Some of my favorite remedies from the Foxfire books include: Living up in the mountains, it could be difficult and prohibitively expensive to go to a doctor, so folks developed their own ideas for healing, with various results. The Appalachian folks also had some interesting home remedies. This is what they said three times, while healing a burn:įire. They spoke a specific secret healing verse as part of their process to heal burns. Of the faith healers interviewed, two came forward, willing to share their methods if they were kept anonymous. In Foxfire vol 1, the students interview some faith healers who are known for their ability to heal thrush in children, burns, and bleeding. Granny Women were midwives and folk healers who used all the knowledge passed down to them, whether that be a charm or a prayer, to help the members of their community. ![]() And, for the most part, they didn’t seem to see any problem with their variety of practices, as they understood it all came from the Divine. The practices of river baptisms, snake handling, and folk healing were common in rural Appalachia.Īppalachian folks blended ancient Celtic rituals from Scotland and Ireland, Protestant Christianity, and African traditions with teaching from local Native Americans into a unique mixture of witchcraft, religion, and earth magic. The famous American feud between the Hatfield and McCoy clans were one of many violent family feuds in the wooded mountains (contrary to popular depiction, they were both relatively wealthy and powerful families, feuding over land rights). The people of Appalachia have long been plagued with poverty, poor and dangerous working conditions in coal mines, and lack of traditional education and healthcare. The white frontiersmen pushed west into the wooded wilds and mountains that marked the borders of the ‘civilized’ British controlled society. In 18th century colonial America, Appalachia was known as ‘backcountry’, and it was populated by native Algonquian (central area) and Cherokee (southern area) peoples, and European immigrants, mostly Scotch-Irish frontiersmen. The Appalachian mountains stretch from Canada to Alabama, but the cultural area known as Appalachia includes 420 counties in 13 central and southern states in the US, with the core region being in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. The student-written magazine, and subsequent bestselling book series, was named Foxfire. They created a magazine with articles based on the students’ interviews of local folks in the Appalachian mountains and their traditions and folkways. ![]() ![]() In 1966, students in Georgia engaged in an experiential learning activity on writing.
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