#backwoods witchcraft

[spiralhouseshop]

RESTOCKS!

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon

Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure & Folklore from Appalachia by Jake Richards

Silent as the Trees: Devonshire Witchcraft, Folklore & Magic by Gemma Gary

The Witch at the Forest's Edge: Thirteen Keys to Modern Traditional Witchcraft by Christine Grace

[snakeskinsandwaspnests]

hello

welcome to my witchcraft blog! my main blog is @stapleworm where i follow and interact with others. anyways,

i wanted to make this post to see if i could find new mutuals with similar interests to me ! so, if you see this post and you are interested in any of the following things, please interact with this post ! (comment, like, follow, reblog, etc)

if you are/are interested in:

appalachian folk magic

southern based witchcraft (i live in the south!)

north carolina based witchcraft (i am from nc!)

witchcraft using animal/insect/arachnid parts (ethically sourced)

you work with reptiles and amphibians

baneful magic

vulture culture

non-wiccan witchcraft

otherkin/therian

practice spiritwork

green witches and death witches

work with hades and/or hecate

[samwisethewitch]

REVIEW: Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

I feel like Jake Richards's books are pretty popular with folk witches. If you have any interest in Appalachian folk magic, or even American folk magic more generally, you've probably at least heard of this book. Part of why I put off reviewing it for so long is because I feel like there's already been plenty of attention given to it online, so I'll try to make this brief.

Pros:

Definitely authentic Appalachian folk magic. Jake Richards writes about a lot of things I've seen people do or heard people talk about but never seen written anywhere.

This book is really well researched! I'm very impressed by all the references and footnotes.

I love that Richards uses the correct Tsalagi (Cherokee), Gaelige (Irish), and Gaelic (Scottish) words when talking about the cultures that influence Southern folk magic. I also love that he includes pronunciation guides.

Cons:

I didn't finish this book on my first read. It wasn't until I revisited it recently that I actually read to the end. Something about the writing style and the way the book is organized made it a little hard to follow at times, at least for me.

The research is generally good, but there's definitely more detail given for European and Cherokee cultural influences than for African. When talking about European influences, Richards will usually specify the specific country or culture something comes from, but for African influences he just says "African." While this research is harder to do because the slave trade intentionally cut people off from their cultural traditions, other authors like Luisah Teish and Stephanie Rose Bird have shown that we can often trace these African influences back to a specific culture, or at least a region. I would have liked to see the same level of effort put into researching African practices that went into the European ones.

Other Observations:

Christianity is a big part of the author's practice. This is faithful to traditional Appalachian conjure, but just know that it may be triggering if you've experienced religious trauma in a Christian setting. I found this book harder to read than other books on conjure that incorporate Christian elements, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because it sounded too similar to the Appalachian church where my abuse happened? Just something to be aware of if this is a tricky topic for you.

Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

[marsinthecorner]

Just a backwoods witch in her natural habitat! Self portrait.

[the-weaving-cryptid]

"Most people treat ancestor work like it's a trade, a transaction: they help us, we give offerings, and that's that. Lord, if that ain't further from the truth. In this work you will meet ancestors who weren't very good in life, who bring to light the sins of your blood, and you will be faced with the task of healing these generational wounds."

- Jake Richards, "Backwoods Witchcraft"

[midwestbramble]

Backwoods Witchcraft Book Review

I have always had a curiosity of how other live. I am not personally Appalachian, though I have ancestors who lived in those mountains for over a century before moving west. This book caught my interest in both ways. Maybe to learn something about the way my ancestors may have lived and also just some good old folk magic from another region. I originally read this book when it came out and I am expanding on a book review I did for Pagan and Witches Amino at that time. That book review is no longer on that app though you can find it on Good Reads under a different name.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Contents:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Published 2019

"In Backwoods Witchcraft, Jake Richards offers up a folksy stew of family stories, lore, omens, rituals, and conjure crafts that he learned from his great-grandmother, his grandmother, and his grandfather, a Baptist minister who Jake remembers could 'rid someone of a fever with an egg or stop up the blood in a wound.' The witchcraft practiced in Appalachia is very much a folk magic of place, a tradition that honors the seen and unseen beings that inhabit the land as well as the soil, roots, and plant life.

