20+ Diverse Traditions from New England to the West Coast

Drawing on the expertise of twenty-four renowned practitioners, this book features contemporary folk traditions from all over North America. Diverse as the landscapes they thrive on, these authentic practices will expand your worldview and inspire you to enrich your own spirituality. Explore the history, tools, and spiritual beliefs of many different paths of folk magic from Mexico, the United States, and Canada. You'll tour the continent's rich and varied cultures region by region, taking an insider's look at more than twenty traditions, including:

 

Appalachian Mountain Magic • Brujeria
Curanderismo • Detroit Hoodoo
Florida Swamp Magic • Irish American Folk Magic
Italian American Magic • Melungeon Folk Magic
New England Cunning Craft • New Orleans Voodoo
Ozark Folk Magic • Pennsylvania Powwow & Braucherei
Slavic American Folk Magic • Southern Conjure

 

Stephanie Rose Bird • H. Byron Ballard • Starr Casas • Ixtoii Paloma Cervantes • Kenya T. Coviak • J. Allen Cross • Alexander Cummins • Morgan Daimler • Mario Esteban Del Ángel Guevara • Lilith Dorsey • Morrigane Feu • Via Hedera • Cory Thomas Hutcheson • Melissa A. Ivanco-Murray • E. F. E. Lacharity • Dee Norman • Aaron Oberon • Robert Phoenix • Jake Richards • Sandra Santiago • Robert L. Schreiwer • Eliseo “Cheo” Torres • Benebell Wen • Brandon Weston

Cory Thomas Hutcheson (Central Pennsylvania) is the cohost of the popular podcast New World Witchery. He has a doctorate in American Studies with specializations in folklore, religion, and ethnicity from Penn State. He is a contributor to the Oxford Handbook of American Folklore and Folklife Studies and American Myths, Legends, & Tall Tales, and he has written for popular occult publications, including Witches & Pagans.

Cory Thomas Hutcheson's profile page

Brandon Weston's profile page

Melissa A. Ivanco-Murray's profile page

Starr Casas was raised in the Southern culture of the Deep South and holds onto the values of her ancestors. She is a traditional Conjure woman with FOUR living generations of workers and 2 generations that have passed on. For over 40 years, veteran Rootworker Starr Casas, has been helping folks through her ancestral heritage of Old Style Conjure works from South of the Mason Dixie line. She is the bestselling author of The Conjure Workbook Vol. 1: Working the Root published through Pendraig Publishing and Old Style Conjure and Divination Conjure published through Red Wheel/Weiser. She is also the author of many bestselling self-published titles on Old Style Conjure such as Working With the Bible and Roots Herbs and More. Mama Starr is also a teacher and offers hands on teaching to folks.

Starr Casas' profile page

Stephanie Rose Bird's profile page

H. Byron Ballard's profile page

Benebell Wen's profile page

Jake Richards holds his Appalachian heritage close in his blood and bones. His family has tilled the soil in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina for a good 500 years. He spent most of his childhood at his great-grandmother’s house on the side of Mount Mitchell in North Carolina. Jake has practiced Appalachian folk magic for almost a decade and teaches classes on the subject in Jonesborough, Tennessee, where he owns Little Chicago Conjure, a supplier of Appalachian folk magic supplies and ingredients. Follow him on Instagram at @jake_richards13.

Jake Richards' profile page

Dr Alexander Cummins is a consultant, diviner, writer, contemporary cunning-man, and historian of magic. His magical specialities are the dead (folk necromancy), divination (geomancy) and the grimoires.

Dr Cummins' published works include An Excellent Booke of the Arte of Magicke (Scarlet Imprint, 2020) with Phil Legard, The Starry Rubric: Seventeenth-century English Astrology and Magic (Hadean Press 2012), A Book of the Magi: Lore, Prayers, and Spellcraft of the Three Holy Kings (Revelore Press, 2018), as well as contributions to collections by Three Hands Press, Scarlet Imprint, and Hadean Press. He is a founding editor of Revelore Press' Folk Necromancy in Transmission series, and co-hosts the podcast Radio Free Golgotha.

The Good Doctor is a frequent speaker on the international circuit, consults for clients and organisations, and provides training, workshops, and coaching in many aspects of magical theory, history, and practice. Originally from the Midlands of the UK, he now makes his home in New Hampshire.

Alexander Cummins' profile page

Lilith Dorsey's profile page

Iya Baba NoKe is a radical educator, activist, and poet. She is initiated in various branches of African spirituality; she is a Lucumi Priestess of Obatala as well as a Yaya Nganga in Palo Mayombe. She does integrative light work via reiki and intuitive divination. She is a certified Reiki Master and is accredited by the World Metaphysical Association and The Accreditation Council of Holistic Healers. Iya is a medium in the Afro-Caribbean tradition Espiritismo, and has been offering consultations and readings since 2010. She also does integrative light work. She is a certified Reiki Master and is accredited by the World Metaphysical Association and The Accreditation Council of Holistic Healers. Her work can be defined as decolonization therapy. It is a healing process where wounded spirits and souls from disenfranchised groups can work to recover from historical trauma, racism, and other collective social ills caused by the long-term negative effects of colonization. Iya has been published in various anthologies, including Shades of Faith: Minority Voices in Paganism (2012) and in Shade of Ritual (2014). She has contributed to the Wild Hunt, a daily online journal. She has also taught at many gatherings, conferences, and venues across the United States.

