Ozarks folk practices or Ozark Folk Magic is part of a family of practices and superstitions that are related to the practices of Appalachia, the Pennsylvania Dutch and other practitioners that emigrated to America from Europe. It falls under the umbrella of American Folk Magic but is, in my opinion, a distinct practice. Unfortunately a lot of the practice has died off and very little is left of the actual practices except for what was preserved by Vance Randolph in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. However, even what he collected can be questioned as Ozarkers do sometimes tend to bend the truth or outright lie to outsiders.
There have been recent attempts to revive the practice but with varying results and sometimes questionable motivations. I felt that now was the time to throw my hat in the ring, so to speak, to hopefully get a working 21st century practice that is both rooted in our traditions and relevant to the modern era. The first hard truth to this that we have to face is that that the Ozarks of the 19th century...hell, even the Ozarks of the 20th century is dead and gone.
I now realize I have been rambling a bit so let me reign this in.
The Ozarks, Appalachian and Pennsylvania Dutch practices are descended from what was called Cunning Folk or Cunning Man practices in Europe (Germany specifically) and the British Islands. Those practices more than likely stretch back to pre-Christian days but have become so rooted in Christianity that it is impossible and disingenuous to separate them now.
The Cunning Folk did many different things and operated as doctors, diviners, helpful magicians and so on. They seemed to know a bit about everything and were very helpful to have around. However many were suspicious of them and their abilities. Sadly more than a few were accused of being witches and were persecuted or killed. Many came to the American Colonies and worked there but again ran afoul many of the Churches and fled. Some to Appalachia and later to the Ozarks.
You can draw a line from the Ozarks to Appalachia back to the British Islands and see that this is part of a larger tradition. Unfortunately that line breaks in the 20th century as practitioners became fewer and fewer. The rise in education and being more accessible to the outside world was a part of it. Fundamentalist and Evangelical churches were another part. Pentecostal healers and preachers just didn't like having competition and neither did the doctors coming into the area. Children of Cunning Folk, or whatever you want to call them, also didn't want to carry on the practice. Some saw it as superstitious nonsense others, sadly saw it as devil worship.
From what I understand, it was around the 1950s or so that the practice was pretty much at an end and was only on life support up until recently. And when I say recently I would say in the past 15 or so years that interest returned in the subject. In some ways you can say that the practice of Ozarks Folk Magic, the Granny Women, Goomer Men, Power Doctors and other names for it went extinct 70 years ago.
As I said, interest in the subject has returned but with few, if any, of the original practitioners left and not many surviving records we are in some ways starting over. It seems Appalachia fared better than we did and not as many of their traditions were lost due to the relation between the Ozarks and Appalachian people we can fill in the gaps a bit with what they are doing.
As I said before, my plan is to create a new practice rooted in the traditions and spirit of the past but relevant to the 21st century. This includes bringing in new ideas and ideas from similar traditions to fill in the gap. This also means that some things will have to be rebuilt whole cloth. It is a journey that has been years in the making and one I hope you will join me on.
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