The materials and tools used in Appalachian witchcraft are readily available from the land. This 'grounded approach' will be of keen interest to witches and conjure folk regardless of where they live. Readers will be guided in how to build relationships with the spirits and other beings that dwell around them and how to use the materials and tools that are readily available on the land where one lives."

-from the back of the book

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

What I Liked

This book starts broad and then narrows down to the work. Richards starts with the land, which if you've been around my blog you'll know that speaks to my heart. He talks about how the seasons and terrain effect the weather and how people live, including the why of people practicing this folk magic. He talks about the way the oil companies have changed the land, gives advice on how to connect to the land that are helpful for those who aren't in Appalachia as well, and actually encourages you to GO OUT experience and learn from the land. Not just learn from books and other people. One of the ways he says you can connect to the land is learning about your ancestry, if they've lived there for a long time. I love this idea and, looking back, when I was doing genealogical research myself and learned that my grandmother's family was from the area I had been living in I felt SO much more connected, even finding my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents' graves. Knowing that they had walked the same trails I had been walking unbeknownst to me was wild.

An important factor he talks about is that in Appalachia there is a difference between a witch and your average folk practitioner (which he calls a healer or doctor). I think a lot of us forget that just because you practice magic wouldn't have made people automatically believe you were a witch, and still today. Context, connection to community, and the type of works you do is a big factor.

There is so much spirit work in this book. A lot of working with the dead in particular, especially in graveyards. I enjoyed learning about the cultural things they do in the graveyard for the dead, and was able to see some similarities in how I grew up. Not just the dead but also working with animal spirits and how to respect them, a very insightful section. And there's talk about the little people of Appalachia, called Yunwi Tsunsdi by the Cherokee, and different stories of encounters and the best way to handle meeting them, or keeping them away.

Richards acknowledges the Cherokee influence on the practice of this folk magic, from superstitions and beliefs to plants used in specific ways. It's important to recognize when a marginalized community has had influence on our culture. Doing otherwise is just erasing their presence, and for Native Americans that's even shittier since this is their ancestral land.

Of course, I have to talk about the gardening and wildcrafting! He talks in depth about gardening by the signs and also using them for knowing the best time to get a haircut, for example. This is something my great-grandparents did. My grandpa told me they would hang an Old Farmer's Almanac calendar in the kitchen that told them when the signs where in the best place for different things. The harvesting also reminded me of things I've learned from my grandpa. Different signs and omens when harvesting can foretell misfortune or even weather conditions. And when you're life depends on what you can grow, that's a big deal.

I'm a sucker for old folk practices, they tend to be things people not from the area or with more "modern" sensibilities would pause at. Like the time my grandpa gave me a turkey beard to put under the truck seat of "the guy you like" (grandpa didn't know I didn't have a crush on anyone). This book is, of course, chock full of folk practices along a similar vein (though not that one in particular), like buying warts. Though this book focuses more on the formulas that are followed than specific workings themselves, though you will find those as well.

There's a specific section as well that focuses on different forms of divination common to the Appalachian mountains. One of them being reading playing cards, and it reminded me of learning to read them when I was a kid. This book is basically nostalgia for me, I'm realizing.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

What I Didn't Like

Richards makes the claim that the Cherokee are the only tribe in America that don't live on a reservation. This isn't accurate. I know this for a fact because there is a Native American settlement near me that is NOT a reservation, and they are quick to correct you. Maybe he meant that they never had a reservation or are the most well know? I'm not sure, it could be a wording issue.

He also seems to have a misunderstanding of how Catholics view saints. At least when I was growing up in a Catholic household, we viewed them as intermediaries or advisors not spiritual beings with more power than the average human. You choose a saint upon confirmation as someone to look up to and aspire to live like (I had chosen Joan of Arc). Though this is a common misunderstanding among protestants, I have noticed. The way he works with saints in the book is the way my mom views them, anyway.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Overall Thoughts

I love this book. It really made me think about what I saw growing up and how we do things differently or similar. Whether or not you are in Appalachia, this book can give you some advice and maybe jog some thinking on the folk practices around you that maybe you never noticed. It is Christian. The folk practices in Appalachia use Psalms and call on saints and prophets, among other Christian iconography. There's a lot you can get out of it still if you aren't Christian (such as myself).

