around here and you'll always find somebody selling hides and bones.
“Waste not, want not” is a strong saying here, which is why you always hear about “hillbillies” eating roadkill. Because most folks do—or they used to. They hate seeing a deer, possum, or something going to waste just rotting on the side of the road. However you collect the parts, do so ethically and with consent. I always offer tobacco leaves or smoke for them, which usually sells them on the whole thing. But sometimes even the most sacred plant in the mountains can't persuade them enough. They just want to rest. The animals I do work with only ask for a bit of tobacco and water every now and then. They are simple because they lived simple lives: eat, drink, survive. That's it. They didn't have taste for cakes, rum, or cornbread. Although raccoons may be a bit different and somewhat picky.
Sometimes your connection to an animal will grow stagnant or die out. I take this as a sign that they're ready to retire. That is when I'll take them out and bury them with tobacco and prayers, placing stones over the grave of fur, bones, or skin, and singing “Auld Lang Syne.”
Mind you, none of this is documented tradition; it's simply how I do things and how I grew into the work. I hate animal abuse and their deaths being in vain. I make sure that I source materials that have been ethically procured. Aside from the humane aspect, you don't want to work with a spirit that has trauma attached to it. Below is a list of animals and the assistance they can possibly bring.
Coyote/Wolf: Protection from enemies, witchcraft, and unwanted guests. A spiritual guard dog. The teeth and claws can be carried for protection. It is called for frostbite because it is among a number who stay out in the snow with no consequences.
Deer: Buck and doe parts can be used in works for fertility, love, lust, and spiritual communication. Smack deer antlers together while calling on their spirit or some other entity. “Buck's blood” was used in works of love, lust, and libido. (“Buck's blood” refers to the popular alcoholic drink Jägermeister, which is still believed to contain male deer blood in its recipe of roots. My father used to carry a shot of it with him when he was hunting. Later, I came to find out that the logo is inspired by Saint Hubertus, patron of hunting.) The Cherokee recognized the white deer as Little Deer, their chief, who would come to a hunted deer as it died and ask if the hunter prayed first. If not, Little Deer would strike the hunter with rheumatism.
Raccoon: Work with raccoons for prosperity, especially in times of financial trouble, by hiding a scrap of coonskin in a jar of beans, positioned so the skin cannot be seen. When you cash your first paycheck of the month, go get it in cash first. The last bill the teller lays down is the one you need. In all four corners and the center of the bill, right “fruits.” Add to the jar a pinch of salt, a piece of cornbread, and that money. Keep this hidden high up somewhere in the home, as long as it's secret and above your head, to keep your luck and money up.
Turkey: Although they're the ugliest bird in the forest, they're the most promiscuous. Turkey bones and beards, in Appalachia and the Ozarks, were hidden under truck seats and beds to gain the sexual affection of a person.
Vulture: As the scavenger who can consume anything, it was seen as the chief animal in guarding against disease and witchcraft. Hang the feathers above the door for protection.
Rabbit: This animal aids with fertility, clearing the evil eye, and promotes good fortune through the left hind foot.
Snake: Snake oil helps with arthritis, pain, and other general issues; and the bones or skin, powdered, are used to cross people up or bind them to something or someplace.
Cardinal: This bird's feathers are used for love, marriage, ancestor work, and to protect children.
Woodpecker: This bird's feathers are carried for luck and to attain your wishes.
Chicken: Black feathers from this bird are used for removing and placing tricks. The rooster's feathers will always triumph over anything done with a black hen's feathers because they're naturally dominant. Black rooster and hen blood was also used to cure shingles and other ailments. I take a bundle of black rooster tail feathers and bind them around a stick to make a “conjure duster,” as I call it, to sweep from head to toe while praying Psalm 23.
Bat: The heart, blood dried on a hankie, or the leather wing was carried for good luck, especialy in matters of employment and gambling.
The relationship between the animals and the mountaineer is deep. Aside from this, animal spirits aren't seen as being prone to guiding or giving individuals help, as if they were assigned to help in spiritual matters for the person throughout life. However, many people still believe that God and the angels use animals to give signs and omens based on their behavior and how they appear, either in person in a certain location or in the dream world. These symbolic and sometimes factual tales lead to certain parts of the beast being given authority and power in areas of life.
