southerncunning

[southerncunning]

I just want to say, I’m only on page 5, but I’m already chuckling and very excited to dive further into this book, so thank you in advance for your work :)

Thank you! I’m glad my sense of humor comes through on paper, hard to tell sometimes :)

[southerncunning]

Would you say there’s a distinction between southern and appalachian witchcraft, bc a large portion of the south is appalachian, but a portion of the north is as well? I’m curious bc I am appalachian and I can relate to some of the things you mention, but i’m also from SE ohio so other things I cannot relate to.

There’s definitely distinctions, caveat being that witchcraft is different from person to person, town to town, and county to county. There’s always going to be distinctions that make something unique even within the same “tradition”. I think there are distinctions, but it’s okay if the water is a little murky because nothings ever clean and easy. Big umbrella labels can be helpful in finding folks doing/experiencing similar things, but theres plenty of space for exploration because no one is ever just one thing. I hope that makes sense!

[southerncunning]

Y’all Southern Cunning comes out August 1st and I can’t express how excited I am! Some folks are getting their copies in early and have been sharing it with me, it’s kind of surreal! If you’re interested go pick up a copy here or you can listen to my interview on New World Witchery where I talk in depth about the books background.

5 years ago I started writing a journal as I went a new direction in my magic. I read through as many books on folklore as I possibly could. I wrote down every story I remembered from my childhood. I went through every superstition, urban legend, and ghost story to find the magic hidden there. Today I get to hold a completely different book in my hands that is the culmination of this journey- at least up till now. Everyday something new comes forward and gives a different facet to what I do and how I understand the stories we tell. I hope this book helps people do the same, I hope it helps people find power in their stories.

#witchcraft #southern witchcraft #traditional witchcraft #traditional witch

[southerncunning]

I finally caught up with Cory on New World Witchery. It was a great time and I can’t tell y’all how exciting it was for me.

#Witchcraft #witch #Wicca #folk magic #southern folk magic

[southerncunning]

[southerncunning]

Anyway, the accepted demonization of Santeria and Vodun as evil and “devil worship” is blatantly colored by imperialism and antiblackness.

[southerncunning]

How do you balance witchcraft and “mundane” life? I have other interests that have nothing to do with witchcraft and sometimes I feel like they go against each other. I’ve been practicing witchcraft for a few years now and I’m trying to regain my connection with it, but I’m still into “mundane”-y things too, but it sometimes feel like I’m playing double agent, especially with college & academics and whatnot. How do you deal with it, personally, if you? Thank you & blessings to you

LOL. I don’t. I wish I could tell you some fluffy nonsense about casting spells for joy by playing Enya on your way to work or something, but I can’t. Witchcraft can be challenging. It can be overwhelming and extremely time-consuming.

I have found that even a simple spell can take days to prepare properly. Sometimes you have to wait for the perfect time to cast it and then sometimes you won’t see the benefits for months. I think of all the jars of incense and oil “cooking” on my altar. One way I have tried to maintain balance is to keep my witchcraft confined to the Full Moon and Dark of the Moon sabbats and the eight seasonal festivals. I have gone through periods where I have casted a spell every other day. It wrecks your brain and drains your energy. It’s terrible. So I try to keep my hands-on practice down to a dull roar.

I then pursue witchcraft as a hands-off hobby at other times. I read books, listen to music and podcasts, write on here, shop for ingredients and tools, etc. But sometimes I don’t even do that. I take breaks. If I disappear from here for periods of time, that’s why. Either I am doing the most witchy things or the least witchy things.

It’s important to have other interests and to allow them to flourish. Witchcraft can be dark. It can even be scary sometimes. We are human beings and we crave balance. As witches we are drawn to the dark and mysterious power of the moonlight.

But we need the sunlight just as much.

Edit: it’s also okay to pursue witchcraft as a hobby. To use my favorite comparison (woodworking), some people are full time craftsmen who use woodworking as their primary source of employment, and some people slowly work on one project in their garage that takes them two years to complete. So long as you do it safely and take the time to know what you’re doing, I think it’s okay to only pursue witchcraft as a little hobby. It doesn’t need to be a lifestyle.

#all of this

[southerncunning]

This is boss, I’m gonna follow this because I would love to learn how to make a knife.

I made my own athame.

Having no metalworking training, limited skills, and access to only those hand-tools I could justify buying for a single project it was a lot of hard work.

It took nine months to make (which was a nice synchronicity) and is made of materials that were chosen for their connection to me and compatability with my ‘home frequency’.

Making my own athame helped me to bond with the tool, to see it as more than a weapon, and to make it truly mine. When I pick it up it feels like an extension of me. It is not perfect, it lacks the professional finish of a skilled worker, but it is mine.

#reference

[southerncunning]

A short and straight forward post about understanding that sometimes its okay to not be working.

