Lady and Her Cats

St. Gertrude’s Day on March 17th is celebrated in Urglaawe as Frouwasege, a holiday for Frouwa (another name for Freya, which means “Lady”). So March 17th is also Grumbieredaag– Potato Day. It’s a day to plant potatoes and also make a potato bread called Datsch. This isn’t just any potato bread though. You’re supposed to include ingredients for what you want to grow in your garden, also including something black, something green, and something white for her cat. Crumbs from this bread are then sprinkled in the four corners of the garden while invoking die Gleene Leit (the Little People who live in the corners of the garden), and calling down help from above. There’s more to it, and linked with fairy lore, and is a relevant supplement to our fairy tradition here in the Ozarks. For more on the folklore surrounding this custom and other fairy lore, I highly recommend Folk Tales of the Pennsylvania Dutch by William Woys Weaver.  

But back to Frouwa/Freya… The idea is that the veneration of St. Gertrude may have been the continuation of Freya worship, in the sense that many of Freya’s qualities are there. St. Gertrude was the patroness of gardens, cats, and travelers and shows up in Pennsylvania fairy lore. Freya is associated with cats as well, as it is two cats who pull her chariot.

It was debated early on in Urglaawe whether it should actually be Freid (Frigg) honored at this holiday. After all, it was the Norse, not the Germanic peoples who had Freya in their pantheon. Most scholars believe that Frigg and Freya are one goddess. This isn’t just part of that tendency of lumping all goddesses together- there’s actually a lot of evidence that these two goddesses, in particular, having been one goddess– evolved from the earlier Germanic goddess Frija. (To learn more, see the article titled Frigg on the website Norse Mythology for Smart People.)

However, regardless of whether Freya and Frigg are or were one goddess, they are experienced as individual deities by so many of their worshipers. It reminds me of the Holle and Perchta pairing as sisters who rule over the light and dark halves of the year. Freya could represent wild feminine power and Frigga that of domestic majesty. 

And that brings to mind one of the theories as to why these were one goddess split into two– the theory that Christianity caused a separation of accepted qualities from ones that were too wild for the new religion, so what was once was a complex and nuanced deity became a wife/whore dichotomy.

I recall one of Freya’s myths in which she wanders all over the earth looking for her lost husband, and as she goes, she assumes different names and guises in the various places she goes. Perhaps this myth is what started the idea of all goddesses being one. 

Lest we fall into the calamity of reducing every goddess into oblivion– another way of looking at it could be that She is a spiritual entity that can divide herself into many, into multitudes– sisters, daughters, valkyries, angels, other selves… Or perhaps She is simply part of a big family of similar beings. All these goddesses that are described as shining, and as ruling over matters of life and death, well there would have to be many of them, if you think about it, because there are so many of us. –I’ve heard it said that there are probably more than three Norns as well.

However you think of them, it seems fitting to treat Freya and Frigg as separate goddesses in worship, especially when worshiping out in community with others. It takes nothing away from our own beliefs to do so, making it the most inclusive approach and thus the one that is orthopraxic.

Finding Ozark Deities

In my last post, I talked about creating a uniquely Ozark Pagan tradition, drawing from our culture, and from the Appalachian sources that formed our culture. On the surface, these regions are predominantly Protestant. However, alongside this, is a continuous animistic belief system to be explored, as well as a compendium of folktales and fairytales that hold a depth of ancient symbolism and remnants of old beliefs.

Belief in the Little People that inhabit the landscape has always been a part of our culture, both in the Ozarks and the Appalachians. This is a living fairy faith, the rich details of which can especially be found in Pennsylvania. In Folktales of the Pennsylvania Dutch by William Woys Weaver, we may find not only the tales of the fairy folk that reside in our country, but also the ways they are venerated and clues to deeper origins. For example, the fairy queen Shlaangafraa (“Snake Lady”), seems to be very much like the Celtic goddess Sironâ, and the forest king Buschmops /Waldemops seems very much reminiscent of Cernunnos. (Yes- it seems that that folklore tradition has preserved a lore venerating deities that are Celtic in origin as well. In truth, I believe that German and Celtic syncretism has as always been happening.)

