Foxwood Orion - Mountain Conjure and Southern Root Work

We walk a steep and rock-strewn path here in Appalachiaa place haunted by undying and toxic stereotypes, as well as a history of relentless extractions and intractable poverty. Out of this rough stew, we create poetry, music, and magic. Orion's book explores one of our many paths to the Mystery and invites the reader to join that exploration.

H. BYRON BALLARD, folklorist and author of
Staubs and Ditchwater: A Friendly and Useful Introduction to Hillfolks Hoodoo

Orion is my kind of magic makeran old-timey, candle-burning, spirit-connected, go-out-and-play-in-the-forest kind of root doctor. Mountain Conjure and Southern Root Work is a rare invitation into his magical mystical world. If you want to learn authentic spiritual practices that are steeped in tradition, I can think of no better book than the one you are holding in your hands.

MADAME PAMITA, author of Madame Pamita's Magical Tarot and The Book of Candle Magic

Orion writes from the heart. Mountain Conjure and Southern Root Work is a very soulful book. He gives you a clear vision of the oral tradition from the Appalachian Mountains. I found his book very refreshing and I enjoyed reading it.

STARR CASAS, rootworker and author of Old Style Conjure

Mountain Conjure and Southern Root Work is a masterpiece.From the very first page, Orion invites us to walk through the culture, history, and magic of root working. Orion's eloquence is majestic; to read this book is to understand the true meaning of the word soulful. Read this book, and you will understand the workings and social role of root workers in all their ancestral depth, and the cultural significance and beauty of Appalachia.

ELHOIM LEAFAR, author of The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags

Richly garnished with the knowledge and wisdom of personal experience and offered in the conversational tone of a chat with an old friend, Orion Foxwood's Mountain Conjure and Southern Root Work serves the meat and potatoes of Southern Root Magic so deliciously, you'll savor every morseland anxiously await a second helping!

DOROTHY MORRISON, author of Utterly Wicked

Orion is the most eloquent magical teacher of our time and proves it with Mountain Conjure and Southern Root Work. You are immersed in Orion's teachings and come away enlightened and ready to doctor the root of your own self.

JACKI SMITH, founder of Coventry Creations and author of Coventry Magic

There are places in the world where magic abounds, where its ancient practices stem from the very soul of the people living there. The Appalachian area is such a place. Much has been written about it, little is really known and even less is understood.Here is the real thing: half autobiography and half training manual with fascinating snippets of information thrown in.It is the genuine Appalachian belief system written by one born and bred to it. Ancient practices still known and used today, information on herbs and spirit roads all written down by the loving hand of family memory. A gem to be treasured. Read it and you will be amazed at the richness that still exists in the heart of the Appalachians.

DOLORES ASHCROFT-NOWICKI, author of Illuminations:The Healing of the Soul and numerous other books

Orion Foxwood holds the beacon of light at the dark crossroads where magic and mystery meet. I've been a guest at many of his workshops on conjure, folk magic, and witchcraft, and I'm delighted to see this book in print, sharing his knowledge and experiences. I'm sure, like me, you will find him simultaneously colorfully charismatic and deeply soulful, and soon, without realizing it, you and your magic will be changed for the better.That is the inspirational alchemy that Orion works on his students, readers, and friends if you are open enough to listen, see, and feel.

CHRISTOPHER PENCZAK, founder of the Temple of Witchcraft and author of The Plant Spirit Familiar

First published in 2021 by Weiser Books
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:
65 Parker Street, Suite 7
Newburyport, MA 01950
www.redwheelweiser.com
www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

Copyright 2012, 2021 by Orion Foxwood
Foreword copyright 2021 by Mat Auryn

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages. Previously published in 2012 as The Candle and the Crossroads by Weiser Books, ISBN 978-1-57863-508-5

ISBN: 978-1-57863-736-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request

Cover design by Kathryn Sky-Peck
Interior by Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Typeset in Warnock Pro with Frutiger and Linoscript

Printed in Canada
MAR

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There is an age-old, soulful calling that comes through our spirit from the voice of magic. This voice is older than time, and it comes from a very deep place in our spirit and the ancestral echoes that flow like a river in our blooda stream as old as the human species. It rises from an ancient place of memory; it can never be silenced or hushed. The callings of this voice rise inside us and speak prayers of spirit; names of power; and directives of vision when the storms of the human world rage the most. This voice becomes louder and stronger when it is most needed, when our freedom to live and prosper is challenged. This voice summons us to reach to our spirit, the Spirit, and the spirit world for unseen hands to tip the forces of life toward wellbeing of mind, soul, body, and spirit. Conjure is one such voice!

Conjure and root work have endured the horrors of slavery, the challenges of poverty, and the forces of racism and inequality. They have held in trust the unbreakable core of human spirit. The early ancestors of conjure and root work may have perished in body, but they have endured in spirit. It is the flame of their powerful spirit that passes to each true conjure and root worker. This spirit flame passes into the candles each of us light to gather the blessings of the spirit world and God to our lives. When earnestly called at the crossroads of life or at the intersection of the seen and unseen spirit world, this spirit will greet us, impossible and miraculous.

To Ole-Maker, the helpful spirits, the ancestors of conjure, and to those persons who seek to doctor the root and conjure the spirit in a sacred way that is worthy and honoring of the blood, sweat, and tears of those who preserved these ways.

The writings of Orion Foxwood have been a treasured part of my personal library for years. His work as a magickal elder has had a deep and lasting impact upon my own. When we first crossed paths, he was the keynote speaker at Templefest, an event hosted by The Temple of Witchcraft in New England. The first thing that struck me about Orion is that there's a certain charm about him, one that only a true Southern gentleman can genuinely possess. With this came a centered, calm, and still demeanor. Yet, what really caught my attention was his energy. He had an aura about him that I had only found in people who are deeply and genuinely immersed in magickal work interwoven with mysticism. This is a man who has touched deep, natural, and otherworldly forces, and, in turn, they have also touched him.