#Ridgeminite

[melungeonculture]

Welcome to the world of Mekhashepha.

This is a spiritual path practised by a small Melungeon community known as Ridgeminites and other Melungeon communities with heavy Jewish influence, it is not practised by all Melungeon communities, but it is not found outside them.�� More commonly spelled Mekhashepha or Machisaba, it is a folkhealing and conjure craft brought to the Appalachian region by Melungeon peoples. It is historically spelled Mekhashepha or Machashabah, roughly translated from Hebrew, it means witchcraft or cunning work. This blog is for educational purposes only, I do not offer any goods, services, or medical advice.  Machisaba should not be used as a replacement for professional health advice. 

[diaryofamelungeon]

"Who are we? Where did we come from? What does Melungeon even mean? I get these questions all the time from Melungeons that are trying to reconnect, and I have to tell ya'll, I don't think anyone today has the answer to that.  I can tell you what I have gathered through my research and studies though and you guys can take what you want from that. So "Who" are we? Well, it seems there were a couple melungeon communities, we called ourselves "Ridgeminites, Portaghee, Appalachee, Malungu, and Lakeminites." The new european settlers called us Melungeon and Mestee. Melungeon is a French word that means blended, Malungu is an African word that means mate, shipmate, or friend.  By the time there was any documented history of us as Melungeon, we were a tri racial isolate group in the "Melungia" region of Appalachia, this refers to the small area that encompasses a portion east tn, east ky, west nc, and southern wv and va.  Where did we come from? It is believed that the Portaghee we claimed was actually Portugeuse, and this can mostly be assumed by the remnants of portugeuse language in Melungeon Dialect.  It is also believed that we have origins in Angola, as the Bunch line of Melugneons can be traced back to John Punch, the first Slave in the US, as well as the Johnson family who owned a farm also known as "angola".  Our origins seem to be more nuanced than that though.  No two familes have the same origins, because the fact of it is we have many.  We descend from "free people of color" this included free african americans who were formerly indentured servants, outcast members of indigenous tribes, rromani refugees (g*psies, if you aren't familiar with Rromani, however it is conisdered a slur by the Rrom), middle eastern immigrants who were too dark to pass as white and poor european immigrants who couldn't afford to live anywhere else.  These "undesirable" communites down south were forced into the mountains, the "unihabitable" areas, expected to fend for ourselves or die. Their hope was for the latter.  Relying solely on each other, the community remained isolated and endogamous, resulting in a heavily mixed race group of people that outsiders called Melungeon.  You will see people argue that we descend from Turks, from the 10 lost tribes of Israel, from a crashed portuguese slave ship, from the Cherokee, the Sioux, the Creek, the Croatoan, that we are the lost Colony of Roanoke, the "moon eyed people" from local ingigenous lore, but I personally believe the truth is, they are all probably a little bit right and a little bit wrong. It's likely some of our ancestors were in this country long before it was a country.  It's likely people were forced into the melungeon umbrella simply by looking too dark to be white but too light to be black. DNA testing Melugneon descendants seem to reflect a pretty diverse background.  This is a huge reason why Melungeon communities do not recognize "blood quantum", there is no "half melungeon", if you are Melungeon you are Melungeon. Being all mixed up is what makes us so.  It's not so much the origins that made melungeon that bring us together, we aren't Angolan, we aren't Portugeuse, we aren't Indigenous, we are all that and more, it is the mix that makes us Melungeon, the culture, the experience, and the genetic memory.  Our origin is Appalachia, thats where this heavy mix was born, and where our culture was built, where our non ancient ancestors made their lives and tried to provide better futures for us, their desendants. "

- Melungeon Culture and Folklore Facebook Page