Tales from other parts of Appalachia often have an Ozarks version that is a bit different in the details. We can sometimes find the deities here too, when we know how to recognize their symbolism, as often the characters in question are not named in the tales. For example, there’s the Jack Tales– Jack himself seems to be part folk hero, part demi-god, an adventurer of the Maponos-type, and a benevolent trickster. It’s some of the older characters in his tales, and other mountain tales, who give magical assistance and are never named, but may have once been symbolic of ancient gods. Fairytales were the repository of their lore, after all other modes had been outlawed. Earlier in history, listeners would have known these characters from earlier tales in which their deeds and appearance would have made them quite recognizable. Whether these names were forgotten as time went on, or omitted for secrecy, it has come down to us to decipher the greater meaning.

Another place where the gods were hidden was the “helpful entities” called on for assistance in the Braucher folk magic tradition of the Pennsylvania Dutch. These practitioners used to be called “powwowers”. When they came here to the Ozarks, they were called Power Doctors. The helpful entities or spirits they called on were actually, for the most part, Germanic deities, though sometimes they were referred to just by titles.

Some deity names are just titles. (For example, the names Freyr and Freya simply mean lord and lady). Calling entities or spirits a title that reflects their role looks a lot like reverence of archetypes. Maybe in some sense it is, but in common thought, people tend to associate archetypal belief with non-belief, and animism with the opposite– abundance of belief. Actually they are both archetypal and animistic, but also much more than that. The titles tend to become names when the language changes and the people forget, or don’t think about, the original meanings.

These sources have proven to be invaluable for the building up of Ozark Pagan/Heathen tradition, the details of which I plan to share here, and in public rituals, in the following seasons, so that anyone who wishes to, may join in an Ozark tradition.

Crafting an Ozarks Tradition

In my local UU Pagan group, we have public rituals, and over the past year, we’ve done all of them as Sunday services at our parent congregation’s fellowship. In the last couple of rituals, we’ve begun focusing on fine tuning our own regional form of Paganism/ Heathenry. In order to do this, we not only pull from Ozark lore, but from that of Appalachia as well, for settlers from that region contributed greatly to the early development of Ozark culture. So much so, in fact, that when author Colin Woodard identified eleven distinct cultures that have historically divided the US, the lower part (our part) of the Ozarks were included as part of “Greater Appalachia”.

This is but one version of an Ozark Paganism. There were many cultures that contributed to Ozark and Appalachian culture, and it’s still evolving. For my group’s rituals though, we must be mindful of cultural appropriation, and respect closed practices. We do, however, draw more from the major influences– it has often been said that for both regions it was the Scots-Irish that had the greatest influence. However, failing to credit German cultural influence may simply be WW2 anti-German sentiment, as the unique aspects of the Pennsylvania German tradition spread far into Southern Appalachia, and yes here, in the Ozarks as well. It is from that tradition that we got the Power Doctors, moon-sign medical astrology (planting/living by the signs), wart cures, tree peg spells, and a lot more.

“The strong historic connection between the German immigration to Pennsylvania in the New World and the early settlements of the Appalachian back country is easily proven through genealogical research. The Shenandoah Valley, with its Scots-Irish and German populations, was seen as ‘an extension of Pennsylvania’, a conclusion that holds true for most of the southern Appalachians.”
—Signs, Cures, and Witchery: German Appalachian Folklore by Gerald C. Milnes

By incorporating aspects of not only the Appalachians, but also the Pennsylvania Dutch Pagan tradition called Urglaawe, we get a more complete Pagan/Heathen tradition, especially for mythology and the deities, which were hidden under the guise of “helpful entities” called on by the Brauchers or Hexerei (the magical practitioners of the Pennsylvania tradition).

In the rituals for the year ahead, I hope to bring to my group and to our local community a sense of what it can mean to flourish in one’s own culture. We can reclaim things that may have been lost on the trek through the hills and through time, or perhaps were hidden until the time was right. That time is now.

Inscribed Spells

An inscribed spell is one in which words and/or symbols relaying one’s intent are marked onto a surface. In ancient times, this was done on a clay or lead tablet and tossed into a sacred body of water. The most common way that inscribed spells are used in folk magic today is on paper. In the Appalachians and Ozarks, these spell papers are called a petition, letter, card, token, or ticket. It is believed to add more power to your spell if you use a pencil without an eraser, and write in a continuous cursive script. This is often written in a circle formation (to symbolize harmony and continuity), or with one line of script crossing another in an equal armed cross or an X (for one thing to intersect or have influence over the other and to invoke crossroads power).  