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Conclusion

There is magic all around us if we know where to look. Reading about where others have found it in their own lives can help us to see it around us too. Just make sure you go out and interact with it. You can find this book on amazon, Thriftbooks, Google Books, Woodshed, Coyote Supply Co., and more!

[lazywitchling]

Jes' Collection of Witch Books

I said I would make this list, so here I am, making this list.

These are all the Witchy (and witchy-adjacent) books I own and/or have read. It's a long list, so it's going under a cut!

Key of Symbols:

📗 Read

📖 Reading

📚 Not Yet Read

Books that I own

📗 Rebel Witch by Kelly-Ann Maddox (Review)

📗 A Dabbler's Guide to Witchcraft by Fire Lyte

📗 Spellcrafting by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

📗 The House Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock (Review)

📗 Witchery by Juliet Diaz (Review)

📚 A Witch's Guide to Spellcraft by Althea Sebastiani

📚 All That is Sacred is Profaned by Rhyd Wildermuth (edit: nevermind, he's a transphobe now)

📚 Reclaiming Ourselves by Emma Kathryn

📚 In the Midnight Hour by Anthony Rella

📗 Weave the Liminal by Laura Tempest Zakroff (Review)

📚 Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary

📗 Grovedaughter Witchery by Bree NicGarran (@breelandwalker)

📗 The Sisters Grimmoire by Bree NicGarran (@breelandwalker)

📚 Witchcraft by Anastasia Greywolf or Tamsin Chamberlin (don't buy this one: here's why)

Books I read from the Library

📗 The Modern Witchcraft Spell Book by Skye Alexander (don't buy this one: here's why)

📗 Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

Zines and Pamphlets

📗 A Pagan Anti-Capitalist Primer

📗 Brainscan 33: DIY Witchery by Alex Wrekk (@upthewitchypunx)

📗 Brainscan 34: A Dabbler's Week of DIY Witchery by Alex Wrekk (@upthewitchypunx)

📗 Everyday Magic #1

📗 Everyday Magic #2

📗 Exploding the Tangerine by Clint Marsh & Oliver Bly

📗 Five Principles of Green Witchcraft by Asa West

📗 Hex Your Ex

📗 The Witchy Zinester's Pocket Book of Spells

📚 Twin Peaks Tarot Spreads

📚 Sow Sprout Grow Tarot Spreads

Charity Bundle E-Books

These all came as a bundle, so the quality will vary as it does with any bargain grab-bag. I'm not linking these unless I've read (or am reading) them because it takes a long time, and I have no idea if they're good or absolute shit. If you want to learn about these, you know how the internet works.

📚 City Magick by Christopher Penczak

📗 Consorting with Spirits by Jason Miller

📚 Herbal Magick by Gerina Dunwich

📚 Hex Twisting by Diana Rajchel

📚 Italian Folk Magic by Mary-Grace Fahrun

📚 Love Magic by Lilith Dorsey

📚 Magic When You Need It by Judika Illes

📚 Magickal Astrology by Skye Alexander

📚 Personal Magic by Marion Weinstein

📚 Plant Witchery by Juliet Diaz

📚 Positive Magic by Marion Weinstein

📗 Queering Your Craft by Cassandra Snow (Review)

📚 Reading the Runes by Kim Farnell

📚 Spellcrafting by Gerina Dunwich

📚 The Big Book of Tarot by Joan Bunning

📚 The Study of Witchcraft by Deborah Lipp

📚 The Witch's Eight Paths of Power by Lady Sable Aradia

📚 The Witch's Guide to Wands by Gypsey Elaine Teague

📚 True Magic by Draja Mickaharic

📚 Water Witchcraft by Annwyn Avalon

📚 Wicca Made Easy by Phyllis Curott

📚 Wishcraft by Sakura Fox

📚 Witch, Please by Victoria Maxwell

📚 Witchcraft Activism by David Salisbury

📚 Year of the Witch by Temperance Alden

[will-o-the-witch]

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/astrology-witchcraft-and-spirituality-red-wheelweiser-books

My gf is vaguely interested in this witchcraft book bundle, but I wanted to ask if you had any insight good or bad on any of the stuff in here

So my first impression is that there’s a good mix of closed traditions on there, but that isn’t necessarily bad since it can still be useful to learn about stuff if the books are considered actually reliable and not random outsiders making up shit. (I wouldn’t know since they aren’t my traditions lol.) They just may not be very useful for practical guidance if that isn’t your tradition.

