This is a classic study on backwoods folk-magick. It was originally written in the 40s, so the author was able to interview folks who lived in the 1800s. The author lived in the Ozarks (one of the few educated ones) and got to know many of the people he interviewed. He felt it was important that the old lore should be recorded, as most of the practitioners were already elderly or dead -- a dying art. He was able to gain the info because he wasn't an outsider. They would have never spoken a word to him if he hadn't been from the area.

It's a wonderful book, though at times it was a tad tedious as it's packed to the gills with info. Some of the best stuff dealt with stories of the mountain witches or "Power Doctors", as they're called back in the hills. The book is 367 pages of strange customs, rituals, spells, beliefs and superstitions. Most of the early white inhabitants of the Ozarks were English stock, so many of their customs and beliefs can be traced back to old British practices. They often used the bible in rituals. However, since very few of them could read, the bible was used as more of a talisman or "spell book" and not in the standard Christian way. The hill folk were (are) strong believers in astrology/the zodiac and would consult the "signs" for everything they did: planting, marriages,.. even repairing a roof or slaughtering a hog. They had their own interpretations, of course. Naturally there aren't any scorpions in the Ozarks, so the hill-folk assumed that the sign of Scorpio was a Crawfish or crawdad and called it the "sign of the Craw Pappy". The early settlers also adopted many local Indian customs and learned tribal medicine. The Ozark hill-folk of the 18th and 19th centuries were a very isolated group and pretty much out of touch with the rest of the world until well into the 20th century. It's very fortunate that the author was able to record all this information before it vanished.

Many of the spells and methods aren't for the squeamish! The spells and folk remedies are truly hardcore backwoods conjure. One can almost imagine some hag stewing an awful brew in some old shack way back in the hills. Want to know a cure for a teething baby? Rub rabbit brains over the babie’s gums. Want to get rid of fleas? Urinate all over your clothes and then wear them all day (it may have something to do with the ammonia). Some of the cursing/hexing rituals were really elaborate and fascinating. These people didn't mess around. If someone hexed you, you were as good as dead. ( )

Bewitched by the water witching, the yarns, tall tales and ghost stories of the Ozarks.

There's not just magic in the title, there's magic in the writing and reseach behind this book. The author has empathy for the subjects of his study, but he avoids going 'native' His writing, while meticulous and academic is poetry.

This book was a "vector origin" for me. My reading habit for non-fiction is to pick something in a very unfamiliar field, read it, and if I like it, I find more to read in that area. This was my first read on academic folklore. Sad to say - it was also the best. Get this. Please. The people studied are amazing; they are almost entirely gone today - but read this and understand how so recently we had people in this country, for whom life was scary, magical, more earthy, much more carnal in all the good ways, and richer than it is for so many of us "rationalists" today. Eating, hunting, growing food, sex, shelter, and fear of age, disease, and the unknown - all with a wonder of the world lost to most of us.

Buy this book.