It was said in Tennessee that the simple presence of a witch made the milk sour overnight. A lot of folks in Washington, Carter, Greene, Unicoi, and Scott counties used to hold the belief that people who gazed and stared off at nothing a lot or wore a red handkerchief were witches. This is sometimes found in other witch stories as well, and I have seen Nana Trivett stare off often before saying something that would in time come true or be validated. It is a practice I call gazing.

Witches were also said to make strange noises—ones that could be heard from their house or their land, ones that didn't mimic any other animal and often sent chills up the spine. Again, this may simply be an exaggeration, or it could have been explained by a cougar being in heat, long before they were deemed “extinct” here. The sound of that animal can be chilling to the bone, and considering cougars and big cats were one of the witch's forms, it's reasonable that its scream would be associated with death and witchcraft.

So this is the array of spiritual practitioners that have been hidden away behind gravestones and church pews. Some of this is taboo and some of it is accepted in the culture. The lines between the two are just a bit thicker than that between the conjurer and the witch. Other books have been written on faith healing and historical herbal medicine practices in Appalachia, but the spiritual natures of the roots and things have often been overlooked or deemed taboo. We are forgetting the doctors who helped and cured us when there was no one else! Nowadays, folks think it's all superstition. But behind closed doors, folk still believe there's something always in the dark, watching and waiting. They still believe in curses and demons and that there are ways to get rid of them. But lord, how do you do it? They don't know, because it's slipping away from the culture.

So, what of the conjurers and the inner workings of their roots and tricks? Guard your spirit and keep your shoes on! The roots we may find could be familiar or altogether foreign, depending on where in the South you're from, and not all of them may be benign.

2

CATCHING SPIRITS

Now that we've seen what kind of folks did this work, by what degrees, and with what kind of spiritual assistance, we need to understand the beliefs behind the work: the way the order of things works in our eyes. Appalachian folk magic and conjure were born from a mindset that's fearful of the unknown, a trait passed down from the ancestors of Europe, Africa, and the New World. Residing here is also the imagination, that mechanism that has guided man in some of his greatest feats. Then we also have faith and religion, which give direction and boundaries to the fear and imagination; they act as barriers and law makers. Stories take on a primary role here as well. Stories define us and give us guidance.

Storytelling has been a huge part of our culture for centuries and has played a major role in the area for millennia with the Yuchi, the Cherokee, African Americans, and European immigrants. Storytelling is a worldwide phenomenon. It has guided us from the beginning of our species and it still does, as long as we listen. Storytelling is the meeting point of faith and reality. It explains and defines and records experiences and histories, the realness of which is never debated. True or not, they are always true. If even one person can relate to a story, it is true and will remain so.

Our ancestors feared what was in the night: ghosts that screamed and bled, black beasts with red eyes that prowled the woods, and witches that watched from the keyhole as you slept, waiting to saddle you up and ride to town. The mind of the mountaineer was filled with tales of glory and miracles, but also of terror and witchcraft. Whether it's stories of a plant's powerful medicine or tales of a phantom dog disappearing into a cloud of rags, anything is possible in these hills.

The greatest threat to our livelihood was and still sometimes is sickness and death. As noted before, these could be caused by diseases that originated in a normal manner, but the most dreaded were those that did not have a natural origin. Those sharp pains in the feet and sides, the vomit or urine, and the untimely death of a loved one could be the result of witchcraft! Remember that anything sent against you for a malice cause is witchcraft, regardless of the nature or title of the one who sent it. It's like chemicals: used in a medical lab, it is medicine; but used to kill many people, it is biochemical warfare.

Human beings are vulnerable creatures. We can achieve great things to the point that we forget our fragility. That fragility was far worse a hundred years ago than it is now. Just about every culture and people throughout history have seen and understood this; they taught that balance for the human body, mind, and soul is vital to health. Just the littlest thing can set you off balance and make you ill or susceptible to unseen dangers. The Cherokee understood this, the immigrants did as well, and the modern mountaineer still knows it. In the study of folk magic, it is apparent that there are layers to it based on public knowledge and usage. Folk magic formulas become superstitions and taboo when spread and used widely by the layfolk. They aren't regarded as charms but more simply as omens or tales that begin with, “It's good luck to . . .” “It's bad luck for . . .” or “If such and such happens . . .” They are widely dispersed and in most part are the sole reason many of these teachings have remained, albeit with many variations.

