Uncover the Secrets of Appalachian Conjure & Folk Magic with Backwoods Witchcraft

Brenda: Great background and content...jogged my memory of Grandma and her work that I had forgotten... Easy to understand and detailed...

United States on Aug 18, 2023

Abra K Vavra: Honestly Im shocked at the reviews about Christianity. Power of the Psalms or Magick in the Psalms should not be overlooked. If you study ancient magick you know the bible is connected to it all.The last supper represents the zodiac, start there. The bible has been changed to control people and take our use of magick away and it seems as though the ones who are shocked and upset by the christianity in this book are the ones still being controlled.Once you start studying and learning the truth and KNOW how its all connected you wont be offended by scripture. I feel as though thats a wiccan mindset. very new. wicca is relatively new on the grand scale of things. . As far as magick is concerned it would really benefit you to look into the origins and what was taken from us. Alot of people want to skip that part and are focused in the now and I dont feel that benefits anyone.This is a wonderful book. And besides that how can you think of mountain folk and not think christianity is involved somewhere.Think about it. I love this book. ✨💕✨💕✨

United States on Feb 01, 2023

Jordan: In “Backwoods Witchcraft” Jake Richards has done an amazing job of explaining both his personal practices and their origins in the traditions of Appalachian folk magic. This text is steeped in both a deep knowledge and love for the historic practices and traditions of folks living in Appalachia and the surrounding regions and does amazing job of introducing the foundational concepts of the practice, including ancestral healing and reverence for the land and local fauna. I’m a hospital chaplain with my MDiv and was especially glad to see the wealth of academic and folkloric references Jake mentions in his bibliography. Not only is the best and most succinct introduction to the tradition I have found (and I’m a Southern with mountain family!) it is also a delight to read and full of practical magic to pick up and work with.

United States on Jan 20, 2023

Katherine Minaker: This is a very educational book to have. I knew very little about the area and it's magick. So interesting to learn this. The writer lives it and his knowledge is great. I posted this book in the Appalachian Witch group on facebook and so many there either know him or have the book or want it! Easy to read and because it is all new to me, I find I need to reflect on each chapter as I read it. So different from what I have learned and I absolutely love it all!

Canada on Sep 29, 2022

SamanthaSamantha: Very informative on the folk practice within Appalachia, alot of bible verses and talk about God but what would you except for a book on Appalachian Folk Magic. Dives into Ancestor Work, Gardening, Spells/Charms, Stories and Superstitions and more. More Traditional than Modern.

Canada on Apr 03, 2022

Laurie: There is definitely history with this book!

Canada on Jan 18, 2022

Alvar: This book was so fantastic to read. It's not really a book on magic theory and magic practice, but more of a documentary of the author's first-hand and second-hand experience of Appalachian magic, with a few third-hand accounts from various sources. It reads a bit like an auto-biography or narrative, but there are some methods of practice intertwined throughout the chapters. But the final chapter is a brief "how-to" chapter with some examples of spell-work and such. Because the author doesn't throw in his own explanations on theory and just reports on what has been done, I believe this actually adds value to the book more than the author may realize, because it captures the facts as is, not to say that the author's explanatory views throughout the book are bad or anything, but just that this provides a more clear and pure report of information. In the future, this book is probably going to be highly valued by anthropologists, historians, and magicians.

I've never been to Appalachia before, so I was really surprised to read this book as my church as a kid was also a Southern Baptist one here in Florida but I never saw any folk magic at all like seen in the mountains, mostly...

United States on May 29, 2021

Sarah: I love wealth of Appalachian folk magic information and overall feel of this book but I found it to drag on slowly in the middle like a sweet southern drawl. It gets good again at the end so keep going.

Canada on Apr 20, 2021

Shane Frazier: I just want to take a moment to rave about this book. I come from eastern Washington, in a very agricultural area, and most of the people who live here migrated from the Ozarks and Appalachia, which are in many ways related to each other. Even today, you can't throw a stone where I live without hitting someone whose ancestry can be traced back to those southern mountains. If you're someone who comes from such a family, you may find this as relevant as I have.

As I read some of these things and look back at my own family, it's fascinating how many folk magic traditions were still practiced in living memory by my grandparents. My grandfather used to divine water by the use of two rods, for example. Of course you wouldn't EVER hear them refer to it as magic, because they're "good Christian folk," they just looked at these things as "The thing to do." It worked for the Old Folks, so they did it too. But when you really examine these things under a folk magic lens, you'll find that a lot of these old southern mountain men and women were witches without ever realizing it.

DISCLAIMER: If you have a problem with the Bible or Christianity you will want to suspend that or put...

United States on May 29, 2020

Luiz Ricardo de Melo: Um livro sem dúvidas bem raro de se ver, pois o autor não se limita a ensinar receitas por ensinar, ele nos brinda com histórias de sua família, fala da cultura onde ele aprendeu tais ritos e mostra o quão importante é a ancestralidade e a conexão com a natureza da região em que se vive para a prática da bruxaria operacional que ele aqui aborda, pontos altos do livro são o capítulo à respeito de como observar os sinais do clima, das fases lunares etc para trabalho agrícola e também o uso de diferentes técnicas comuns do povo dos apalaches em seu ofício de magia, tais como os ritos envolvendo as direções dos 4 pontos cardeais, os ritos envolvendo a medição de partes do corpo, ou da área ou animal para magias de proteção, cura e até maldição, bem como também um capítulo devotado ao trabalho com entidades espirituais mais comuns na vida do homem ou mulher sabia das montanhas, tais como assombrações dos mortos, o povo pequeno (as vezes chamado de povo das fadas) e também espíritos animais, em suma, é um livro excelente e que deveria ser traduzido.

Brazil on Jul 21, 2019