Religion in Appalachia is a paradox: some doctrines are treated loosely, while others are hard-and-fast rules to follow. I've known plenty of people who'd get drunk over the weekend and go to church on Sunday for forgiveness, although Nana always said the Lord quits forgiving after awhile.
Since I grew up in a Freewill Baptist home, I will speak from that viewpoint first. Saints aren't regarded in the same way as you may be used to with the Catholic Church. For Baptists, saints aren't believed to possess any more power than the living who have faith. A man calling to the Almighty and the one going to a prophet for specific advice or help are the same, because power comes from the Creator either way. In church, we were always taught in hacking and hollering preaching about the power invested in prophets such as Moses, Peter, and David. We were also reminded of the words of Christ when he said anyone with faith could do the same as he did and more so.
In the hooting and hollering, Papaw would kick his leg out in the Spirit, talking about the struggles that God put them through and how he calls upon the least of his own: the barren woman to give rise to a nation or a stuttering man to speak the Word. (When Papaw was in the Spirit he did stuff like that. Other people sometimes do similar things—roll on the floor, speaking in tongues, run around. It's kind of like being possessed by the Holy Ghost.) This belief is the basis behind such practices as faith healing, casting out evil spirits, using prayer cloths, praying down the Devil, and calling something from the Lord. The Appalachian Protestant and Baptist churches also teach that those born in the body of Christ are saints, but the mountaineer is too humble for that. We're always at the mercy of the Creator, always unworthy, which is reflected in the dying practices we spoke of in chapter 5 where you're to enter heaven with your eyes closed in an act of humility. Following is a list of saints and prophets. I encourage you to learn everything you can about them and develop a relationship with those that call to you.
Moses was a prophet who set his people free from Egypt, parted the Red Sea, turned wood into a serpent, and brought plagues over the land. People pray to him to set folks free from alcoholism and addiction, from the sins and struggles that hold them down, and to part the seas for their escape from circumstances “by the Blood.” Call upon Moses to remove conjurings, to set you free from unwanted situations or people, or to impose justice, since he was the vessel for God's commandments.
I remember one time a traveling preacher came to the church. I was maybe four or five years old, but I remember he was speaking about Moses using his staff to part the seas and beat his enemies. The man walked with a cane, and he equated his cane with the strength of the Lord, on which he can lean for assistance in rebuking spirits of pain that festered in his joints and in getting rid of folks who weren't good for nothing.
Moses enjoys offerings of whiskey, cornbread, and tobacco. In working with him, you can also set out a framed picture on your working space. Offerings and pictures of prophets and saints aren't traditional and are very rarely seen in Appalachia aside from Catholic households. However, I'm sure you are familiar already with the loose strings of Appalachian Christianity that place symbolic power on the backs of certain birds, beasts, and natural occurrences regardless of whether a biblical ground is present. It's all about faith, and sometimes it's better to have company.
Peter, a former fisherman, was one of Jesus's first disciples. Peter was even freed from prison by an angel. The story goes that Herod the king arrested Peter, put him in prison, and assigned four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover. But the church prayed for him, and one night while Peter was sleeping, help arrived.
Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. “Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” (Acts 12:7–8)
In the Bible, Peter is found to be gentle yet firm. He was told by Christ that he held the keys of heaven and had the power to bind things on earth and in heaven. Because of this, he can be called upon for good fishing, healing, divination in the spirit, court work, to keep away the law, to have thieves return stolen goods, or to catch a criminal by praying to him to “bind him on earth and in heaven, Peter, bind it! Peter, bind it! Peter, bind it!”5 If you're not good at openly praying, recite this verse:
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. (Matthew 16:19)
Others may work with Peter for protection, but I never really got that feeling from Scripture, as he swings back and forth from one extreme to the next. He was a courageous soldier in battle who could take physical attacks well; however, he became cowardly in the face of persecution or ridicule and physical attacks from behind.
Since Peter keeps the Gates of Heaven, he is also associated with the crossroads that act as a gateway between the living and the dead. For this he can close or open the roads before you or another. To conjure him, get a glass of red wine or whiskey as an offering with a Bible, a candle, and two keys. Tie these keys together with red string to make a cross. Set these out on a table. Light the candle, and then make four knocks on the table in a cross pattern, going from top to bottom and then right to left, to open the space to him. Pray to him with your petitions or prayers. Once done, knock again four times in reverse, going from bottom to top, left to right to close the way. Tell him also to close the way to guard against any haints lurking around.