I have Backwoods Witchcraft but haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and read it yet. But I’ve heard good things.

[hagoftheholler]

hai!! ive been trying to learn more about southern folk magic and this seemed a good blog to start. im from appalachia and i wanna do more involving the mountains and fauna in general. ideas?

The following are some books I can recommend for a beginner:

• "Backwoods Witchcraft" by Jake Richards

• "Doctoring the Devil" by Jake Richards

• "Wild Witchcraft" by Rebecca Beyer

• The Foxfire Books (These are more old-school; but they do contain folklore, superstitions and things of the like.)

To learn more about the flora and fauna you will need to be okay with getting your hands dirty. I suggest looking into some cheap pocket book guides that help you identify local native plants. Remember: don't touch anything until you are 100% certain you can identify it.

[always-besides-the-darkest]

 “Y’Allternative” and the Southern Goth

Despite its playful portmanteau, “Y’allternative” describes a macabre take on iconic Southern imagery and themes. Think decrepit barns, deer skulls, black butterflies in fields of grain, bayou witches and churches veiled by Spanish moss. Essentially, Y’Allternative swaps the city goth for the country goth. The term has reemerged as a social media fashion trend in the same vein as cottagecore or warcore, leading some to embrace the Southern Gothic aesthetic as a whole.

The aesthetic is rooted in literature dating as far back as the early 1800s. Authors such as William Faulkner and Truman Capote rejected the romanticized “Lost Cause” American South in favor of grim narratives involving death, witchcraft, religious trauma and racism. In fact, a key subject of Southern Gothic literature is confronting the horrible realities of the pre- and post-Antebellum South.

Southern Gothic music– also known as gothic Americana, gothic country, dark country or “the Denver sound”– twists folk, bluegrass, rock and punk influences together to create a spooky yet rural vibe. The last moniker references the music’s origin in Denver, where the scene still savors its popularity. A Southern Gothic tune might rely heavily on the banjo, acoustic guitar or violin to cultivate that dreary backwoods feeling.

Television has an eye for Southern goths– particularly Southern vampires. The HBO series True Blood and the 2022 adaptation of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire place the bloodthirsty beings in Louisiana. Both explore supernatural themes and race in the South, with an additional queer lens taking form in the characters of Lafayette Reynolds and Lestat de Lioncourt.

With these subconscious influences, Southern Gothic fashion employs flowy silhouettes, gingham prints, wide-brim hats, boots and lace accents, as well as a color palette of wine reds, forest greens, muted grays and, of course, black. The result is an unmistakably gothic version of the beaut, belle or gent you would find in a Southern period drama. While some individuals choose to highlight feminine or masculine shapes in their styling, others blend them or adopt an androgynous shape. Further variation occurs when outfits borrow from punk, fairycore, romantic goth or any of the innumerable aesthetics viewable on Pinterest. 

For those of us that grew up with more urban gothic trends, Y’Allternative is a breath of rustic air. It’s pleasantly subversive, embracing the wilderness and its potential for fear. Southern Gothic music, literature, film and television all spin the once-comforting countryside into a landscape of horror. The fashion echoes the past, yet brings darkness to the forefront. 

You might be visiting family in Mississippi when late at night, you spot a pair of glowing eyes beyond your bedroom window. You go outside to investigate, the cicadas screeching and mosquitos grappling your skin. You hear the slow crunching of leaves - it’s too loud to be a coyote. You spin around and run back inside as fast as you can. One thing is for certain: The memory will plague your mind for as long as you live… the potential for screams in the South.