The belief in witchcraft and sickness or trouble from haints (troublesome spirits) was a widespread superstition and still is. For this reason, in just about every collection of American folklore you look at you will find references to keeping haints and witches out or how to detect and defeat them. They were and still can be a primary danger to one's way of life. Here resides the horseshoe above the door and salt lines at the doors and windows. As time has marched on, people have fallen out of these practices. They have forgotten the stories and are more vulnerable to the things that sent chills up their great-granny's spine at night. We have become blind.

But we did see once upon a time the inner mechanism of the natural world that covers and surrounds these mountains. Everything has a tale to tell, such as why women rule the house, why the possum's tail is hairless, why the blue jay's legs are burnt, where the balds on the mountains came from. Everything is connected and has played out a story up to today; and the story is still going, but no one's watching anymore.

BALANCE AND CONDITIONS

Because everything is connected, anything can affect and change another thing. This is the basis for most of Appalachian folk magic and conjure. Like affects like, or like actions create like causes. Our folk medicine and faith follow these lines as well: for example, what can kill you can cure you—or, as the old folks say, the hair of the dog that bit you. This is an actual cure for a dog bite: take the hair from the tip of its tail and rub it in the wound. This has evolved in the present day to drinking a shot of alcohol to cure a hangover.

Cold, heat, moisture, and dryness also play a role in folk magic, medicine, and conjure. These can create imbalances in the body. Coldness increases phlegm, while heat increases blood. Moisture increases yellow bile, while dryness increases black bile. You are susceptible to cold or the flu if you go outside in the winter with a wet head: coldness from the air and heat from your body increases phlegm in the lungs as well as blood production, which can increase the likelihood of you getting sick. The risk is further exacerbated by a quick or extreme change in temperature. Mama explained that the reason you're not supposed to swim soon after eating is that hot meals that give off steam (moisture) increase both yellow and black bile, which also increases blood and can cause bloated ears and cramping while swimming. Simply too much is going on with the body between digestion and exertion in the pool.

Following these theories of the balances of the body, folk magic and conjure that are aimed at it can be timed and used the same way, along with following the signs, because the spirit is just as vulnerable as the body. For example, if you wanted to place a root on a person by them stepping over it and have it act quickly, you would make up the powder when the moon is in the sign of the feet (Pisces), wetting it with water and then allowing it to dry (following the sticky nature of phlegm, things attach to it). Wait for a hot, humid day, when the blood is rushing and phlegm is up from the moisture, to lay the powder. The day should also still be in the time when the sign is in the feet, as whatever sign governs the day, that part of the body is most vulnerable and the blood can settle there (which, according to the old theories, can create sickness due to settled or bad blood). So here you have a powder made and planted in the sign of the feet on a day when the blood and phlegm, both collectors of foreign matter, are high and when the entry point of the trick is most vulnerable.

CATCHING A SPIRIT

The human spirit can be caught in a trick or root such as a powder or doll baby in many ways. The spirit can be caught by acquiring some water the person has washed in. It can also be taken through pictures of the person, as long as the person in the photo's eyes are open, better if looking right at the camera.

The feet are also a vulnerable point for the spirit, because they are the foundation of the body and are where we're “tied up,” since the feet come out last when we're born. For this reason, foot tracks are taken up for various purposes, such as performing love work, bringing bad luck, cursing, healing, and more. To do ill, the track in the dirt was picked up usually from heel to toe or just from the heel—the Achilles' heel of their spirit, so to speak. For benign works, it is taken up from toe to heel. Certain parts of the track represent specific aspects of the person's life: their love life is in the last three little toes; their health is in their heel; their money and luck are in the first two toes. Working by this, if you wanted to help bring money to someone, you would take up their track on just the inner side, where the two first toes would be, from toe to heel. (Remember, toe to heel to bring or attract, and heel to toe to send out or away.) Back in the old days, roads were mostly gravel and dirt, so it was no issue to take up the dirt from someone's tracks. But today everything is covered in concrete. To adapt to this, my family uses a damp washcloth or hankie and wipes in the same fashion as we would picking up actual dirt, based on direction and area concerning the intentions of the work.