It is best to use short concise wording, and as with spoken charms, to use present or past tense; as though the thing you want to happen, has already come about. Symbols are often used in combination with the written script; such as hearts, stars, dollar signs, etc. in the corners of the paper, in accordance with the intention. Often I use just symbols for a spell token, and sometimes runes or even sigils (though these are not traditional Ozark folk magic).

Choice of paper can be a significant factor; natural is considered best, such as the kraft paper used in paper grocery bags, which is considered “pure paper”. (Though if you need something that will burn fast with little smoke, you might consider tissue paper, as I mentioned in Fire Magic.) A three inch square is a good size to use, and a torn edge (as opposed to a cut edge) symbolizes peaceful intent. The paper can be imbued with magical properties by adding scented oil or perfume around the edges.

The finished inscribed paper spell can be used in many ways. It can be folded up (fold toward you for increase, or away from you for decrease, or banishing) and placed under a candle in a candle spell. It can be rolled up and tied with ribbon or string using a knot spell (and attached to other charms or burned). It can be placed in a pocket, jar, poppet, etc. 

However, not all inscribed spells are marked on paper. Words or symbols can be traced in dirt or sand, etched or burned into wood, painted or embroidered onto fabric, etched into metal, traced on skin with water, paint, or oils. Wax china markers are really good for marking on glass candle holders. An inscribed spell can also be cut onto crust, dough, or other foods. One can even trace a spell in the air with a finger, wand, or other tool. (So if ya’ll ever see me somewhere tracing something in the air with a wooden spoon, you know what’s up, ha!)

Charms

Though these terms are often used interchangeably…

Talismans are objects meant to actively attract favorable influences and bring good fortune, and are usually made to a specific purpose. They are for empowering or amplifying magic.

An amulet is generally a passive protective object that wards off bad luck, and is a general shield against evil. They are for protective or defensive magic.

Charm is a word that often describes both of these, but is more often meant for luck. A charm can be a pendant or other object on which you’ve etched magical symbols. It can also be a natural object (or objects) you keep them in your pocket, shoe, or tied or pinned to the clothing. 

Sometimes you will find the word charm used to mean a spoken spell. This is the older use of the word– any act of speaking power into being, by manner or singing, chanting, whispering, or intoning. I wonder if a physical charm was originally named that because a charm was spoken over it? Perhaps it’s just that the object called a charm stands as a symbol or substitute for the spoken word?

In any case, here are some frequently used physical charms used in Ozark folk magic…

Iron – Legend has it that iron repels haints and evil spirits of all kinds. A common explanation for the origins of this belief is that it comes from the time when bronze age people first encountered tribes equipped with iron weapons. The process of making iron was regarded as magical as was blacksmiths themselves. Pieces of iron were sewn into, or iron pins or brooches were stuck into; clothes, to avert evil. Women in labor were protected by a row of iron nails or a reaping hook. Iron weapons and horseshoes were regarded as especially protective. A piece of iron can be rubbed on skin and objects to stroke away pain or illness.

Copper – Copper bracelets are worn for arthritis and protection against many kinds of illness.

Silver – According to legend, silver is a holy metal which can injure evil. Silver is related to the moon and brings protection, wealth, and the blessing. In Ozark tradition, one is to touch a silver coin, or coin jewelry, while looking at the moon, as a charm for prosperity. (Dimes minted before 1965 contain 90% silver.)

Coins – Wearing or carrying a silver dime is said to give you a warning that you’ve stepped over a hex laid out for you, as it will turn black if you did. Bent coins are carried for good luck, as are pennies found heads-up. Holed pennies can be worn for different purposes: one with the hole through President Lincoln’s head treats a headache, a hole through the heart soothes matters of love, a hole in front of him is for luck, and one behind him protects from hexes. The hole cannot be made by the bearer in their own home, but elsewhere by someone else, with a hammer and nail.

Holey Stones – These are also called hagstones or peep stones. They are stones with natural holes in them. They’re carried for good luck, protection from the Little Folk, and clusters of them are strung up with wire on bed posts for nightmare prevention.