[berenices-commas]

After the Forest - 2023 - Kell Woods

So this is a retelling of a classic fairytale – words which strike fear into the hearts of the wise. This time it’s Hansel and Gretel! And also Snow White, kind of. But this was, if not actually good, at least not painful. Woods is clearly influenced by The Bear and the Nightingale, which is a great book, and this steers her in something approaching the right direction. This is very definitely historically grounded – we’re in the aftermath of the Thirty Years War, in a backwoods village in the Black Forest, in which there just so happens to be magic going on. And so we get a split between the historical fantasy and the fairytale.

The former doesn’t quite come up to Katherine Arden’s standards, but Woods is trying! The best part of this book is its portrayal of a young peasant woman, without parents or much of an inheritance, trying to make a living for herself and her brother who has never really recovered from their shared childhood trauma. I think to a large degree this succeeds in presenting a world where people’s life choices, and their understanding of those choices, are genuinely different from our own society. For me this is the key to good historical fiction – Woods’ occasional lapses in accuracy don’t really pose a problem. (She joins the hallowed ranks of fantasy authors, going back to Tolkien himself, who don’t quite know what a pike is. But this is fine! Shelley Parker-Chan writes amazing historical fantasy, and I’m still not convinced they’ve ever actually heard of crossbows.)

There are maybe two big stumbling points. First is in the treatment of Christianity – the people of this village all go to church, they swear by Christ, etc., but you don’t get the impression that any of them really believe in God, or have much investment in the religion that structures their whole world. This rather dismissive attitude to religion then exacerbates the second problem, which is how the book places witchcraft in a social context. Because Woods takes pains to emphasise that this society has a constant, bubbling fear of witches that can boil over into murderous panics. And yet she doesn’t really explore why people think like that – for her it’s just foolish superstition. Which is very weird because in the world of this novel witches are actually real. There literally are a bunch of evil witches who live in secret and go around cursing people, and the curses can only be lifted by killing the witches. The book never squares its very reasonable condemnation of witch-burning with the fact that Greta saves the day by burning a witch! It’s odd.

The fairytale side of the book shades into urban fantasy – we get werewolves, witches with different schools of magic, etc. None of it is terribly interesting here, though it should be – a Burgundian noblewoman who becomes immortal and lives dozens of false lives across Europe! A family of werewolves created by a pagan Norse priestess who have now forgotten their ancient purpose and hire themselves out as mercenaries in the wars of religion! (The last one is also a great RPG premise.) But throughout everyone is just a little too matter-of-fact about the magic shaping their lives – it comes across neither as wondrous nor horrifying, and we don’t go nearly deep enough into the characters’ experience of it.

Overall this is not a bad book, and a good debut effort. The characterisation is never really exciting but rarely actually thin. The plotting is fine, and only gets away from the author right at the end. It’s certainly better than most in this subgenre, and manages to tell a much better feminist story for not being conceived as a Feminist Retelling. But I don’t think it ends up making the most of its premise.

[bonerwater]

Tagged by my bud @heathkrycek to tell you all about myself so here goes

Last song I listened to: Wishes by @hiromusicarts-blog go support his stuff if you enjoy experimental jazz fusion

Currently watching: Cunk On Earth rewatch for the second time

Currently reading : Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

Current Obsession: Metal Album Covers, a friend of mine told me she was making a single and I asked if I could do her cover since she’s one of the oldest online friends I have

Tagging @neon-jackalope @just-an-adam @hexthelex @zaelic-deity @alfarad69 @your-face-has-a-shell-on-it @socialist-microwave-laser @reindeerking

[appalachianwarlock]

Appalachian Backwoods Witchcraft with Jake Richards

[z-is-very-tired]

I have such a long backlog of these I need to do. So obviously I do the most recent one. Thanks for the tag @thecontractorandtheastronaut

LAST SONG - "the Ballad of Jane Doe", Ride the Cyclone

FAVORITE COLOR - if I were posturing I'd probably say Black, but truthfully it's a nice gold-mustard yellow.

CURRENTLY WATCHING - Arcane. Again. The autism demands put in earplugs, put on overear headphones, watch arcane at the most muffled low volume ever.

