Tumgik
#american folklore
sagradofemenin0 · 11 months
Text
Tumblr media
BatCat by Annie Stegg
5K notes · View notes
wanderingsorcerer · 9 months
Text
APPALACHIAN FOLKLORE 101
Appalachia has a rich history in the united states, which goes farther back than most tend to give it credit for. The Appalachian mountains are millions of years old, and humans have only lived in the region for 16,000 years or so, which means the mountains are bound to hold some mysteries and legends.
Tumblr media
Many of these stories, and folk practices originate from the Native Americans, specifically Cherokee, and are mixed in with the superstitions brought over from the old world specifically English, Irish, and Scottish. As well as the practices brought over from the African Continent During the Slave Trade. The Native population assisted the early settlers in Appalachia with ways to survive the area, grow food, and even forage for one of Appalachia's staple foods, RAMPS!!!
Let's delve into the history of Appalachian Folklore and the origins of everyone's favorite stories.
Cryptids and Myths
This is one of the most famous aspects of Appalachian folklore and one which outsiders know the most about, Appalachian Myths and their Cryptids that follow. Below I will go over a few of the more famous ones, which many have learned about, either second-hand or through living in the area.
The Moon-Eyed People
There was a group of humanoids called the Moon-Eyed People, who were short, bearded, and had pale skin with large, bright eyes. They were completely nocturnal due to their eyes being extremely sensitive to light. Although not mythical, they were considered a separate race of people by some. The tribes viewed them as a threat and forced them out of their caves on a full moon night. They were said to have scattered to other parts of Appalachia as the moon’s light was too bright for their eyes. There are some early structures that are believed to be related to the Moon-Eyed People, dating back to 400 BCE. Some theories suggest that they were early European settlers who arrived much before Columbus discovered the Americas. Other theories suggest they were people who had Albanism.
Tumblr media
Image of The Moon Eyed People Statues in Murphy, North Carolina
Spearfinger
Spearfinger is a Cherokee legend of a shapeshifting, stone-skinned witch with a long knife in place of one of her fingers. She often was described as an old woman, which she would take the form of to convince Cherokee children that she was their grandmother. She would sit with them, brush their hair until they fell asleep, and then kill them with her “spear finger.” She had a love of human livers which she would extract from the bodies of those she killed. It was said she left no visible scars on her victims. She carried her own heart in her hand to protect it, as it was her one weakness. As the legend goes, she was captured and defeated with the help of several birds that carried the information to defeat her. Though she has been destroyed, sometimes you can hear her cackles and songs throughout the mountains. 
Tumblr media
Image of SpearFinger Cherokee Legend
W*ndigo
This spirit is said to go to where its name is called allowed so since most of us already know the name I won't be writing it out in completion. So out of respect for some of our native readers, it will remain censored
The W*ndigo is a creature, sometimes referred to as an evil spirit, that is said to be 15 feet tall with a body that is thin, with skin pulled so tight that its bones are visible. Many native legends view it as a spirit of greed, gluttony, and insatiable hunger. It is a flesh-eating beast that is considered most active during the colder months, and its presence is easily felt and smelt. It has been described as having a distinct smell of rot and decay due to its skin being ripped and unclean. It produces an overwhelming urge of greed and insatiable want. Most notably, it is not one to chase or seek after its prey; instead, it uses its terrifying mimicry skill. It often mimics human voices, screams, loved ones, or anything that might entice its victim to come to it. In some cases, it is believed the W*ndigo is a spirit that can possess other humans and fill them with greed and selfishness, turning them into W*ndigos as well.  
Appalachian Folk Practices
Many of the common Appalachian folk practices stem from things the Native Americans and Enslaved Africans taught them mixed in with cultural practices from Europe. Here I will go over some of the most common practices done by the Appalachian people
Water Dowsing
water dowsing is a practice that has been done for hundreds of years in many different cultures. This practice was brought over by the European settlers and was how many people of the time found where to dig for their water. The practice itself is simple in nature, you take a forked branch from a tree and hold it in both hands and walk around once the stick points down due to the electromagnetic current that's where you dig your well.
this isn't exactly the best way to find water but many people still do it to this day.
