Rebecca Beyer - Mountain Magic: Explore the Secrets of Old Time Witchcraft

Explore the Secrets of
Old Time Witchcraft

REBECCA BEYER

INTRODUCTION

NEWS COME FROM DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

THE DARK SHADOWS OF APPALACHIAS RAGGED MOUNTAINS SHELTER MANY DREAMS AND LONGINGS FOR AN ALL-BUT-FORGOTTEN PAST. The old magics of Wart Charmers and Blood Stoppers and those who know how to whisper away the pain of a burn are supposedly just a memory. Long dead are the Yarb Women who knew all the names of the plants in the forest and which would soothe a heartache or break a fever. There are scores of people, with ancestors from every dusty corner of the world, who turn their nostalgic gaze toward these mountains and coves wondering what old magic lived there, and where it has gone.

Good news comes down from the mountain! Magic never left these hills. It still lives, among strip malls and trailer parks, high-rise apartments and quaint country farmhouses. It lives in city parks and national forests. It lives.

Appalachian folk magic never went anywhere. It has not been resurrected. But it is hard to see, like picking out an individual tree from a wall of green. It is hard to see when it does not wear the trappings of witchcraft and magic that we see hanging from every limb of the American pop-cultural tree. The lore of the Appalachians has been claimed by this continent as uniquely American, and in some ways, it is. However, the many Indigenous American, European, and African folkways that came together here to create it, in this sometimes treacherous landscape, have left trails back to their places of origin. Once largely seen as a haven of exclusively Scots-Irish white folks, these mountains hold the legacies of many cultures and their Old Ways and are far from singular in origin.

Appalachian folk magic never went anywhere.

Despite the best efforts of loggers, mine owners, and enterprising pharmaceutical companies, the rich natural resources of the most biodiverse area of the United States still remain. It is here in these low valleys and high peaks of some of the oldest mountains in the world that wild magic still lives, though it wears different raiment. The diversity of powerful plants, from ginseng to pokeweed, has today made Appalachia a hive of herbalists and healers of all persuasions.

Yet beyond the cure of a tincture of chickweed or a tea of red clover flowers, beyond the weaving of baskets or the patching of quilts, there is something mysterious that hangs like a shroud over these mountains. What it is, we cannot say for sure; it is the Old Wild Thing that snakes its way through the Green River and the French Broad. It is the Very Old Spirits that reside here, troubling our sleep, empowering our workings, and watching us heavily. Perhaps it is the force the Mountain Witch calls upon, for good or for ill, whether they call themselves witch, or more likely not. Regardless, it is one of the things that fills the practitioners heart with equal parts awe and reverence. It is one of the reasons that now, the author can dwell no other place. For it would not be home.

I was born in Western Pennsylvania, one of the most northerly points of cultural Appalachia, where Hex Doctors and Pennsylvania Dutch folkways were evident in the painted barns and town names. As a person who moved many times, I was not raised in any particular regional culture. But for some reason, when I reached the age when you get to choose where you live, I chose Appalachia. I play Appalachian folk music, do handicrafts like wood carving and basket making, and have found the deepest joy and feelings of home in diving into regional studies of the land I am blessed to live on.

Though I did not get to learn these things from my own Grannies or Peepaws, I did find the place I want to live the rest of my days. I endeavor to share my love of this land and its people, plants, and animals. Bless the people who have shared with me the lore of this land and given me the context and meaning I need to practice my own folk magic amongst these hollers and clear streams. Knowing that my practice is deeply grounded in history is important to me, as it is to many folk practitioners.

Bless the people who have shared with me the lore of this land.

Understanding that Appalachian history is complex, nuanced, and filled with hardships and beauty is paramount to overcoming the stereotypes of our region. It is not a place stuck in time but instead a vibrant and storied place filled with the nostalgic longing of many writers, and the undue judgments of many ill-informed outsiders. Please enjoy this peek into the fantastic, strange, and sometimes gruesome folkways of my beloved home.

I

THE CALLING

THERE ARE MANY TYPES OF MAGICAL PRACTITIONERS AMONG THE HOLLERS AND ON THE HIGH HILLS. Some are the providers of herbal cures (the Yarb People), some can find an underground well (the Water Witches), and some can even whisper the pain out of a bad burn (the Burn Whisperers). Here, those called witch are often good Christians. There are prayers for a burn, prayers for protection, and even prayers for a cursing. You do what you need to, to get things done.