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practices and rituals are connected.
The following collections represent the scope of the
Appalachian folk magical tradition, but since the people
incorporate these beliefs and practices into their everyday way of
life they would not think of them as belonging to separate divisions
or categories. In 1957, Hand published a collection of Appalachian
folkways that he categorized into fourteen divisions, one of which
includes native witchcraft and folk magical practices. This was
one of the earliest collections of Appalachian folk magic practices.
Many of these practices were very similar to those attributed to
witchcraft and many of them reflect a belief in astrology. In a
number of cases it is somewhat difficult to distinguish between
magical practices and superstition. Some of the practices that
resemble witchcraft include the following:
Wet a rag in your enemy’s blood. Put it behind a rock in the
chimney. When it rots your enemy will die.
Take seven hairs from a blood snake, seven scales from a
rattlesnake, seven bits of feathers from an owl, add a hair from
the person you desire, a bit of nail paring, and cook these for
seven minutes over a hot fire in the first rainwater caught in
April. Sprinkle the concoction on the clothes of the person to
be charmed. It cannot fail. 28
Practices that opposed the use of witchcraft included:
If you want to keep witches away, lay a straw broom in the
doorway.
To kill a witch, draw a heart on a holly tree, and drive a spike
into her heart for nine mornings. 29
Practices that reflected a belief in astrology included:
Never castrate stock when the sign of the zodiac points to the
loins. Bleeding will be profuse … Altering hogs is best when
the zodiac sign is in the head [Pisces].
Never gather fruit in the watery signs, or in the new moon,
20