Tumblr media
Image of Someone Using A Dowsing Rod
Bottle Trees
This practice originated in the Congo area of Africa, in the 9th century A.D. brought to America by the slave trade, in the 17th century. Bottle Trees, were popular in the American South and up into Appalachia, the spirits are said to be attracted to the blue color of the bottles, and captured at night, then when the sun rises it destroys the evil spirits.
This is still practiced in the modern era by many Appalachian Folk Practitioners
Tumblr media
Image Of Bottle Trees
SIN EATING
This practice originates from the Ancient Greeks and Egyptians, it branched to many different cultures and has been practiced since antiquity by many Christian and Catholic tribes. And later making its way to America via immigration. The process was once a profession in Appalachia, in which food was placed on or near the deceased and a person dressed in all black would eat the food absolving the dead of all of their earthly sins. This essentially cemented their ability to get into heaven. The practice while sparsely done any more as a profession, it can still be found in many peoples funeral services to this day around the world.
Many cultures still do this practice and the sin eaters usually choose to hide their identity as the practice is seen as taboo to this day.
Popular Herbs To Forage In Appalachia Folk Practices
Wild Leeks or RAMPS!!!
Allium tricoccum, are a species of wild onion native to North America. They are a delicacy, and hold a special place in the hearts of many Appalachians. Native Americans such as the Cherokee ate the plant and used it medicinally for a variety of purposes including as a spring tonic. Early European settlers learned how to Forage from the Indigenous People and continued to eat and use ramps medicinally. Ramps provide many nutrients and minerals and historically have been used to nourish people after harsh winters.
Tumblr media
*RAMPS poisoness Look Alike
False hellebore (Veratrum) is a highly poisonous plant that can be mistaken for a prized wild edible, the wild leek, or ramp (Allium tricoccum)
Chicken of the Woods
Laetiporus sulphureus. Chicken of the woods is a sulphur-yellow bracket fungus of trees in woods, parks and gardens. They are delicious and are loved by many foragers, Native Americans, and Appalachians alike. The Native Americans taught the early settlers that these were edible and have been a favorite ever since. Chicken of the Woods is most likely to be found from August through October, but it can be found as early as May and up to December depending on where you live.
Tumblr media
*These have a poisoness look alike, Jack O Lantern mushrooms
The Jack-o'-lantern mushroom should not be eaten because it is poisonous to humans. It contains toxic chemicals that can cause severe stomach upset accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea and headache
PawPaws
The Pawpaw Asimina triloba, is well loved by Appalachian locals as a native fruit with a tropical taste. Pawpaw fruit is the largest tree fruit native to the United States, and its custard-like flesh has been said to taste like a combination of banana, pineapple, and Mango. The pawpaw has been used by Native Americans for centuries for both its fruit and its medicinal properties. Many tribes, including the Osage and Sioux, ate the fruit; the Iroquois used the mashed fruit to make small dried cakes to reconstitute later for cooking. PawPaw season is late summer, look for the smell of rotting fruit, eat the ones that are squishy to the touch.
Tumblr media
*They resemble mangos on the trees, many options to eat the ones that are on the floor already as they usually have ripened, but you can also ripen them at home.
Appalachia has a rich and beautiful history filled with magic and delicious food. But the only real way to learn about Appalachia is to visit it. Go and speak with locals, learn about the history, their delicious foods, and powerful Grandma magic, and you too will fall in love with Appalachia.