#witchcraft #traditional witchcraft #magic #folk magic #bioregionalism #animism

[southerncunning]

Hey hon, this is more of a question for everyone else than just me but I figured it might be beneficial to ask. What do you consider are the most important things to keep in mind while practicing any form of magic?

This is a really great question friendo. You’re a seasoned practitioner yourself, so these answers are probably ones you already know. Nevertheless, beneficial for readers.

All real magic incurs risk. There is no way to practice magic completely safely. I see posts floating around in radius to my own saying “infernal magic is dangerous! There’s no real reason to do it! Do magic that’s safe!” This is a false sense of security. All real magic is risky to some degree. Granted–some kinds of magic are higher risk than others, infernal magic being one of them. But if you think a poorly made pentacle or mojo hand can’t get you into some trouble the only person you’re fooling is yourself.

All real magic is a skill; therefore, it requires practice. Just as a weaver creates sturdier, more beautiful blankets more quickly with the passage of time, a magician only builds their strength and skill through practice. This is the only way. There are no shortcuts. If you love the Arte you will love it’s work and practice will be a joy even when it’s difficult and frustrating.

Discernment is invaluable. Use it frequently. No matter what kind of magic you’re doing you need to learn discernment. It’s important to discern whether or not some rituals are worth the risk, whether or not the spirit you are speaking to is who it says, how to prepare best for life disruption, whether or not your ritual ideas are functional, if timing is right…there are so many things discernment can tell you. And it mitigates some of that risk because it gives you more information to work with given the situations you may find yourself. It’s a safety skill as important as knowing how to cleanse, banish and ward. It will prevent you often from setting yourself up for failure.

Know the rules before you break them. Every system of real magic has a structure that is internally consistent. That doesn’t mean this structure is rigid and can’t be toyed with, but you must first understand its grammar. You can’t do wordplay in a language you aren’t fluent in. It’s the same with magic.

Magic has measurable successes and failures. Sometimes magic is about using your intuition, but it’s in the context of securing the object you intend to acquire with your ritual. Magic is not a religion–it is a tool, and has no more of a moral code than a hammer or a knife. The one with moral and spiritual feelings about it is you, and is not inherently found in any “law of magic”. You can objectively use a knife properly or improperly and it is the same here. Keep good records of what you have achieved, what you have failed to achieve, and what you have yet to achieve with it and let that build you a picture of where you should focus your energy on improving. Magic is not about your spiritual feelings, although sometimes they intersect. Magic, most of the time, is about securing objective gain. Understanding that will strengthen your magic and make you more capable as a person.

With the art of miracles, there’s no reason to neuter your achievement ceilings. Enchant for everything. Even if you fail it will make you better at magic because you’ll be doing more magic. You truly can do anything with it–earn more money, hurt people, fuck with their perception of you, speak with the dead. Think big. Open yourself up. This isn’t a weird kind of psychological role playing game. Magic is very real and that means its benefits are for the taking. I will caution you though–personally, I think It’s a double edged sword. If you can do the miraculous, you are no longer in a position to complain about problems you can solve with your abilities. As you become more skilled, the right to complain must pass away. Perhaps that’s my own personal bias but I think it’s important to touch on, at the very least to really grapple the reality of what you can potentially be capable of.

Learn to think critically. This goes not only for the books you’ll read, but the spirits you’ll speak with. Who is telling you what? Is there any benefit to having you believe that? Why might that be so? What credentials do they have? Can what they’ve told you be fact checked? And if it can be fact checked, do it. (It can, 99.9% of the time, always be fact checked.) This not only reduces your rate of error, but also the possibility of being manipulated and hurt.

I’m sure there’s more I’m missing, but that, in the most broad terms possible, will apply to anyone, anywhere, no matter what kind of true magic they choose to pursue. But that’s just like. My opinion, man.

Thank you for your question amigo. xoxo

[southerncunning]

So... In terms of magic and location. Being in Arkansas or say Oklahoma would that be Southern or Midwest? In terms of Folklore magic and stuff?

This is a great question, and one that is a part of a few components. I’ll probably do a full article on the website on this subject but I’ll bullet point it here. It’s a long one. 

