Appalachian Granny Magic: Difference between revisions
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== Supposed Connection with Native American Traditions == |
== Supposed Connection with Native American Traditions == |
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Twenty year old Thomas Pasmere Carpenter came to Jamestown, Virginia from England in 1627, living in a cave near the [[Shawnee]]. Thomas was called "Cornplanter" by the Shawnee, derived from their sign language that matched as near as possible to the work of a carpenter. He married a Shawnee woman named "Pride" and bore a son around 1635 named Trader Carpenter. |
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Trader was taught to “witch” for water with a willow stick by the Shawnee. He married a Shawnee named Locha in 1658 and the clan grew quickly. In 1660, they were driven south by the Iroquois. They moved along the Tennessee River, starting the villages of Running Water (where Thomas died in 1675), Nickajack, Lookout Mountain, Crowtown and Chota. He was Chief of Chota, which was created as a merging place of refuge for people of all tribes, history or color. It became similar to a capital for the Cherokee nation. These villages grew to about 2000 people by 1670 when the Carpenter clan moved to Talikwa (Great Tellico) where the Tellico River emerges from the Appalachian Mountains. Here Trader married a [[Cherokee]], Quatsy of the Wolf Clan in 1680. He had become so adept at water witching that the Cherokee called him "water conjurer" or Ama Matai (Ama is Cherokee for water). Ama Matai eventually became pronounced as Amatoya. It was later shortened to “Moytoy”, so he is known as [[Moytoy I]]. |
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In 1730, his son, Trader-Tom ([[Moytoy II]]) took over as Chief, receiving what was described as the “Crown of Tannassy”. Tanasi was where the previous Chief resided and the traditional headdress was passed on to him. The fur trading Carpenter family owned many ships. Though he served as Cherokee Chief, Thomas made several trips to Barbados over the years where the Carpenters did banking, and even to Scotland and Ireland. On occasion he took Trader, and Trader Tom with him. They traded furs and healing herbs brought from America. |
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Cherokee traded furs for cloth. The cloth was not only used for clothing, but also to pay the Shamans for treatment. Though the medicine men did not charge for medical practice, they required a form of payment for performing love charms, hunting ceremonials, and other conjures. Beads were used in many instances, which the patient was required not only to furnish the beads, but also a certain quantity of new cloth upon which to place them. At the close of the ceremony the medicine man would roll up the cloth, beads and all, and take it with him. Custom required that he not use the cloth, but had to be sold. The practice was sometimes repeated over a period of days, each time requiring new cloth. Some Shamans would sell the required cloth to the patient himself, then take the used cloth with him. |
Cherokee traded furs for cloth. The cloth was not only used for clothing, but also to pay the Shamans for treatment. Though the medicine men did not charge for medical practice, they required a form of payment for performing love charms, hunting ceremonials, and other conjures. Beads were used in many instances, which the patient was required not only to furnish the beads, but also a certain quantity of new cloth upon which to place them. At the close of the ceremony the medicine man would roll up the cloth, beads and all, and take it with him. Custom required that he not use the cloth, but had to be sold. The practice was sometimes repeated over a period of days, each time requiring new cloth. Some Shamans would sell the required cloth to the patient himself, then take the used cloth with him. |
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The Cherokee believed in at least two types of witches. The “Night Goer” or “sûnnâ'yï edâ'hï “ came at night to bring to the home. Alternatively, what might be called a good witch, “u'ya igawa'stï “ saturated the medicine given by the medicine man and by counteracting the spell, killed the Night Goer.<ref>{{cite web | title =Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees by James Mooney| publisher = Cherokee Heritage Documentation Center|year = 2008 | url = http://cherokeeregistry.firstlightonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=134&Itemid=178| accessdate = 2008-06-22}}</ref> The settlers absorbed these ideas into their lives to the point that even milk that soured could be caused by the “evil eye” or the look of a witch. Soured milk came to be called “blinked milk”. |
The Cherokee believed in at least two types of witches. The “Night Goer” or “sûnnâ'yï edâ'hï “ came at night to bring to the home. Alternatively, what might be called a good witch, “u'ya igawa'stï “ saturated the medicine given by the medicine man and by counteracting the spell, killed the Night Goer.<ref>{{cite web | title =Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees by James Mooney| publisher = Cherokee Heritage Documentation Center|year = 2008 | url = http://cherokeeregistry.firstlightonline.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=134&Itemid=178| accessdate = 2008-06-22}}</ref> The settlers absorbed these ideas into their lives to the point that even milk that soured could be caused by the “evil eye” or the look of a witch. Soured milk came to be called “blinked milk”. |
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The settlers combined elements of their own witchcraft traditions with those of the native Cherokee. |
The settlers combined elements of their own witchcraft traditions with those of the native Cherokee. |
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== References == |
== References == |