Thank you for sitting down and having Tea with me on the Other side of the Great Divide
Tumblr media
578 notes · View notes
wonder-waffle93 · 6 months
Text
Tumblr media
A Galactic Queen with a burning love for a planet in flames, with bones of the vermin who populate it, peppered across the fields <3
193 notes · View notes
sixminutestoriesblog · 10 months
Text
Mercy Brown: when superstitions go awry
Tumblr media
Tuberculosis is an insidious disease that comes in quietly and sweeps away entire families, rarely content with just one or two before its run its course. This slowly dividing bacteria travels from host to host through aerosol droplets via sneezing, coughing, speaking and other airborne paths. Considering the fact that TB attacks the lungs most often, resulting in, among other things, coughing up bloody phlegm, this means its highly transmissible and yet, luckily, very slow to be caught by the average passer-by. The longer someone spends with the sick person, and the less well ventilated an area is, the more likely the disease is to pass on to the next victim. Most people that came down with TB caught it from sick family members. These days we have a vaccine against it but TB has been around for most of humanities' recorded history, with even Egyptian mummies having been found with physical evidence of it. In Victorian (and later) times the disease was referred to as 'consumption' with little understanding of its source or its cause, an unknown horror that seemed to come from nowhere, prey on an entire family or community and than vanish again just as mysteriously.
In 1883 (or 1884 or 1888 -the dates are all over the place), a woman in Exeter, Rhode Island by the name of Mary Eliza died of 'consumption'. Six months later, her oldest daughter, Mary Olive, joined her in the graveyard. The distraught husband, George, waited, one can only imagine, with terror for the rest of their children to be swept away as well but for the next several years, all was well in the family. Then, in the cold months at the end of 1891, his daughter Mercy Lena came down with consumption.
From our place, safely in the future, we can look at the case and wonder if she was exposed to a new strain that finally found a weak spot the previous one hadn't and laid claim to her. It's entirely possible however that the same bacteria that killed her mother was now killing Mercy as well. Mercy might have contracted what's known as latent TB from her mother, a case where the bacteria lies dormant in the system, the victim a benign carrier who can't infect others until something, usually an event that suppresses the immune system, triggers it into a full blow, active bought. Whatever the case, whether it was a new infection or the haunting family ghost of her mother's older one, Mercy, and her younger brother Edwin, both came down with active TB in 1891. Edwin, a teenager at the time, was sent to Colorado in the hopes it would heal him - but Mercy died in the first month of the new year, going the way of her mother and older sister before her to the grave. She was only 19.
The story should have stopped there.
I wouldn't be writing about this if it had.
Edwin returned from Colorado and his health continued to decline. Soon, if nothing changed, he would follow the majority of his family into the grave. The neighbors had a plan though. They just needed his father's permission.
What they proposed was that an evil entity was draining the life of the Brown family, picking them off one at a time and returning for each new victim. The evil that was killing the family - was a member of the family.
Here's where we get into the superstition part of things. If you read articles online about Mercy Brown you'll find the word 'vampire' thrown around a lot. It was the word used in the newspapers of the time, that caught wind of what the neighbors planned, and its also modern culture, thanks in large part to Bram Stroker's Dracula (there is speculation that his character of Lucy might have had its roots in stories he'd read about Mercy in the newspapers of his time. Dracula, remember, was published in 1897). A dark force, rising from the grave to suck the life out of its victims. Well, yes - and no. Modern vampires, the way we collectively view them now, with fangs and a hunger for blood, creeping around through windows and walking among us on our crowded nighttime streets is a new reskinning. During Mercy's time, and much much further back than that, the 'vampire' associated with disease like TB was much more nebulous. For many cultures, what was rising out of the grave to drain the life from its own family had more resemblance to an angry or hungry ghost, than a walking, talking monster. A distinction that, realistically, has no bearing on the end result but, metaphysically, the story changes. It becomes something personal, to the victim and the neighbors around the family, someone they knew in life, someone they watched die. It's the sorrow and the potential rage and absolutely the confusion of why it happened in the first place, rising like fog from the grave to whisper across the landscape, trying to take what it once had back to the cold of its tomb with it. It's the familiar knock of a friend at the door when the friend isn't there anymore. It's the smile you knew all the nineteen years of its life on the other side of the window on a moonless night. When the neighbors wanted to dig up Eliza, Olive and Mercy, there was the quiet whisper that traced back through a thousand ancestors into the far past of humanity that murmured that love doesn't die when the body does - and that that's terrifying, not comforting.