Horseshoes – The use of old horseshoes as magically protective amulets, especially hung above doorways, originated in Europe, where they are still nailed to houses, barns, and stables from Italy through Germany and up into Britain and Scandinavia. Additionally, wall hangings, jewelry, and printed images made in the form of horseshoes are common. It is also the most commonly encountered lucky charm in North America. Americans of English and Irish descent prefer to display horseshoes with the point facing up, to hold in the luck. Although actual horseshoes still serve a magically protective function when nailed above a door, modern horseshoe jewelry is worn not for protection, but for its lucky power.

Clover – A four-leafed clover is felt to be especially lucky. Clover is a symbol of life, luck and abundance.

Salt – Salt, though alone may not constitute a charm, is often used as an ingredient in composite charms and other magics. It is considered to be a hallowing substance that purifies, repels evil, and attracts wealth. (If using outdoors, I would recommend using epsom salt instead, which is better for the environment.)

Buttons – A button received as a gift is always lucky, no matter what the color. (Collecting and exchanging buttons and putting them on charm necklaces used to be a thing, a long time ago.) However, best not pick up any black buttons you find saying around somewhere. These are lost on purpose by people who want to get rid of some bad luck.

Feathers – Black feathers are used for Ozark sweeping magic (but more about that later). They’re  also worn or carried to ward off rheumatism. In the Appalachians, buzzard feathers are hung above a doorway to prevent illness. Dove feathers in a pillow prevent nightmares, and duck feathers bring good luck in money. (However, I have to mention that it is illegal in the U.S. to have any part of a migratory bird, no matter how you came into possession of it, even if the feathers were simply found in nature no harm to a bird was done.) 

Parts of Trees – There are quite a few charms that are components of trees. I’ve covered some of these in my article Ozark Tree Magic & Spirituality. Buckeyes are a widespread good luck charm that was once very popular in the Ozarks and are carried in a pocket and rubbed for good luck. Lightning-struck wood is considered lucky (as long as you don’t burn it in the home). Cedar chips are carried in pockets to ward off evil spirits and disease.

There are quite a few Ozark charms concerning love and relationships- I wrote about them a few years back in a post titled Ozark Love Charms & Magic. 

I’m sure there are many physical charms I’ve left out, but these are some of the better known ones. Now let’s talk about the other meaning of the word charm…

Spoken Charms

An easy and traditional way to “charm” an object is to say a prayer over it and name its magical purpose. In fact, most of the traditional Ozark magical practitioners (yarb doctors, two-headed doctors, and the like) would have used Christian prayers and bible verses almost exclusively.

Since I am not a Christian practitioner, I use other sources (including my own imagination) for inspiration. My favorite, that I use in both devotional practices and in magic, is the Tree of Life prayer I mentioned in an earlier post.

I like to time some of the actions of a spell to coincide with the recitation of the final words or lines of the prayer/spell as it’s spoken. And of course, charm means any kind of spoken spell, not just ones said over objects to enchant them. 

There’s an old one I call “Burn Heal” that’s said while applying a remedy to a burn. There are many versions of it, but I use the one that goes:

Three ladies came from the east,
one with fire and two with frost.
Out with thee, fire; in with thee, frost.

Then there’s another one I call “Flesh to Flesh” which also has many versions and was handed down from old times:

With this spell that I intone,
flesh to flesh and bone to bone,
sinew to sinew and vein to vein,
and each one be made whole again.

And here’s another old one that has many variations, I call it “Three Springs”. It’s original purpose was to mend broken bones, but this is my version I used to promote health and well-being:

I walk through a green forest.
There I find three springs, cool and cold.
The first is called courage.
The second is called goodness.
The third is called all be well.

I’ve heard it said that the words of a spoken spell should be in past or present tense; to put it in the future tense would set the results to be ever out of reach. I have quite a few really short charms I’ve written myself. I won’t share them all here. It’s not that I think it will diminish their magic (though some folk practitioners do believe this), but I do feel that sometimes there’s more magic in something one’s written oneself. So I’ll just leave you with this last one…

Guardians Spell Seal
By the Guardians of my soul,
In all goodness, this is so.

Fire Magic

Now that we have arrived at the longest day of the year, I thought I might write a bit about fire magic; some practicalities of it, as well as how fire is used in magic in my neck of the woods.

