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Appalachian Folk Magic and Medicine
The history of Appalachian folk magic and medicine can be
traced to a couple of major events: 1) the arrival of European
settlers in the Appalachian region during the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries; and 2) the folklorization of magic in early
American society. Among scholars there appears to be a general
consensus that the European settlers from Ireland, Scotland,
northern England, and Germany were mostly responsible for
bringing folk magic and folklore into the Appalachian region. 9
For the most part, these immigrants were poor Protestant
farmers from highland regions seeking to flee Europe to escape
religious persecution and economic hardship. Along with their
techniques of mixed farming, language, and religious beliefs,
these immigrations also brought with them a rich collection of folk
music, folk tales, as well as folk magical and medical practices.
Many of these practices can be traced back to the Celtic ancestors
of these European immigrants. 10
A second historical event which led to the development of
Appalachian folk magic was the folklorization of magic in early
American society. According to Butler:
By traditional accounts, magic and occultism died out in the
eighteenth century: the rise of Enlightenment philosophy,
skepticism, and experimental science, the spread of evangelical
Christianity, the continuing opposition from English Protestant
denominations, the rise in literacy associated with Christian
catechizing, and the cultural, economic, and political
maturation of the colonies simply destroyed the occult practice
and belief of the previous century in both Europe and America.
Yet significant evidence suggests that the folklorization of
magic occurred as much in America as in England. As in
England, colonial magic and occultism did not so much
disappear everywhere as they disappeared among certain
social classes and became confined to poorer, more marginal
segments of American society. 11
Butler (1990) cites numerous reasons such as intellectual
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