Healing the body by faith is by now a time-honored tradition in Appalachia and is one of the most unique things about us. We've seen how faith handles the ails of the flesh—but what of the soul and spirit?
3 According to Albertus Magnus in Egyptian Secrets, this charm may also be used to help the mother bear a child easily: Write the charm on a plate and wash it off with wine. Have the mother drink this wine for an easy birth. The charm is placed here because this is the most common usage.
4 “Treeing the Devil” is an old Baptist practice that comes on when you're in the spirit. Folks would see an evil spirit near, a.k.a the Devil, and they would tree it or chase it off and up a tree, like a hound on a coon hunt. Some healers did this as well in healing diseases, scaring the spirit off with barking and growling mixed with laughter. Today, many see this as a barbaric form of practice and worship, but one of my great-uncles was said to have done this with great success. In healing a person, the Devil is chased around the person, around the house, out the door, and up a tree by the healer, who simultaneously throws handfuls of salt. It is little spoken of or seen anymore, but I'd like to see it revived, as it is an example of the old-time religion of the southern Appalachian hills.
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“I'VE BEEN WITCHED!”
The subject of cursing and hexing has historically been filled by the role of the folk witch, the “enemy” you'd least suspect to lay a root under the porch or shoot a witch's gun. Now remember, the conjure folk did this work too, and there was little difference between the two. However, some of the stories we have today are likely exaggerated.
Keep in mind that our folks had their own way about them when it came to God and your fellow man. Everybody's kin. Everybody's welcome. That is, until they prove you wrong. In Appalachian culture, folks will mostly accept you as you are, flaws and all; but we have a couple unspoken laws here: never lie, steal, or cheat. When you think about it, anything someone can do to you or your folks can be summed up in those three things. Murder: they stole a life. Theft, obvious. Gossip, you're lying. Betrayal, you cheated the deal. Keep going: unfaithful lover, back-stabbing friends, folks taking of you without giving back when you need it most. The degrees of what constitutes the need for a curse or hex varies from person to person. Justice is based on the person's individual morals. In Appalachian folk magic, folks went by the biblical “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”; however, this doesn't mean you should curse or hex every person who crosses you or gives you the stink eye.
This is here for informational purposes only, and I don't condone hexing or cursing anyone unless you've tried all other avenues without success and it is absolutely necessary. Remember the golden rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).
Having a lot of curses under your belt is not something to be proud of or boast about. The true strength of the conjurer is working with both hands: the left hand to make roots and the right hand to break them; however, with this also comes knowing when to throw and when to let it be. When you have a strong connection with your ancestors and spirits, sometimes they take care of things long before you're even able to!
I've cursed a lot of people. That isn't something to be proud of, but I stand by it because I have a stance against certain things like abusive partners, sexual assault, and theft. But regardless of what I think is right or wrong, I will never know both perspectives. Because of this, I always leave enough room for the spirits to enact justice if it is truly needed. Some of my curses have consisted of nothing more than making a doll of a person and setting it upside down on its head in a dark box and forgetting about it, simply letting spirit handle it. Sometimes I will get a little specific as well. But 100 percent of the time, those who have crossed me in awful ways have never found themselves in a better situation.
So before proceeding, keep this in mind: keep a calm heart and never work while you're angry. Anger clouds the mind, and you may do something you'll soon regret. It's a hard job playing the judge when you're the victim, which is to be expected. God says revenge is his, and it's true; but you can still send up your petition. Whatever you get done, God's got as much to do with it as you do.
This is hard work. Curses don't come easy, and you need to be prepared for the consequences. I don't mean karma or anything like that—if the work isn't justified, it can still go through, but if your target is smart enough or spiritual then they can reverse the curse or hex back onto you. You're playing with the scales here, and one wrong move can tip things back onto you. I know this may sound cliché, but “heavy is the hand that bares the root.”
A final note: Because of the sour and rotten nature of crossing work, you always need to cleanse yourself afterward, no matter the degree or strength of the work. You don't need that kind of residue clinging to you or just sitting around your home. It'll grow like mold if you let it, slow and unnoticed, but potentially deadly.
STOP GOSSIP
There are many ways to stop the spread of gossip, whether from idol tongues or malicious ones. These recipes all work on the same thing—the tongue—which is why many of the ingredients used are bad tasting, foul, or sour. Anything that draws the face and tongue is used to stop gossip. Because you can't speak while your tongue is tied.
Bottle Work
Take the person's name paper, photo, or another tie you have to them and place it in a bottle of vinegar along with alum, lemon juice, black pepper, and chili pepper. Pray Psalm 5:8–12 over the bottle three times while shaking the bottle every day for nine days:
8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
Finish up by rolling the bottle away from you and toward the front door nine times. After the nine days, bury the bottle at a crossroads the person will pass by—or you could keep working the bottle every day until the gossip stops, at which point it may be disposed of.
Alum and Salt Bag
Make up a hex bag containing alum, new salt, black pepper, horsehair, a paper with the name of the gossiper crossed out, and graveyard dirt. Feed the bag with whiskey and bless it over the course of nine days by reciting Psalm 5:8–12 over the bag three times a day:
8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.
9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue.
10 Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee.
11 But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.
12 For thou, Lord, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield.
On the tenth day, carry the bag with you on the left side of your body. Do this either until you know the talking has stopped or until you lose the bag. If the talking stops and you have the bag, bury it under the roots of a big, secluded tree that doesn't bear fruit.
Powder Recipe
To make a powder to be placed in their tracks, secretly dusted on their clothing or items, or to use in works for the same purpose, take up their left foot track from toe to heel. If you use a paper towel, let it dry and burn it to ash. If it's dirt, use that. Add this to the following mixture: half a cup of cornmeal, a tablespoon of red pepper, a tablespoon of alum, a tablespoon of black pepper, and graveyard dirt. Grind this together using a mortar and pestle. Then add baby powder to help it stick to their shoes. Bless the mixture by reciting Psalm 5:8–12 over it as the sun goes down, three times a day for thirteen days. Remember, when you lay the powder, darken it if need be with some local dirt to help it blend in.
CONQUER ENEMIES
Sometimes you just need an upper hand in overcoming your enemies and their tricks.
Recite Psalm 44 each day upon waking, at noon, and when you retire.
1 We have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us, what work thou didst in their days, in the times of old.
2 How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantedst them; how thou didst afflict the people, and cast them out.
3 For they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hadst a favour unto them.
4 Thou art my King, O God: command deliverances for Jacob.