Of course, there is candle magic, and most of us modern Pagans have a sense of what candle colors are used for this or that need. However, it is more traditional in the Ozarks and Appalachians to just use a plain white candle. Whether its a taper or glass encased candle is often a practical matter of availability and affordability. Also, nuances of the working can’t always be narrowed down to a color theme. Working with a small glass-encased candle has the added benefit of being a little less of a fire hazard, and no dripped wax. Whereas one would carve the name of who the spell is for on a taper candle, with a glass-encased candle the name could be marked with a grease pencil or marked in cloth and tied to the candle, or marked on pure paper (brown paper bag) and pasted to the glass. For a taper candle, one would anoint it with oil while rolling it toward oneself for increase, or away from oneself for a spell of decrease. For a glass-encased candle, a bit of oil can be placed on top of the wax.

Then there’s the issue of whether you adhere to the notion of letting a spell candle burn all the way down. If you are in a position to keep an eye on your candle for long periods of time, this may not be an issue. Otherwise, you may want to either set a certain time interval to burn it and call it finished, burn it in stages (snuffing the flame between intervals, not blowing it out), or choose a fast burning candle to get your magics did and done. A chime candle can take two and a half hours to burn all the way down, a (3 inch) Hanukkah candle takes 30 to 40 minutes, and the average birthday candle takes a little over 14 minutes. You can use a shot glass or a votive holder to encase a birthday candle. Find a small raised washer that fits the end of the candle. Fasten it to the end and you can just stand the candle up in the middle of the glass. Of course, birthday candles may be too small to carve something on, but you could still put something on the glass, or put a small spell paper under the glass. You could also surround a picture or symbol with candles for your working, three or four around it are traditional.

Some people like to use an oil lamp instead of candles. For this, you would wash out the basin of a lamp with saltwater and fill it with the herbs and spell items you’re using. You can even attach a spell paper to the wick with a clothespin before you pour in lamp oil. Whisper into the basin your prayer or spell and blow three breaths into it before placing the top on and continuing with it. Say your words of power again as you light the lamp, and adjust the flame to burn small. You’re never supposed to let a lamp burn out it’s oil, or let anything touch it’s chimney. 

Aside from candle or lamp magic, there’s the simple act of burning something. As I have mentioned before, a traditional Ozark curse-avert was to tangle up some yarn and throw it in the fireplace. Folks have tossed a bit of salt into a fire for the same purpose. Before there was reliable medicine to bring down a fever, Ozark healers used to burn some black feathers under the bed of a patient.

Burning something can be an act of symbolically ridding oneself of something or manifesting something. It can also be an act of offering or celebration, as when we burn sun symbols at the Solstice. If you don’t have a fireplace and can’t have an outdoor fire, a burn-pot may be just the thing. For mine, I used a small copper cauldron I found in a thrift store and filled it about halfway with sand. A votive candle goes in the middle and I use that to light my spell paper. Though brown (bag) paper is usually my preference for spell tokens, if I’m burning it indoors, I use a small square of really thin tissue paper (the kind of tissue paper that goes in the top of gift bags). And, whereas I would normally fold a spell token three times (toward myself for increase, away for decrease), in this case, I fold it accordion style and light the entire edge, letting it catch full well before dropping it in the sand. This material and this method seems to be the fastest burning with the least amount of smoke (plus, tissue paper can be snipped into neat little sun images and burned for the Solstice). The only thing faster I’ve found is flash paper, and I only get that for special occasions (like a burning bowl ceremony at my UU church), since it’s a bit too flammable to keep around all the time.

Speaking of which, with all fire spells, remember– never leave a flame unattended.

Happy Solstice!

Ozark Tree Magic & Spirituality

Ozarkers have a special reverence for trees, and many special trees native to the area are used in healing, magic, and divination. 

“Some observers have thought they found a suggestion of tree worship, or something of the sort, in the Ozarker’s use of the masculine pronouns as applied to trees.” –Vance Randolph, Ozark Magic & Folklore

Many of these old time spells involved driving a peg into a tree. I have been told that this does not damage a healthy, mature tree, even when done several times to the same tree. However, I will not advocate such practices. Instead I offer these alternatives; tie a string around the tree where the peg would have been in a peg cure/spell, or drive a peg into the ground instead of a tree. Many peg spells proscribe driving a peg into the ground already. In the symbolism of our folk magic, items buried among the roots, or pegs driven into the ground at it’s base, take on qualities or attributes of a tree, or are otherwise linked to its life.