George, with his son dying, agreed to let the neighbors go digging up his family. Maybe he believed them, some accounts say he didn't, but whatever the case, he let them pull up the bodies of his dead loved ones out of their cold graves in the late winter and lay them out right there for testing. Mary Eliza and Mary Olive were safe. They were too rotted to be the hungry ghost that was trying to take young Edwin with it. Mercy however - Mercy, according to the reporter that was onsite to record all of this, looked far too fresh to be a two month old corpse. Her hair and nails had grown, her body looked unblemished, reports said her body had shifted since it had been laid out and, most damning of all, when her chest was cut open by the local doctor, her organs were found to still have blood in them. It wasn't important that Mercy's body had been in the ground during some of the coldest, and therefor most preserving, months of the year. They certainly didn't know about the buildup of gas in a body that can make it move or the way the skin shrinks and pulls back from nails and hair, making them seem to grow. No. What they saw was that Mercy wasn't content to travel into death alone. She wanted her baby brother to go with her.
So they burned her heart on a stone in the graveyard, put the ashes in a drink and had Edwin chug it down. In a move that dates back to, at least, Achilles desecrating Hector's body in the Iliad, you rob a ghost of its power by mangling the body that ties it to both this world, and its recognizable identity.
It didn't work. Within two months, Edwin was dead as well. The story however, lived on. Perhaps in Stoker's Dracula and certainly in the papers of the day. Mercy was, perhaps, the last body dug up in New England and given the 'vampire' treatment. She wasn't the only one however. There are at least six other recorded, and possibly other unmarked, instances during what came to be known as the New England Vampire Panic that swept the upper US during the 1800s. Mercy, at this point, seems to be the last, coming in on the tail end of the old century and the beginning of the new. A last flicker of the old superstitions dying out in the face of rising science.
Tumblr media
296 notes · View notes
swforester · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
A visit to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. This beautiful cemetery features striking old gravestones near the historic church and enchanting 19th century monuments and tombs throughout the grounds. This church is an important part of Washington Irving's classic tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Considered one of America's first ghost stories, it features a headless horseman who terrorizes a hapless schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane. Believe it or not this town's school mascot IS the Headless Horseman. It is said he never misses a game.
Sleepy Hollow NY 6/30/23
350 notes · View notes
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Just a few strange encounters!
343 notes · View notes
psychopomp-recital · 1 month
Text
2/18/24
Feeling like I wanna work with the folk devil and/or Satan. Anyone got any good resources or recommendations?
39 notes · View notes
lauralot89 · 4 months
Text
52 notes · View notes
briefbestiary · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media
Perhaps the most famous of America's cryptids, the ominous Mothman. The entity has garnered quite the reputation, even having a yearly festival dedicated to it in Point Pleasant.
110 notes · View notes
witchyfashion · 6 months
Text
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
Meet the monsters in our midst, from bigfoot to Mothman and beyond! Welcome to the United States of Cryptids, where mysterious monsters lurk in the dark forests, deep lakes, and sticky swamps of all fifty states. From the infamous Jersey Devil to the obscure Snallygaster, travel writer and chronicler of the strange J. W. Ocker uncovers the bizarre stories of these creatures and investigates the ways in which communities embrace and celebrate their local cryptids. Readers will learn about:   • Batsquatch of Washington, a winged bigfoot that is said to have emerged from the eruption of Mount Saint Helens • Nain Rouge of Michigan, a fierce red goblin that has been spotted before every major city disaster in Detroit • Flatwoods Monster of West Virginia, a robotic extraterrestrial that crash-landed in rural Appalachia • Lizard Man of South Carolina, a reptilian mutant that attacked a teenager in the summer of 1988 • Glocester Ghoul of Rhode Island, a fire-breathing dragon that guards a hoard of pirate treasure • And many more!   Whether you believe in bigfoot or not, this fully illustrated compendium is a fun, frightening, fascinating tour through American folklore and history, exploring the stories we tell about monsters and what those stories say about us.
https://amzn.to/3PSMUVE
57 notes · View notes
spencerranch · 5 months
Text
Tumblr media
Monster Month Day 27- The Jersey Devil
I gave him dinosaur hands for no reason. I like it.