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Revision as of 21:08, 8 February 2009
 | This article possibly contains original research. (June 2008) |
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Appalachian Granny Magic is a combination of folk remedies, faith healing, superstitions, and storytelling handed down by generations of families in the Appalachian Mountains.[1]
This folklore is termed "Granny" from the prominent role played by older women in mountain communities. This role is well-described by John Campbell in The Southern Highlander and His Homeland, a description worth repeating here:
- There is something magnificent in many of the older women with their stern theology -- part mysticism, part fatalism -- and their deep understanding of life. ..."Granny" -- and one may be a grandmother young in the mountains -- if she has survived the labor and tribulation of her younger days, has gained a freedom and a place of irresponsible authority in the home hardly rivaled by the men of the family. ...Though superstitious she has a fund of common sense, and she is a shrewd judge of character. In sickness she is the first to be consulted, for she is generally something of an herb doctor, and her advice is sought by the young people of half the countryside in all things from a love affair to putting a new web in the loom.[2]
History
The Appalachians were originally settled in the late 1700s by Protestant Scotch-Irish immigrants from northern Ireland, whose ancestors originated in the border country between Scotland and England.[3] Some of this lore is traceable to Britain,[4] while some developed as necessity dictated in the remote mountain areas, due to lack of access to professional medical treatment.[5]
This collection of Appalachian folkways and beliefs has sometimes recently been deemed erroneously to be a conscious survival of ancient pagan religious or witchcraft traditions. However, the people who settled the mountains were staunch evangelical Protestants. In the early years of settlement in the late eighteenth century, the settlers were primarily Presbyterians,[6] preserving the strong Calvinism of their northern Irish forbears. By the early 1800s the majority of Appalachian settlers had become Baptists and Methodists, although a few Presbyterian congregations remained.[7]
This Appalachian "magic" included such folkways as dowsing, herbalism, faith healing and midwifery.
Supposed Connection with Native American Traditions
Cherokee traded furs for cloth. The cloth was not only used for clothing, but also to pay the Shamans for treatment. Though the medicine men did not charge for medical practice, they required a form of payment for performing love charms, hunting ceremonials, and other conjures. Beads were used in many instances, which the patient was required not only to furnish the beads, but also a certain quantity of new cloth upon which to place them. At the close of the ceremony the medicine man would roll up the cloth, beads and all, and take it with him. Custom required that he not use the cloth, but had to be sold. The practice was sometimes repeated over a period of days, each time requiring new cloth. Some Shamans would sell the required cloth to the patient himself, then take the used cloth with him.
The Cherokee, Shawnee and other Shamans (medicine men) traded secrets when they met. These were passed on orally before the Sequoya method of writing was developed. According to archeologist James Mooney “It was the practice when one shaman met another whom he thought might give him some valuable information, would say to him, "Let us sit down together." This was understood by the other to mean, "Let us tell each other our secrets." It was necessary to cultivate a long memory, as none were repeated more than once for his benefit. It was considered that one who failed to remember after the first hearing was not worthy to be accounted a shaman.”[8] When illness struck the white settlers and traditional methods of healing failed, they sometimes turned to friendly Cherokee nearby. This also provided the medicine men with new opportunities to obtain cloth and other goods from them in return. These methods were soon incorporated into the beliefs the settlers brought with them from Europe.
The Cherokee believed in at least two types of witches. The “Night Goer” or “sûnnâ'yï edâ'hï “ came at night to bring to the home. Alternatively, what might be called a good witch, “u'ya igawa'stï “ saturated the medicine given by the medicine man and by counteracting the spell, killed the Night Goer.[9] The settlers absorbed these ideas into their lives to the point that even milk that soured could be caused by the “evil eye” or the look of a witch. Soured milk came to be called “blinked milk”.
The settlers combined elements of their own witchcraft traditions with those of the native Cherokee.
References
- ^ Eliot Wigginton, ed., The Foxfire Book, Anchor Press, 1972.
- ^ John C. Campbell, The Southern Highlander and his Homeland, University Press of Kentucky, 1969, pg., 140.
- ^ David Hackett Fischer, Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America, Oxford University Press, 1989
- ^ Cecil James Sharp, Olive Dame Campbell, Maud Karpeles, English Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians, Oxford University Press, 1960
- ^ John C. Campbell, The Southern Highlander and his Homeland, University Press of Kentucky, 1969, and Eliot Wigginton, ed., The Foxfire Book, Anchor Press, 1972.
- ^ Leyburn, James G., The Scotch-Irish: A Social History, Univ of NC Press, 1962, pg 273.
- ^ Leyburn, James G., The Scotch-Irish: A Social History, Univ of NC Press, 1962, pg 295.
- ^ "Sacred Forumulas of the Cherokee Shamans by James Mooney". Cherokee Heritage Documentation Center. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-22.
- ^ "Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees by James Mooney". Cherokee Heritage Documentation Center. 2008. Retrieved 2008-06-22.