Most trees are considered suitable for healing magic, except the poisonous ones; yew and hemlock. Touching or just being close to trees is believed to have healing effects and alleviate headaches. Items made from the wood take on the tree’s associations. Lightning struck wood is a powerful talisman, and a buckeye nut was a common good luck token kept in the pocket. I’ve already said quite a bit about the Dogwood in my article Snawfus and the Dogwood, as it is quite an important tree in the Ozarks.

“Tie a string in knots – the same number of knots as the number of chills you have had. Tie the string around a dogwood tree and the chills will go away.” –Mary Celestia Parler, Folk Beliefs from Arkansas

Pawpaw trees were featured predominantly in Ozark folk magic. They were considered a witching tree and used in love and peg spells. Papaw seeds were tossed into coffins to insure revenge for a murder. Once I asked my dad if he could remember people working magic with pawpaw trees. He said that when he was a kid, the girls would tear away strips of cloth from their undergarments and tie them to the branches of pawpaw trees for love spells. By the way, the fruit of the pawpaw is incredibly delicious. The best time to harvest them is when they’re falling from the tree.

Red cedar is a type of juniper that holds a special place in Ozark tradition. It is used in spells for protection, especially from accidents and animal attacks, and also used for psychic powers and breaking curses. It’s used as a fumigant and burned for the purification of home, people, and animals (in a similar way that many Pagans use sage). The berries of juniper can be used for charm necklaces. It was once the most common type of Christmas tree used here.

The seeds of the persimmon fruit are used to predict winter weather. Once split open, they reveal the images of “fairy cutlery”. A spoon indicates heavy snow, a fork for mild winter with light snow, and a knife means icy winds. Persimmons are ripe after the first frost.

Fresh young roots of the Sassafras tree are used to make a spring tonic, but it can only be drunk for a few days in the spring, as it contains a substance that can cause liver damage if taken for too long. It used to be used to make root beer. The mitten leaves of Sassafras are used to keep winter clothes fresh when packed away for the summer. Every part of this tree smells good, and the twigs were once used as natural toothbrushes. Sassafras is used for luck and prosperity magic.

There’s all sorts of folklore about the good or bad luck of planting certain trees, and of the cutting down of certain trees as well. A lot of early Ozark folk were animists, and trees and plants and stones were thought of as the residences of some powerful spirits. The sacredness of trees is not at all a foreign concept here, and although we don’t have one tree we hold above all others as our World Tree, I find that the symbolism and imagery of using it in my personal liturgy to be very well fitting. I use the following “Tree of Life” prayer as an ending segment to both short rituals and magical workings: “In the name of the Tree of Life, in the name of the Sacred Three, in the name of the Guardian Ones, and all the Powers together, so may it be.”

Magical Waters

Water is purifying and neutralizing. In Appalachia and the Ozarks, creek and river water is used for spiritual washing and removing curses, (and the place where two creeks or rivers merge into one is considered especially potent) but it cannot be stored for later use, as it’s considered “live water” because of its continuous flowing. Ocean water is valued for its properties of healing and bestowing fertility, through bathing or soaking in it, and folks have been known to bring it home in mason jars for that purpose.

Dew is considered to have powerful properties. May morning dew (from May 1st, before sunrise) is used as a face cleanse for lasting youth, but also is said to help with skin rashes. An old Appalachian love spell calls for a woman to use dew to wash herself while saying the name of the person she desires. And a woman who wishes to become pregnant is to roll around in dew in the light of the full moon. A white handkerchief is often used to collect dew from grass, and reserved for that use, remenicient of the tradition of the Brat Bride in Ireland.

Rainwater is collected without touching the ground and is used for skin ailments and spiritual afflictions. Stumpwater (sometimes called “spunkwater”) is rainwater that has collected in the hollow of a tree stump. It is mostly connected to the healing of certain skin issues like warts, rashes, and sometimes even freckles. But the water has also been used in the making of herbal infusions. Stumpwater is believed to have more power than regular water because it is elevated above the rest of the land. The preferred method of collection is with a silver ladle while the full moon shines on it.

Tar water is made by steeping pine tar for a few days in water, then straining. This is used for spiritual cleansing, removing curses, and purging haints. Other types of water hold significance because of the importance of where they are collected, or the day they are collected. Water collected under a bridge where the living and the dead have passed (such as a funeral procession) is considered holy water. I’ve heard that in Scotland, silvered water has a similar status.