Sandra Santiago's profile page

Robert L. Schreiwer is a Heathen activist and manager of Huginn's Heathen Hof and Heathens Against Hate, former Steer of the Troth, and founder of In-Reach Prison Services.

Robert L. Schreiwer's profile page

Via Hedera was born in Southern California, but currently lives in the Pacific Northwest on Salish territory, where she is a writer, folklore enthusiast, sculptor and practitioner of American folk witchcraft. Having grown up around the commonplace spiritual mysticism and superstitions of her large, diverse family and community, she dedicates her time to the study of folklore as it transmits across the land and between people. Wherever there is the merging of magic and connection between spirits, Via is sure to haunt. She is author of Folkloric American Witchcraft and the Multicultural Experience: A Crucible at the Crossroads and spends her time collecting American folklore, sculpting altar statuary, and dancing with the dead.

Via Hedera's profile page

Kenya Coviak is an African American Folk Magician/Hoodoo practitioner from Detroit, Michigan. Her magical trainings include oral traditional teachings, magical studies in American modern neo pagan witchcraft, and magical herbalism. She specializes in workshops and lectures on these subjects, as well as running a teaching grove. She is co-owner of the Michigan Witches Ball and owns Detroit Conjure LLC.

Kenya T. Coviak's profile page

Ixtoii Paloma Cervantes is a Curandera and an abuela de tradicion (elder that teaches Curanderismo). She was born and raised in northern Mexico around Curanderismo and has worked as a Curandera since the 1980s. She spent most of her early life in the Yucatan Peninsula, then left in the 1990s and lived in Europe and the United States. She currently lives near Fresno, California and has her own business, the Ixtoii Institute of Shamanism and Curanderismo.

Ixtoii Paloma Cervantes' profile page

Rob Phoenix was born and raised in Pennsylvania and currently lives in South-Central Pennsylvania and works for the state of PA. He has always been interested in folk magic and has studied many different systems over the years. He is a member of the Reformed church, known nowadays as the United Church of Christ, and an enthusiastic supporter and champion of Pennsylvania German culture. He loves Powwowing because it's a Christian-based system that really does work and it connects him to the traditions, beliefs, religion, and folklore of his ancestors. He is the author of The Powwow Grimoire and The Powwow Guy: A Memoir of a Pennsylvania Dutch Braucher. He was featured in the film Hex Hollow: Witchcraft & Murder in Pennsylvania (2015, directed by Shane Free).

Robert Phoenix's profile page

Eliseo "Cheo" Torres has served as Vice President for Student Affairs/Full Professor at the University of New Mexico (UNM) since 1996. He is responsible for all facets of student life, which include programs such as El Centro de la Raza, African American and American Indian Student Services, Women's Resource Center, Student Union, Student Activities, Student Health and Counseling Center, Career Services, etc. He teaches classes on traditional medicine, and regularly lectures and gives presentations on the history and lore of curanderismo to audiences ranging from scholars and students of Latin American culture to people hoping to become knowledgeable about alternative and traditional medicine, including lay people and medical professionals alike. He has published four books on his life and his research in traditional medicine emphasizing medicinal plant and rituals published by the University of New Mexico Press and Kendall Hunt Publishing Company. At UNM, he has been a member of several faculty doctoral dissertation committees. He was involved with the Prince of Asturia Endowed Chair for Science and Technology funded by Ibredola Power Company of Spain and supports the annual Mezquite Scholarship Golf Tournament that has generated about $1.5 Million for student scholarships. Among other initiatives, Dr. Torres has been involved as an Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME) advisor to Mexican Presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon for improving lives of immigrants in the United States, and he received the OHTLI Award from the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before he came to the University of New Mexico, Dr. Torres served as Vice President for External Affairs at Texas A&M University-Kingsville as well as teaching in the Bilingual Doctoral Program. He has also served as Interim President and Vice President of Student Affairs.

Eliseo "Cheo" Torres' profile page

Morrigane Feu is a witch and a priestess in the province of Québec, Canada. She has been on an ever-evolving pagan path since 1996 and now facilitates public rituals in Montre?al. In the last few years she has channeled her lifelong interest in folklore, folk tales and mythology into the study and revival of French Canadian folk magic. Sorcellerie now permeates all of her magic and rituals as she strives to share it with as wide an audience as possible.

Morrigane Feu's profile page

Erik Lacharity lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with his wife Chantal and two daughters. He has been a Frankish Heathen (Thia Frankisk Aldsido) since 2011 and is an active member of his regional pagan community, principally with Rúnatýr Kindred and Raven's Knoll. He has had a lifelong interest in the folklore and folk-beliefs of his heritage and has absorbed all he can from his parents and grandparents and the elders who have passed on much of their old ways. These teachings are primarily focused on folk-wisdom gained from rural living. In the 2010s Erik became interested in witchcraft and quickly took to the ways of his French Canadian ancestors, supplementing what he could from available ethnographic works.