LAST MOVIE - Across the Spider-Verse with my dear partner 💗

CURRENTLY READING - Child Psychopathology, 8th ed; The Spirit Bares Its Teeth; Harrow the Ninth; Daredevil: Know Fear; Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure & Folk Magic from Appalachia; a pile of journal articles too long to list

SWEET/SPICY/SAVORY - can I say salty? Is salty savory? Who knows. I have autonomic nervous system issues, the answer is salty.

LAST THING GOOGLED - "false confidence lyrics noah kahan"

CURRENT OBSESSION - Baldur's Gate 3, Arcane (insert metronome meme)

CURRENTLY WORKING ON - 44,100 stitch cross-stitch project of Viktor from Arcane; a crochet blanket; my Undergrad Thesis (don't ask about that one, i'm not as far as I'd like to be lmao)

No pressure! @4typercent @missmacfire @existential-sunbeam

[voxxyboxxy]

Beginners in Need | Types of Witchcraft

This won’t be a complete list of different types of witchcraft. I see a lot of questions regarding what type of witch someone is, what they should label their practice, how to label their practice, etc. While I personally believe you don’t have to label your practice, I understand that this can be important to others. So I wanted to expand on some key things so you all have that stepping stone to move forward! There’s also different types of paganism, such as Hellenic, Norse, or Celtic! But this post won’t be talking about that side of things and focus on the Witchcraft Labels as I’ve noticed there’s much more confusion on that end.

Table of Contents

I.Introduction

II.Examples of Types of Witchcraft

III.Why Some People Use Titles and Others Do Not

Introduction

Hello! You’ve probably seen people label their witchcraft in different ways! You may even start to wonder… what type of witch are you then? First things first-you don’t have to have a label, unless you actually want it. Always remember that! Now, if you do what to label your witchcraft… how do you do so?

Theres some main branches that label broad concepts, then you can always get a little more in depth but there’s no inherent need to go to far into it unless you want to.

Examples of Types of Witchcraft

These are going to sound very broad, and very basic. But they are only meant to serve as examples and not a teaching point of what they are in full, nor a full list of the different types you may see.

Secular-Secular witches don’t use religion in their workings. They may have a religion, but it is separate from their workings.

Solitary-Solitary is just that! Someone who prefers to stay to themselves and not participate in anything like covens or group rituals/spells.

Green-Exactly as it sounds, Green Witches have a focus on using natural items in their craft. A few related practices may be things like herbs, and natural medicines.

Kitchen-The use of food and flavor in their workings! Kitchen Witchery is focused on what goes down with the pots, pans, and mixing bowls!

Death-You’ll see terms like Death Doula, or Psychopomp here, as well as general necromancy and the like. (No-not that kind of necromancy.)

Chaos-We all know that Chaos is… well chaotic! Imagine a little bit of everything and nothing at the same time. There’s no real rule set, but also so many things! All of the things!

Traditional/Folk-Traditional and Folk practices heavily depend on location! Think of an old woman in the woods of Appalachia, Vs a weathered man in the deserts of North America. They will have very different folk or traditional practices as it’s based of folk tales, wives tales, and tradition of the area. My grandmother liked to refer to herself as a “backwoods witch” when really, she was just an Appalachian Folk practitioner.

Why Some People Use Titles and Others Do Not

You’ll see a lot of discourse on if you need a title or not. Often times when someone asks where they’d fall in different subcategories, there’s at least one person to tell them that it does not matter. While to some it does not, I usually urge people not to tell others that something that may matter a lot to them does not matter.

I don’t have a good title for my path. It’s an amalgamation, and I always refer to it as such. Titles do not matter to me in this sense… but to someone else, especially someone finding their footing, it could mean the world to have an idea of where they can look for more information from people like themselves.

For someone like me, titles just don’t work. I don’t stick to one type of thing to only read one type of thing. But someone who is specifically in the Green Witch category may use that heavily, to find books that are made for them and their path or others like them! If you wanted to find more information on Death Doulas, that’s exactly what you’d look into, the SEO you’d use to find the information. And if you wanted to find books on Demonolatry, you’d look up Demonolatry. So imagine how being able to find people who do the same thing you do to give this information can be a godsend-especially for people who don’t have ready access.