The Baptist Church is based on the teachings and practices of baptizing. Therefore, John the Baptist holds a special place in the Southern Baptist mind—even for those who aren't religious. John represents the end goal of a life of struggle and pain in the mountains, as foretold through Isaiah 40:3:
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
In the spirit of John the Baptist, folks were baptized in rivers and creeks, just as he had done long before baptismal pools were built in churches. If you ever lose faith in God, light a white candle and go to the river. Immerse your feet in the water, sit on the bank facing east while holding the lit candle, and pray to John to help you restore your faith. This is helpful especially when you just can't bring yourself to talk to God. In this way, you are speaking with someone who used to be human and went through trials just as you have. It makes it a little easier. For offerings, give corn, moonshine, Balm of Gilead (a bud of a flowering tree in the mountains used in remedies), and water.
While most of Appalachia has historically been Baptist or Protestant, we do have a small, yet strong Catholic presence, with roots going back to the pilgrims. However, most of this population remains up north in upper Appalachia and has had a large influence in the development of Pennsylvania Dutch Powwow, remnants of which have trickled down into the Blue Ridge Mountains and surrounding areas.
Some traditional Catholic saints are known everywhere here, and Saint Jude, patron of lost causes and the desperate, is one of them. Saint Jude candles are everywhere in grocery stores, pharmacies, and gas stations. Grocery stores sell out of them often regardless of the small Catholic population in Appalachia.
Named the “patron of impossibility,” Saint Jude is a reminder that with the Creator all things are possible, even the resolution of the most hopeless of matters, which may explain his popularity among Appalachian Americans. Although he isn't recognized with this same power or status in the Baptist Church, his presence in moonshine country and globally cannot be expected to have kept its influence confined around the regional folk medicines and magic of Appalachia.
Saint Jude is called upon for help in dire situations and to protect you from your enemies. He will never do harm to anyone, but he will confuse your enemies possibly—because Saint Jude was bashed to death in the head with a club. A consequence of this: you will want to be very specific in your prayers to him. Don't tell him you need money for bills; give him an exact amount. He enjoys offerings of tobacco, chocolates, bread, pennies, and public thanks, such as an ad in the newspaper.
A couple of years ago, we lived down the road from Saint Mary's Catholic Church. It was situated on a huge piece of land occupied by wind-flowing fields and a few pine trees. You have to take a winding road going by some woods to get to the church, and along that road is a grove dedicated to the Blessed Mother with a large statue.
The mother of Christ holds importance for many people, even non-Catholics. She is included in many charms, especially those reigning from Germany that were recorded by John Hohman in The Long Lost Friend. Other times, Mary is simply used as a symbol, as in the case of this formula to ease arthritis: “As Mary will not bear another child, may this [body part] bear no more pain.”6 This draws a likeness between the eternal status of Mary (no longer bearing children) to the body doing the same: no longer bearing pain.
Most often, the Madonna is turned to in times of childbirth with remedies and formulas that seem to stem primarily from the West of Ireland. These formulas often told stories of the holy family or simply dialogues between Christ and His mother. An infamous amulet used by the Irish was a “Mary's bean” (Merremia discoidesperma). During times of struggling labor, the women would hold it in their hands while praying to the Virgin, “As you were delivered of Christ, and Anna was delivered of you; as Elizabeth was delivered of John the Baptist: deliver me of this child and let me be well.” Leave her offerings of water, flowers, chocolates, and tobacco.
My mother always preferred the Virgin of Guadeloupe, the most famous apparition of the Virgin from Mexico and the most common candle in our grocery stores here. I've prayed to her for everything from financial issues and blessings to protection from enemies and safe travel.
3 Pickering, Cassell Dictionary of Superstitions.
4 James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee: Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1902).
5 Prayers to Saint Peter for binding people are widespread and occur in charms given in The Long Lost Friend by John Hohman, or in the Albertus Magnus: Egyptian Secrets, which was widely used in northern Appalachia for Pennsylvania Dutch folk healing practices.
6 Variations of this can be found in Hohman's The Long Lost Friend.