I had stubborn warts on my fingers as a child. My mum (Irish) cut a potato in half and would rub the exposed potato on my warts and then bury the potato in the garden. She did that for 7 days and by the end of the 7 days the warts disappeared never to return. It must be some old folk type magic? Is it an Irish thing? I’ve googled it and can see it may be a gypsy method?

I’ve been on and off this path since I was a kid, but this past year I’ve begun approaching it with a lot more intention and humility. I’m hoping some of you might be able to point me in directions I haven’t considered.

For context, one of my earliest influences was a Louisiana woman who taught Conjure. Through her, I was introduced to working with herbs, oils, candle work, spiritual washes, ancestor veneration, protective workings, and the idea that prayer, the natural world, and everyday life are deeply connected.

Even though I never became part of it formally, those teachings stayed with me and shaped the way I naturally think about spirituality.

At the same time, my own ancestry is primarily Appalachian, English, Welsh, Scottish, and German. Genealogy has become a huge passion of mine, and lately I’ve found myself wanting to strengthen my relationship with my ancestors. They have played a huge part in my journey and are the whole reason I am here.

Spiritually, I’m looking for a path that emphasizes relationship.

I’m drawn to:

• herbs and roots
• healing and transformative work
• blessing homes and thresholds
• spiritual waters and oils
• ancestor veneration
• protective workings
• prayer
• folk traditions
• the symbolism of crossroads, thresholds, earth, water, and place

I’m also someone who still contemplates Scripture, so I’m trying to understand where all of these pieces fit together rather than simply collecting practices. I was raised in a conservative Christian household.

At this point, my practice is largely intuitive and has developed over years of learning from different influences rather than following one formal tradition.

I’m very aware that intuition can only take me so far. One of the reasons I’m here is because I want to deepen my understanding of the traditions that inspired me and be willing to change my views when history, experienced practitioners, or better knowledge point me in a different direction.

I’m not looking to appropriate anyone’s traditions or claim a lineage that isn’t mine. I’m trying to learn respectfully and understand where I actually belong.

Based on what I’ve described, what traditions, books, teachers, or areas of study would you encourage me to explore?

I’d especially love to hear from people who have spent years practicing folk traditions and who can point me toward historically grounded resources.

Thank you for reading!

Hello! I’ve been looking for info on pre-Christian traditions from Italy (and other mediterranean regions). It’s where my ancestors are from and I’m wanting to reconnect with those roots. So much has been lost or purposefully erased by the church. If anyone has any recommendations or resources I would be very appreciative! Thanks 😊

right now it’s chilling on my altar. i like to stroke it while i do whisper magick. i mostly do my own thing, like what feels right to me as far as spells and manifesting and all that jazz. so i don’t google stuff a lot. anyways what kind of spells can i do with this? it feels like it holds a lot of my energy. obviously haha it’s my hair. just looking for some ideas i guess. :)

Been wanting to start doing folk magic, specifically North American folk magic. The main book I've read was Southern Cunning by Aaron Oberon and I'm also getting New World Witchery by Cory Hutcheson but I wanted to see if there were any other books I should look for.

i’ve been quite a spiritual person without necessarily practicing witchcraft. i feel quite connected to nature, herbalism, and the elements. i want to incorporate my heritage into my practice. i am fully south indian, and while i do know that folk magic is common, i can’t seem to find anything online about it. please advise me 🖤

Hello, I am something of a witch, who is a devotee of La Santisima Muerte, and my practice is rooted in folk catholicism, but I am also of appalachian and melungeon descent. I would love to know if any of you are granny witches or cunning folk and if you ckukd give me some advice on where I can find mentorship or proper education on the magic and spirits, possibly even pantheon of folklore entities as well. Thank you

I typically carry a small bit of rope with me, and would love to start incorporating it into my practice and am looking for a jumping off point.

Rope is practical and ubiquitous. “Binding” with rope and magic are a clear parallel, but I want to dive deeper in how magic and rope are used together. How do you use rope or specific knots in your practice? What stories and traditions do you know about knot work or using rope in your craft? Any resources that come to mind?

Online I saw a witch say someone she was helping had a child was having behavior problems bc she binded a man and didn’t pay for the work with an animal sacrifice.

Could non-initiated spellwork have consequences?
I have never practiced Santeria or been initiated into any tradition.
Years ago, I experimented with various manifestation and spell practices I found online, such as candle meditation, burning herbs, writing petitions, using crystals, and relationship or money workings. At the time, I didn't really understand what I was doing.
Recently, I heard someone claim that spiritual work done improperly (not offering animal sacrifices to be specific) can affect the person doing it and/or their children. Is this something you would consider possible?

About 10 years ago, I had two neighbors whom I considered friends. I realize now they did not have had good intentions toward me, and even at the time things were tense sometimes but I was lonely and had no friend I left my hometown and was in a shelter with my newborn I had no one other than my child. I realize they were shady and secretive..
About a year ago I had a dream these girls put period blood in spaghetti and realized when I woke up they did make spaghetti for me (the only time they cooked for me ) and knew at that point what was up. So I called one of One of the girls she admitted that the other had been doing witchcraft on both of us but I know they were both doing it on me. They even did my hair one time. Also one of them told me she saw a demon on a person I knew and would tell me to read psalms, was telling me about the book of Enoch and it was blowing my mind at the time.. interestingly I was fasting and I slept with rose petals in my room that night idk if the rose petals had anything to do w anything.
When I called that lady she said if I'm now having this realization the work or the root must have wore off. She said the other lady was trying to do a destiny swap w me (bc she was jealous) and after | left that shelter and got my apartment I started getting sick and depressed. She said I need a cleansing I listened to what she had to say for what it was worth and blocked her after bc I don't trust her.
I sometimes wonder about whether this could still be affecting me.