Your spirit can also be caught up or captured in hair, nails, urine, and blood—really, anything that comes from your body or that has been in contact with it in an “intimate” fashion. This might include soiled or dirty clothes, napkins used for wiping scabs or to clean the nose, rags with intimate fluids on them, such as semen or vaginal fluid, and shoes. This is based on the belief that like affects like, except here the fetish is you or a part of you in some form. These things contain your essence and bits of your spirit. They are even more tightly tied to you than your name, although names are also used—so is your birthday and time of birth. All these things come together to identify one individual; you are the only you, and that makes you vulnerable.

Next on the list is your property: the place you eat, sleep, and live. It's filled with you. This is the basis behind what we saw earlier in getting something that belonged to the person through borrowing, leaving ownership to the person you want to work on. Because of southern hospitality, when you borrow something, folks usually say, “I'll pay you back” or something of that nature, to which the usual response is, “Don't worry about it,” which is them giving it to you. “Thank you” and “You're welcome” should be all that is said. This is probably the main reason this phenomenon didn't carry over to Appalachia well: we are caring people who like to help anyone out. You hear more tales of hair and nail clippings, of dolls and blood, than you do of using borrowed items. The closest thing that could be related is the requirement of an item to be stolen as a loophole around this, should all other possibilities fail. Generally, these aren't used, as they aren't as strong as hair, blood, bodily fluids, or names.

Things could be laid in your tracks or places you'll pass or even on your property, whether hidden in the house or buried in the ground, to have power over you. Dirt from your property could also be used, and is why folks would move furniture around a couple times a year. This changes the essence of the home and can help guard against witchcraft done with dirt from your yard.

Other things used to be done to cover up the trails left of your spirit to guard against capturing. Most folks used to burn their hair and nails, lest they fall into the wrong hands. They'd also burn bandages that contained their blood, or make sure that they were disposed of in a way that no one could get a hold of them. You'd also never leave your dirty laundry sitting out, lest someone come and steal something without you knowing it. It's also common to wash the bottoms of your shoes upon returning home. Many folks were told this kept the house clean, which it did, but that's the thing with this work: everything is done for two or three reasons. If your hair gets used in a bird's nest, you'll have a headache as long as the bird sits there; if ants find your nails and take them to their nest, you'll be hard on money; and washing your shoes cleans them and keeps the house clean. My family has always cut our own hair and the women always did their own nails. To this day I've never been to a barber; either I cut my own hair or my mother cuts it for me.

My mother also washed the doors and windows and walls with ammonia, vinegar, and lemon in water to not only cleanse and strip away bad or settled stuff, but also physically clean the walls and windows. We also burned Indian House Blessing incense, usually found in dollar stores, to not only make the house smell good but also bring money or peace. Nana never used incense because of her allergies, but her mother-in-law, Mamaw Seagle, burned a certain mixture on her stove every so often that gave off a sweet, musk smell; I recon for the same double reasons.

TIMING AND WEATHER

The earth and the weather have an effect on conjuring and this is paid attention to when working roots or working with spirits. This is old conjure information that many folks today don't know of and don't share, but it needs to be shared with the resurrection of Appalachian folk magic and conjure. Contacting spirits is best done at night, especially when the humidity or moisture levels are up. Spiritually, heat, cold, moisture, and dryness work about the same here, but only on “essence,” as Nana said. (We used the word essence for the makeup of spirits.) This is the reason many spiritual encounters, often those scary stories you hear about, happen at nighttime, when there's an increase in essence and it isn't being cut down by the sun's energy. Moisture and coolness generally increase essence while heat and dryness decrease it, although there are some accounts where the presence of a ghost or haint is detected by a warm spot. The large majority of spirit and phantom appearances occur at night, usually when there are clouds, when steam is rising off the roads beneath the street lights, or when there's a fog rolling in.

We also work with the phases of the moon when dealing with the dead. If you wish to contact a deceased relative who has been dead for . . .

Less than a year, do work between the new moon and the first quarter;

One to three years, do work between the waxing crescent and the first quarter;

Three to seven years, do work between the first quarter and the waxing gibbous;

Seven to ten years, do work between the waxing gibbous and the second day of the full moon;

Ten to fifteen years, do work between the last day of the full moon and the waning gibbous;

Fifteen to twenty-five years, do work between the waning gibbous and the last quarter;

Twenty-five to forty years, do work between the last quarter and the waning crescent;

More than forty years, do work between the waning crescent and the new moon.