39 notes · View notes
thecorpselight · 11 months
Text
Folk Cures: Amulets
Green glass beads worn about the neck will prevent or cure erysipelas.
Gold beads were formerly a protection against the "King's Evil" (scrofula), and nearly every maiden and matron wore ample strings of beautiful large beads.
Gold beads worn about the neck will cure sore throat.
Gold beads worn about the throat were thought to cure or prevent goître.
A string of gold beads worn on the neck will cure or prevent quinsy.
Red beads about the neck cure nose-bleed.
For nose-bleed wear a red bean on a white string round the neck.
A black silk cord about the neck cures croup.
Wearing brown paper on the chest will cure sea-sickness.
Tie a piece of black ribbon around a child's neck, and it will prevent croup.
To cure rheumatism, wear a brass ring on the finger.
Wearing brass rings will prevent cramp.
Sailors wear gold earrings for weak eyes or to strengthen the sight.
As a cure for nose-bleed, tie a string about the little finger.
A leather string commonly worn around the neck is supposed to prevent whooping-cough.
A red string tied about the waist cures nausea or sea-sickness.
Current Superstitions. Collected from the Oral Tradition of English Speaking Folk. The American Folk-Lore Society. Edited by Fanny D. Bergen. 1896.
63 notes · View notes
sam-dugesian · 4 months
Text
I can believe the story of The Virginia Bunny Man
Just some nutcase dressed in a bunny costume chasing away people who are trespassing on their land whilst brandishing an axe they only use for fear factor
That's not a cryptid
It's just a guy
youtube
15 notes · View notes
lexi-arted · 11 months
Text
A lil something from my Portfolio class. Had to keep all our projects within a relative theme and I chose American folklore/monsters. Love how they turned out :D
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
50 notes · View notes
samwisethewitch · 2 years
Text
I sometimes forget how different the South is from the rest of the US (for better or worse) but then I see Northerners talk about how we don't have folk spirituality in America anymore and remember that I know multiple people who have Met The Devil and that my partner's grandma can use snakes to make it rain during a drought
283 notes · View notes
curiousnaturestudio · 9 months
Text
Tumblr media
Mothman is a popular United States myth of a large, flying humanoid creature with glowing red eyes. This cryptid was first spotted in the 1960's haunting skies of West Virginia by two cemetery workers, where shortly after reports of a 10 foot winged creature started appearing in the newspapers.
The most famous sighting of Mothman was on December 15th, 1967 where locals said to have seen a mysterious figure over the Silver Bridge, a suspension bridge that connected Point Pleasant to Gallipolis, Ohio. According to the legend, shortly after the creature was spotted the bridge had collapsed resulting in the tragic deaths of 46 people.
After Mothman disappeared from Point Pleasant sightings started to appear all around the world claiming this winged humanoid creature that would appear right before a major disaster. For example, the year before the Chernobyl incident (Ukraine) there were numerous claims of a creature flying around the plant as well as in 2011 a similar sighting was seen at the Fukushima plant (Japan) before Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami had triggered a massive nuclear explosion. It’s even said he was spotted in Minnesota one month before the collapse of the I-35W bridge, leaving storytellers unsure on whether Mothman should be considered good or evil. Some say the creature is bad luck and causing these catastrophes, but others speculate Mothman may be able to see into the future and is only trying to help warn the people of an impending disaster, giving him the nickname “Harbinger of Doom”
134 notes · View notes