I live in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is so known for Witchcraft and the like that one of our state officials is open about their spirituality and they still have their office. I don’t struggle to find resources, and face much less backlash for being open that others. Most people will see my Lilith necklace and Rune tattoos and it’s a knowing smile before it’s questions on if I worship the Devil and sacrifice small animals for fun. Not everyone has that! Even in the same state, more rural areas may face much different circumstances to myself, because I live next to one of our major cities.

When you live in an area that’s much less accepting, being able to use these titles can help a lot to find resources, because they may not have anything else. In an hours drive I have 6 metaphysical shops. Someone else may need to go out of state for their closest one.

For me, a title does not help me, nor does it even describe me. For someone else, a title may be the world in finding resources, and a way for them to find likeminded people. So, while some like me do not use titles as it can almost hinder us-to some it boosts them in a way we could not imagine.

[midwestbramble]

Walnut Folklore

Juglan nigra

Ruled by ☉

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Contents:

Overview

Folklore

Uses in Witchcraft

Safety Notes

Conclusion

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Overview

The Black Walnut tree stands anywhere from 80-150 ft. tall with the trunks reaching 2-3 feet in diameter. You can find these magnificent trees in full sun, on the edge of forests. The bark is deeply furrowed and gray-black in color. The leaves are compound with 23 stemless oval and smooth leaflets. It flowers in spring, giving way to globular fruit that fully ripens in late summer (the nut).

The Black Walnut uses a process called allelopathy, which is a way in which a plant may protect itself. It releases sesquiterpenes to keep other plants away so it has none to compete with for growing space and resources.

You can gather the green unripe hulls and allow them to ripen in a bucket. Sometimes you will see maggots between the hull and the hard shell of the nut, these do not affect the nut meat. Once the hulls have blackened, they are easier to hull. Use a hammer to smash it open and a stiff brush to scrub away any extra. Wait for it to completely dry. Then smash open the shell with a hammer, and pick out the meat.

Europe has a different species of walnut to North America.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Folklore

-The Witches of Benevento-

In Benevento, Italy, it is thought that witches from all over Europe celebrate their sabbats (getting there through spirit flight) under a walnut tree that was on the Sabato River bank. It is speculated that these legends stem from the Longobards who were said to hang goat or snake skins from the tree and then eat them to gain their powers.

-Appalachia-

According to Jake Richards' books, the walnut's "leaves are scattered about the house at sunset and left until morning, when they're swept out, to get rid of troublesome spirits" (Richards, pg. 170). He mentions that the hulls are also used to dye clothes, as I have found out on accident they work very well for.

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Uses in Witchcraft

Harvest some leaves or bark to use as a focus when hedge riding (another term for spirit flight) to the witches' meeting and asking for it to watch over you, or ask your local walnut tree for it's protection while you perform your own rites. If you have a spirit that just won't leave, gather some leaves and make them get out with a floor wash or carpet powder. The brave might use it in a smoke cleanse, however I do worry about nasal irritation.

If you're handy with clothing, you could use the hulls to dye your ritual clothes, or any other clothing you may have, for protection from wayward spirits. This is a wonderful book on natural dying.

If you're inclined to kitchen witchery, the nut meat itself is incredibly fragrant and I suggest making Nocino, walnut bread, or a walnut cake for protective purposes or an honorary food.

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Safety Notes

Not indicated for long-term use. The compound juglone, found in the juice of fresh walnut hulls, is considered a strong skin irritant and may cause itching or burning sensations (don't be like me, and wear gloves).

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Conclusion

The walnut is an overlooked tree, I swear it’s everywhere. It is marvelous and awe-inspiring when allowed to reach it's full potential. You can find my blog about talking with my local walnut guardian here. It works protection against spirits, chasing them, while also protecting your own spirit while out roaming the otherworld.

References:

Midwest Medicinal Plants by Lisa M Rose

The Herbal Academy's Intermediate Herbal Course Monograph

The Witches of Benevento, World Heritage Journeys

Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

Images:

Title image made on Canva with black walnut image provided by the Boston Public Library via Unsplash

The Walnut of Benevento, by Giuseppe Pietro Bagetti (1764-1831)

Perfect Appalachian Sunset, by Sean Foster on Unsplash