- Defining what is Southern is highly contested amongst Southerners. Very few Southerners will agree on what exactly meets the criteria for being Southern.- Being Southern is much more about your culture than Geography (fight me) although Geography is apart of the equation. - Certain states are rarely up for debate when it comes to being Southern these would be Virginia, Kentucky, the Carolina’s, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana - Contested states for being Southern are often Maryland, Florida, Texas, Arkansas, and West Virginia  - Some people define the South as strictly those states that were apart of the Confederacy during the civil war. This continues a legacy of associating Southern culture with racism. While racism is one of the leading issues in Southern culture it does not define the culture and many of us Southerners are actively trying to make the South an inhospitable environment for racists through grassroots activism and reclaiming Southernness. - In my opinion your geography is secondary to how you were raised. Did you grow up with dishes like collard greens, brusslesprouts, deep fried anything, venison, and biscuits and gravy? Is Mac and cheese a vegetable to you? You probably have a claim to being Southern. - Likewise just because you grow up in a Southern state doesn’t mean you’re Southern. - People who question someones “Southernness” because their from the contested states has probably never lived in one of these places or if they have did not explore past one major city. Take Florida for example. I’ve lived here almost my entire life. My family has been here going back 8 generations. We grew up valuing Southern Hospitality, meaning that if someone needs help you goddamn help them. Even if you don’t have much, you try your damnedest to give to others. Southerners tend to have a strong relationship to their food. Farming, raising livestock, and hunting are all embedded into our lives. If you didn’t do one of these things a neighbor or family member did. All of these things happen throughout Florida (and no, not just the pan handle). Go to Polk County, Everglades City, Arcadia, almost anywhere in North or Central Florida and you will find people who identify themselves as Southerners. - Yankees get no say in what being Southern means. - A lot of distinct cultures exist under Southern culture. Each state has its own culture, and county. Appalachian’s get a claim to being Southern for sure. Florida Crackers do as well. Hill folk, Hillbillies, rednecks, ect. all have distinct cultural markers but all have a link back to being Southern if they claim it. Being “white trash” or a rich Southerner both have completely different cultural values but would fall under being Southern. It’s not a monolith. - There are a ton of LGBTQ and POC in the South who identify as Southern. Racist white Southerners do not have a monopoly on the South. LGBTQ and POC Southerners have every right to reclaim Southernness and fight against the problems throughout Southern culture. Those of us in the new generations are redefining what it means to be Southern while holding true to the traditions that are important. - Southern culture centers on Southern hospitality, food, an understanding of history and how to combat its oppressive legacy, y’all (linguistics), typically a closeness to the land/food ways, music, valuing hands-on work and learning (working hard playing hard), community focused help (ties into hospitality but on a larger scale, often hinging on church communities as well), and shared story telling values

That last point leads into your actual question. What qualifies as Southern folk magic, and Southern folklore? If the story is told by Southerners its probably Southern folklore. If the story is about a Southern place, it’s probably Southern folklore. Being Southern is a combination of factors that can be complicated. A lot of values that are considered Southern are shared by a lot of other cultures (like valuing hard work or making something with your own two hands). I don’t know enough about Oklahoma to really give a full answer but I’d say they’re probably similar but not quite Southern. One of my friends grew up there and when we swap stories theres some overlap but he doesn’t identify as Southern and there are some distinct differences in our food. From that I’d say, no probably not Southern.Arkansas, I know almost nothing about. But my gut say they’re Southern. TLDR; Arkansas is Southern, Oklahoma isn’t. Southernness isn’t defined solely by geography, it is a set of cultural value and markers. But folklore comes from a mix of geography and culture meaning you need some mixture of Southern places and Southern people for it to be Southern folklore or magic. 

#refresher

[southerncunning]

This is so cool!

Hi I was recently interviewed about the intersection between making magic and making art in my personal practice and if you wanna check it out here’s a link <3

[southerncunning]

All good stuff

As a Hoosier I'm curious if you know of any folk magic from the Indiana regions?

I don’t unfortunately, if anyone out there does know something feel free to throw it on.

[southerncunning]

[southerncunning]

I have a question about working with the spirits of the land. Basically there is a "cryptid" in my area where I live (I WANT TO BELIEVE) that has been spotted many times by settlers but also has a longer history as part of local Native American folklore. I am very interested in these spirits but I'm not sure I should approach one that's *technically* from a closed and living culture(s).

Speak to an individual from that tribe. Its one thing for a settler/colonist to come across an entity and tell the story of that encounter. It is a wholly different situation for a settler/colonist to then integrate that entity into their practice. It should be noted that not all creatures in folklore are inherently spirits, and that view point could be offensive depending on the specifics of the situation. Again, the course of action should be listening to the voices of those who tell the story and respecting the boundaries in place. Don’t touch what you don’t understand. 

[southerncunning]

hello im a witch that has been out of practice for a while but im getting back into spellcrafting and i feel like i can't do magic anymore because i haven't done it in so long? please help thank you

Trust me, we all have those moments. You absolutely can still practice, you just have to breech that doubt. Witchcraft doesn’t require that you constantly toss around spells or do daily divination, though if it’s been an exceptionally long time then you may be a bit rusty. So it just takes time to get back into your practice. If you had existing pacts that you have lapsed on, then you may need to repair those relationships- but if you don’t then no worries. Get back into your practice and hone those skills.

[southerncunning]

As a Hoosier I'm curious if you know of any folk magic from the Indiana regions?

I don’t unfortunately, if anyone out there does know something feel free to throw it on.