Our Scottish ancestors called whisky the “waters of life” (uisge-beatha). Whisky is a traditional medicine in the Appalachians and Ozarks, especially when steeped in bitter herbs. It is used as a spring tonic and to treat colds. Burnt whiskey (lit on a tablespoon, allowed to go out on it’s own, then cooled) is to be taken three times a day for diarrhea. Wild cherry bitters, made from steeping the cherries and inner bark of a wild cherry tree in whisky, is a popular spring tonic in the Ozarks, taken as an alternative to sassafras tea. Whisky is also used as a cleansing wash, and for luck or love. It is used to determine if a place is haunted; if you leave a jug of whisky there and the alcohol is gone the next day, or turns a different color, then a haunting is confirmed. The bottle can then be stopped up to trap the haint and used to curse an enemy, or poured out into a bonfire. For those who make offerings, whisky is also a traditional offering in North America (along with cornmeal and tobacco).

Snawfus & the Dogwood Tree

The Ozarks is home to a giant white deer-like creature with blooming dogwood branches growing from his head instead of antlers. The blue haze that hangs over the Ozark Mountains in the early mornings, and especially in fall and winter, is his spiraling exhalations. 

The Snawfus is also said to have the ability to fly and leap into the trees. In a lot of the lore, it’s not because he has wings, but more like he has the agility of a primate. Because of this, the Snawfus is sometimes depicted as a tall man with a deer head (though I’ve rarely come across this depiction– it may be a later idea). 

Crossing paths with the Snawfus is considered a token (sign) of imminent death. But most likely, you will never see him. He will run in circles around you, just out of sight, as you walk through the woods. You may hear the birdsong in his branches, or even catch a glimpse of a dogwood petal, but you won’t see him unless he wants you to. And you may be encircled in the haze of his blue misty breath until you see nothing else.

In Ozark lore, white animals are regarded as an ominous omen. I think that this may have been a cultural memory of the caution and respect afforded to Otherworld creatures. In Celtic lore, Otherworldly creatures are white with red or pink ears, and sometimes red or pink eyes. There is nothing in the lore about the Snawfus having red or pink ears or eyes, but the dogwood flower is either pink or white with gradient pink toward the center. It’s not unrealistic to think that this may be a continuation of Celtic pagan belief, as many of early Ozark settlers were descendants of immigrants from the British isles. Though converted to Christianity hundreds of years ago, it’s no secret that many of the old beliefs held fast. It has been well documented that Ozarkers believed in “Little People” inhabiting stones and hills, and held other animistic beliefs as well.

Thinking along these lines, I ponder if the legend of the Snawfus could also be a local manifestation of the god Cernunnos. Both are antlered and associated with death. The Lord of the Otherworld god-type has manifested in different ways in Celtic myth through the ages- with and without the antlers. Just as those entities once revered as gods or powerful nature spirits became the Little People, so too might such a timeless entity as Cernunnos manifest for his people who traversed so from their origins as well, into a form in which he can be remembered anew.

I’m not alone in this pondering of the divinity of the Snawfus… I’ve come across writings of modern admirers (or should I say followers?) of the Snawfus, that call his blue mist exhalations the “breath of awen”, and regard him as the Spirit of Nature.

Yet there is another aspect of the Snawfus to explore; the great tree that grows from his head. Some stories describe it as a plum tree, but most say it is a dogwood. There’s a legend or two on how it got there- the main one being that a hunter who was out of bullets shot him in the head with a plum pit. That story is just goofy since there is no way a gun would shoot a plum pit, plus it seems to ignore the fact that it is commonly taboo to kill a white deer.

What I am more interested in is the fact that the tree is a dogwood, and the lore and legends surrounding it. The dogwood tree is native to North America and Mexico. Despite where the actual tree originated, there has come to be a lot of Christian legends surrounding it… like it was Jesus’ favorite tree so it was chosen to be used for the cross he was crucified on. (My, they would have had to go a long way to get it…) This legend also states that since that time, the tree no longer grows as tall and straight and the flowers that bloom upon it are in the shape of a cross, with indentations and blood/rust “stains” on the ends where the nails would go. The stamens are supposed to represent the crown of thorns, and the red fruit represents his blood. (No doubt, these colors seen against dark branches, brings to mind the sacred color trinity of red, white, and black.) Add this imagery to the fact that the tree blooms around the time of Easter; from about mid-April to mid-May. There’s also the legend that the dogwood was Adam’s favorite tree and so the devil tried to climb over the wall of Eden to get at it and destroy it, but only managed to take a little bite out of the end of every flower petal. So, what all this tells me, is that Christian settlers perhaps considered the tree both sacred and cursed, as they created a lore that intertwined it in such a way with their beliefs.