My family tradition follows this by the basis that graveyard dirt has a sinking quality, and over time it anchors anything buried in it. This is mapped with the rise and fall of the moon phases, going upward to the surface of the ground and downward again. Aside from moon phases, timing and dates can also be beneficial in making contact. Contacting the deceased on their birthday, wedding anniversary, or anniversary of their death are best, with the latter being the strongest because it was the last “door” in life used by the spirit. The times of 10 P.M., 11 P.M., 12 A.M., and 3 A.M. are also popular in spirit lore, “between times” when neither sun nor moon are at their highest or between days, in the case of midnight.

With root working and conjure, roots and tricks are best laid or done at certain times. Roots that will enter through the feet are best laid when the earth is wet; this is also the best time to take up foot tracks. Your foot track shows where you've been, where you are, and where you're going. Because of this, foot track work has to be done quickly, before the next rains, or all the foot tracks made since last rainfall will be washed away and the root will have a hard time finding the person.

Candles

Candles are best worked and burned in hot, dry weather because there's little moisture or water for the candle to “beat up against” on its way off. Just make sure it's warm and there's at least one cloud in the sky—no clouds means “both heaven and earth are dry and closed up,” according to Nana. Humidity levels can affect the candle's burn as well. If the work isn't urgent, have a bit of patience and wait for a good hot and dry day to start. The days following may be a battle, depending on the weather, but the pathway was well set, so it's more likely to work. For workings that are urgent, go by the rise and fall of the sun or by the hands of the clock: to bring or attract, work when the sun or hand is going up; to send away, avert, or bring down, work when the hand is going down.

Powders

Powders are best made when there are clouds in the sky and the earth is cool to the touch. I also pay attention to insect activity, because they can mess up powders by walking through them once they've been laid. I'll sit and watch a patch of earth for about ten minutes. If I don't see many insects and the conditions are right, I'll get to work. This is something spirit showed me personally and is not necessarily traditional.

Washes and Oils

Washes and oils are best made and used right after it rains due to the moisture in the air. They are less likely to wear off too quickly in heat or warm weather if the humidity is high, and the air feels sticky.

Poke Bags

The most complicated root is the poke bag or sachet, known in other regions as a toby, hex bag, jack, jack ball, mojo bag, gris-gris, or hand. It is a pouch of fabric, either sewn or tied, usually of flannel or some worn cloth, which contains roots and other curios that are paired together and “baptized” and even “named” for a certain reason, such as protection, drawing love or money, or bringing ruin to your enemies. Poke bags are the most delicate of roots and charms in Appalachian folk magic due to the rules and taboos of caring for them. Poke bags need to be fed in order to continue working; this keeps the essence or energy going for the work. They are usually fed by dusting them with baby powder or flour, or rubbing them with chewing dip or snuff. They can also be fed with bodily fluids such as urine or sweat, or drinks such as whiskey or moonshine.

Poke bags must never be touched by anyone but their owner, and some go as far as saying they should never be seen by anyone else. My family has seen my bags and they work fine. The only issue I've found is when a stranger sees them. Regardless, no one else is allowed to touch one of my poke bags. Doing so would “kill” it in the sense that the fetish spirit called into it during its making will no longer return to the bag. Its home has been invaded and desecrated, so it will need to be called back to a new home, a new bag or the same one that has been washed and reconstructed. Some folks also think that if a poke or hex bag touches the ground, then that will kill it as well; however, in my experience a couple soft drops don't hurt much, but a hard one will. Like I said, it's the tiny spirit's home (imagine what your house would look like if dropped softly as opposed to harshly).

The longer you keep your bag fed, the stronger it will get. Now, should you forget to feed it, it is not unusual for it to seek a “drink” for itself, so they may turn up missing sometimes. Other times, they may wander off to act out their jobs. The rabbit's foot that I carry once disappeared from my pocket as I slept and was finally found outside at the edge of the property, seemingly guarding the place from someone or something.

REASONS AND BELIEF

So what makes a root tick? How does a sack of horsehair, roots, needles, and thorns have an effect on someone or something? We believe that everything is connected and mirrors aspects of human life. Every plant was given its medicine by the Creator, and the cure for a poisonous plant is always found growing nearby.