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Folk Magic and Protestant Christianity in
Appalachia
John Richards
West Virginia State University
Introduction
The mountains of rural Appalachia have long been regarded as
a land of mystery and magic. In many ways, it is a place frozen in
time. Omens, ghost stories, portents, superstitions, curses, cures,
and protections are simply a part of everyday life. The people
of rural Appalachia, however, rarely use terms like “folklore”
or “folk magic” to describe their beliefs and practices. Instead,
these beliefs and practices are merely regarded as “the old ways.”
They represent the inherited knowledge and wisdom from past
generations. For the rural Appalachian, there is nothing odd or
unusual about these practices; they are just the way certain things
are done.
Although most research has focused on cataloging and
preserving Appalachian folklore and folk magic, there have been
a few attempts to explain and interpret the origins and purposes
of this tradition. 1 Fischer (1989), for example, claims that much
of the folklore was brought from Ireland, Scotland and the north
of England, while the folk magic was an eclectic body of beliefs
constantly growing by borrowings from Indians, Africans,
Germans, and other cultures. According to Fischer, the magic
of this region was remarkably secular in its nature and purposes.
Cavender (2003), who largely concentrated on the study of
Appalachian folk medicine, agrees with Fischer’s analysis as to
the origins of Appalachian folk magic and medical knowledge.
However, Cavender, in discussing the Southern Appalachian folk
medical belief system, recognizes the existence of two domains
of knowledge in the more traditional sense: a naturalistic domain
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