E.F.E. Lacharity's profile page

J. Allen Cross (Oregon) is a practicing Folk Witch and paranormal investigator. He serves as psychic-medium and occult specialist on a well-known investigative team out of the Portland metro area. He enjoys working as a consultant for other teams and spiritual workers, exploring haunted and abandoned places, and writing about the paranormal.

J. Allen Cross' profile page

Morgan Daimler's witchcraft is inspired the Irish Fairy Faith. She is the author of Pagan Portals: Fairy Witchcraft, Pagan Portals: The Morrigan, Fairycraft, Pagan Portals: Irish Paganism, Pagan Portals: Brighid, and Pagan Portals Gods and Goddesses of Ireland (Moon Books).

Morgan Daimler's profile page

Dee Norman grew up in a family that practiced an Italian folk magical tradition (called by her family, "the things we do"). She received her first Tarot deck at 11 and has been studying Tarot for over 30 years. Consequently, she has studied magic and the Western Mystery Tradition most of her life. She began reading Tarot professionally in 1995 and has presented workshops in over a dozen venues in the US and Australia. She has given instruction on divination techniques, sigil magic, Italian folk magic, and various ritual techniques. She has co-founded three covens, two of which were teaching covens. She is the founder of the Occult Observatory club on Clubhouse and hosts two rooms: Learning Lenormand and Household Magic. She studied Anthropology and Folklore at University level.

Dee Norman's profile page

Aaron Oberon is a folk witch, print relief artist, Florida fanatic, and author of Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South. They have been practicing folk magic for over half their life and grounded their witchcraft into the sandy soil of Florida for almost 20 years. Aaron lives in Southwest Florida and can often be found hidden in the mangroves speaking to lost and forgotten gods (and is often lost themselves). You can hear Aaron gush about Florida and folk magic more on their podcast FolkCraft co-hosted with Temperance Alden. To see Aaron's art, musings on magic, and read jokes only they find funny, find them on Instagram @aaronoberon.

Aaron Oberon's profile page

Mario del Ángel-Guevara was born in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in bilingual education at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. He is a PhD doctoral candidate in Hispanic linguistics in the University of New Mexico Department of Spanish and Portuguese, where he teaches two courses on Curanderismo: Traditional Medicine of Mexico and the Southwest. Besides teaching, his work also includes translating and interpreting Spanish-English for the Division of Student Affairs and as mentor transfer student for the CNM-UNM Mellon Transfer Initiative for the Humanities for the Spanish and Portuguese department. Some of his major translated publications include three books on Curanderismo, the traditional medicine of Mexico; a book on finances for US Latinos balancing family, business, and culture; and an article on indigenous linguistic policy in Oaxaca, Mexico, during the presidential elections and earthquake of 2018.

Mario Del Ángel-Guevara's profile page

"A love letter to North American Witchcraft, this book is a must for folk magic apprentices, practitioners, and connoisseurs. Cory Thomas Hutcheson reminds us how the magic of the land and the people in North America is found on every corner, in your mother's blessing, at the ocean shores, and everywhere in between. This is the magic of resistance, tradition, and survival…Immerse yourself in the rich origin, history, and traditions of folk magic in North America guided by local experts, folklorists, and magic practitioners, such as H. Byron Ballard, Brandon Weston, J. Allen Cross, and more."—Rev. Laura González, Pagan educator and creator of the English/Spanish podcast Lunatic Mondays (Lunes Lunáticos)

"This new and exciting tome covers many of our major American folk magic traditions on topics such as divination and spirit communication. Each section is presented by a recognized authority and/or scholar within the tradition. Traditions like Conjure and Powwow are treated in a respectful, thorough manner to provide an insider's perspective that will be accessible to the novice as well. Anyone who wants to explore these often hidden, magical sides of American folk culture would do well to immerse themselves in Llewellyn's Complete Book of North American Folk Magic. I have been involved in American folk magic academically and personally for almost fifty years and I find that I have benefited greatly from reading it. The chapters are exciting, affirming and will expand your knowledge and vision of our world and your life within it."—Jack Montgomery, author of American Shamans

"Rich, engaging, and incredibly diverse, this bookgives us irreplaceable and enlightening glimpses into every folk magic you can imagine from the South to the North and all the way out West. A must-have book for any folk practitioner."—Frankie Castanea, AKA Chaotic Witch Aunt, author of Spells for Change

"This collection of American folk magic is so expensive and so diverse, it's a must have for every practitioner...I love the many authors with different backgrounds whose voices share their history, their practices, their magic within this tome without crossing the boundary into closed cultures. Many Americans feel somewhat lost trying to get in touch with our ancestry across vast oceans, but that's not always necessary. So many of these ancestors brought that magic with them here and it changed and adapted to new lands. This book gives a platform for these legacies to be carried on in a single publication and the opportunity for readers to seek more from the contributors within."—Marshall, The Witch of Southern Light, cohost of Southern Bramble: A Podcast of Crooked Ways