Here, dogwood bark took the place of rowan (mountain ash) in the old rowan and red thread protective talismans from the Gaelic countries. Dogwood was used not only for home talismans, but portable ones as well. 

“Some woodcutters who live on Sugar Creek, in Benton county, Arkansas, believe that a mad dog never bites a man who carries a piece of dogwood in his pocket, according to an old gentleman I met in Bentonville.” –Vance Randolph, Ozark Magic and Folklore

Dogwood roots and twigs were also steeped in whisky or boiled into a tea as a remedy for colds and fevers, and the bark was believed to cure colic. Dogwood and redbud are also traditional Ozark ingredients in love spells. Blooming from mid-April to early May, the Dogwood is seen in the Ozarks as an indicator that Spring has arrived. In the old countries this would have been hawthorne, which is not as common here. 

And so, the link Snawfus has with the Dogwood seems to be a profound pairing. For anyone celebrating May Day (Spring Equitherm) in the Ozarks, I think this mythos, imagery, and symbolism are an important part of the season.

Naturalistic Terms for Pagan Holidays

Many of the most popular Neopagan terms for the holidays we commemorate are problematic. This is largely due to those specific names being popularized after being published in the Green Egg in the 1970’s. Don’t even get me started on why “Mabon” isn’t a good choice of naming for the Autumn Equinox. If you don’t already know, you can go see John Halstead’s article, the Worst Named Pagan Holiday. 

Many of these names have very cultural/mythological based themes. In the past, I am someone who has explored several of the cultures of my ancestors as inspiration for my Pagan practices. But in recent years, I’ve come to the realization that I need to turn my focus to my own here-and-now culture. No matter how much they inspire me, I will never be a part of those other cultures. I am separated from them by an ocean and by hundreds of years. 

My aim is to live the best aspects of my own culture, as much as possible. So I began using some of my culture’s names for holidays, but they’re incomplete, and sometimes Christianized. There are also instances in which there is no equivalent holiday in my culture, but I want there to be one to complete the seasonal narrative. (I mean, we have “Groundhog’s Day” but no equivalent of Lùnasa at the opposite end of the year? What’s that about?!)

Now I know there will be those who are quick to point out that there was never a single ancient culture that commemorated all eight holidays of the modern Neopagan “Wheel of the Year”. Yet, they are events in Nature. Having evenly placed commemorations in the cycle of seasons seems highly appropriate for a Nature-based spirituality (though I know not all Pagans are Nature-based). There is something in Nature to celebrate or commemorate at every turn of the cycle. If there are no outward signs of its marking in my culture, then that needs adjusting.

So my solution for the names I use for the holidays– for the solstices and equinoxes, it’s simple, as they have long established scientific names. But a little lesser known is that the Cross-Quarter days have similarly established naturalistic or scientific names. They are the thermstices and the equitherms.

So the solstices mark the extreme points of the daylight cycle for the year; Winter Solstice is the shortest day and longest night, and Summer Solstice is the longest day and shortest night. Then, the thermstices mark the extreme points of the thermal cycle for the year. This is because the thermal/heat cycle lags the daylight cycle- it takes a while to feel the effects of the solstices. So… Winter Therstice is the approximate coldest part of the year, and Summer Thermstice is the approximate hottest point of the year. 

It’s along similar lines for the equinoxes; the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes are times of equal day and night, but the Spring and Autumn Equitherms are when that equilibrium has caught up in terms of temperature, as days that are likely to feel truer to the season.

Just as the dates of the solstices and equinoxes change from year to year, so do the Cross-Quarter dates of the thermstices and equitherms, and they’re often on different dates from what cultural customs dictate. The scientific method of determining the date can be more complicated than just finding the exact middle between two dates as it also takes into account local terrain shifts. You can find accurate Cross Quarter dates for your region, as well as the solstice and equinox dates for any given year- on the archaeoastronomy website.