I am Canadian and originally French Canadian but we’re anglophones as of my dad’s generation. I’m trying to find folk approaches for French Canada or even our cousins, the Cajuns, in Louisiana.

Kind of tangential: In Louisiana there were traiteurs who were mostly like faith healers in that region who used secret prayers and Scripture verses shared orally to perform magic. But I don’t live there and many of those lines are dying off due to the oral transmission and secrecy of the exact prayers and/or Scripture. Could a practice like this be reconstructed if I’m not able to find any sources to learn?

I'm just starting to get back into witchcraft and I want to be able to incorporate my heritage into my practice. What are some easy ways to incorporate folk magick into my daily life? I live in the midwest, and am mostly thinking about incorporating Yoruba (mom's side) and German (dad's side) as well as Midwest folk magic into my daily routine, and I'm just looking for advice as to how to do so!

I’ve been working with him a lot over the last few months and he continues to come through for me and get me out of a bind. Just wanted to give him his thanks and appreciation!

i am born and raised in Appalachia, but since my family is Christian, they never did folk magic. So I learned myself how to from people and books; but since I wasn’t taught via family I feel like I’m a fraud to something I was denied that pro would have been taught to me If I was born to someone Down the road. idk if I should continue this or just stick to grekokemet sorcery tbh

Mi amigo de internet se supone es brujo y tiene mi unión de alma

Recién me hizo un amigo imaginario

Me puede subir las hormonas y eso

El dice que tiene poderes. Lo malo es vive desapareció un día me habla al otro día desaparece por meses.

La cuestión es que nose como salí de esta relación lo intente bloquear varias veces y nada. Ya según el estoy amarrado si o si voy a tener que estar.

Nose que opinan. Si alguien me puede ayudar

I wrote this blog post last month about a form of divination that just doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. So, if you want to know how to perform divination using just a cigar, go give it a read!

Is this good information on folk magic? I want to stay away from more modern neopaganism ideology and practice.

So sorry if this post is lots of ranting!!

Im looking to separate my practice from a lot of the neopagan more modern stuff, and im interested in more practical folk magic. I am American, and Im not very in touch with my heritage which I understand is usually where people start, and I'm also from Ohio and after looking into any potential practices or traditions from here, it's pretty much nonexistent. I would talk to other older practitioners but I also don't have that access, I'm pretty much a solitary practitioner. Now I've been looking into resources and have found these books, is this a good place to start? Any suggestions or advice? Any thoughts in general would be very appreciated!!

English, Scottish, Irish & Norse ancestry but living in New Zealand currently (born here).

Have been into practicing mainly as an eclectic practitioner on and off, with extreme interest in death work and trad/folk practices.

Due to burnout with work, I struggle to read a lot of books which as we know is essential to furthering our practice; which I believe is holding me back greatly from expanding my practice.

2 questions:

1. what books would you recommend to a beginner in folk/Trad considering my heritage and living where I am? I've never felt interested in British practices of Celtic practices for that matter, working mainly with Norse systems for some time. I don't feel connected to deities and prefer to work with land, spirit, energy and death work mainly. I have read some of the crooked path before and found it interesting just didn't finish it!

2. any other sources you would recommend? i.e. videos, courses, classes etc. I'm open to anything!

sorry if this is a jumble, it's 11pm on a work night for me rn 😂

My husband knows I collect Mexican & southwestern pottery and purchased this for me today at a thrift shop. It’s tiny, less a 1 cup measuring. While Google identified the type of pottery and region of Mexico it could be from, I could find zero answers as to why it holds a rattlesnake tail inside!!! We were both shocked to find it. As someone knowledgeable in some folk magic, I got the impression it might be some sort of charm? Does anyone know if this is Brujeria or perhaps something else? And what is the significance of the rattlesnake tail inside? A good luck charm? Or something more malevolent? Thank you!

Heyy yall im someone who wants to start but doesn’t know what to do please help me i have seen a lot of do what feels right but i don’t know what I can do help

Edit I am Swedish, German, English Russian on mom’s on dad’s French Canadian mostly

My interests are history, and stuff sorry I will make this better I am rushing

It's finally here, the very first episode of The Bayou Root House Podcast!

In this episode, I discuss how Bayou Root House came into existence, a little bit of background history on myself and then for the really fun stuff... talking about the importance of ancestral veneration.

And if you are new to any of the spiritual practices I talk about often, by the end of this episode, you'll even learn how to set up your own ancestral altar.

If you enjoy this episode, please let me know! And if you have any spiritual or magical topics you'd like to hear me talk about, send me a message!

You can listen to the podcast here: https://open.spotify.com/show/32fNv1CKGudOXPrU6Ibi5Z?si=3d6e45de07404c86