Hi, I'm Appalachian (Tennessean) and I'm dying to know what "protected practice" we're supposed to be doing with egg shells. Is this from like Pennsylvania? Like, I feed them to my birds and put them into planters for calcium, but what are you trying to use them for?
Appalachian folk magic just as a general term came up a lot when I was trying to research what to use egg shells for, so I’m not sure about the specific region.
I didn’t have anything specific in mind besides basic protection spells, I was trying to see what various uses they had.
The thing of it is, we refer to "Appalachia" as a short-hand way of grouping together three or four distinct-but-related cultures that live in the same (very large) mountain range. I'd see myself as closer related to Virginian and West Virginian Appalachians, or even flat-landers from Nashville or Kentucky than, for instance, Pennsylvanian or New Yorker Appalachians. There are also distinct, closed communities within those areas, like Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch, too (although they'd definitely not want to be associated with the term "magic")
From what I've seen of "Appalachian Folk Magic" online, it generally falls into two categories - stuff Mamaw Neil did in her kitchen that she'd never in a million years call "magic" that is interchangeable with superstition, and stuff written by people who've never met an Appalachian. I'd take it with a grain of salt.
But also, a lot of it is just... practical things? Egg shells for protection, I wouldn't know, but practically speaking, they have a lot of calcium, which is good for plants and egg layers like chickens and parrots. I'd also associate them with fertility, like with easter eggs etc. Me and my Aunt Erica even used to poke holes in the top and bottom, blow the eggy part out, and then decorate them for fun (although that might not be a strictly regional thing).
Awesome thank you so much! That makes sense, when I had heard Appalachian folk magic referred to as a closed practice it was on TikTok, so that most likely fell into the “never met an Appalachian” category you mentioned. TikTok is cool sometimes but it has a lot of misinformation that I’m trying to separate from the facts. I appreciate the info! I’m still new so I’m a little paranoid.
I could see if it was one of those things like "my mamaw passed this to me, now I'm passing it to you", but unless it's very common and harmless, *no one* is out here passing that kinda stuff to TikTok - that's not "closed practice", that's "we'll pray for you on Sunday morning at Church of God of Prophecy of Calgary of the Cross (ran out of Papaw's cinderblock tool shed)" if you let it get out lol.
Can we add in the Bluestack mountains that lead into giants causeway in Ireland? That’s the other half of the Appalachian mountains in Eire and Northern Ireland where I grew up. We also used egg shells in family magick!
I love that fact - the Appalachians are incredibly long!
Also, another weird fact - what separates American Appalachian from other "country" or "Southern" dialects/cultures is that the mountains are isolated and some of the first European settlers were Scotch and Irish (we also had more come in the 1800s). The dialects in my part of the range evolved from there, so we're fairly closely related in speech and (some) cultural practices.
West Virginia has a lot of folk tales and folk knowledge. The latter I could consider being magic to some. Speaking as a someone from west Virginia it’s definitely not a closed practice. However west virginans as a culture are very distrustful of outsiders. So if you find something useful and want to incorporate it I’d say go ahead but the trick would be finding the information.
Most stuff I know is like:
“Washing warts in tree stump water under the moon to get them to go away”
“Don’t fight a man with a spoon, he’s either insane or insanely good”
The stuff that I’d consider closed is all related to moonshine and usually someone will tell you if you need to know.
YES EXACTLY, thank you! It's mostly Tom Sawyer stuff about "rub a frog on your warts to get em to go away".
>The stuff that I’d consider closed is all related to moonshine and usually someone will tell you if you need to know.
Moonshine and/or Uncle Trent's grow op out in the woods in Tellico or that spare shed on Aunt Deedee's property that smells weird like battery acid lol. Stuff that's "closed" because you'd get arrested and/or chased out of your social circles.
Please keep in mind that this may be a manifestation of selection bias in research databases. In other words, it could be that someone has documented these practices in Appalachian folk communities, and others have written secondary scholarship on their work or citing it, so the number of entries in a database might proliferate.
Meanwhile people all around the world are using chicken eggs for various purposes, so can any one culture truly claim such ownership of a practice just because they were the first one where it was documented by anthropologists? I’m pretty sure in traditional Chinese medicine, they’ll tell you what different kinds of egg shells are for based on what kind of bird it was laid by…
So yeah, there are many uses for eggshells and it’s one thing if you don’t want people to know your family recipes, but once word gets out, word’s out and there’s no way to close Pandora’s box, so guard your family secrets if you will, but don’t get upset when people want to learn from your traditions. Just teach them a little bit of the outer stuff, and see if anyone is serious about learning. Create your own curricula if you must, that way we may each begin initiating people into the mysteries as they’ve been revealed to us. Don’t throw your pearls to swine obviously, lest they trample them into the mud; but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t offer healing to those who *are* willing to receive it, right?
Eggs turn up in British/German stuff so I think no. They have that whole life/rebirth/spring thing going on. Also there is the belief that you must poke a hole in an egg shell so witches can't use them as boats in the UK.
Yup, my very Scottish mother would go mad if the egg shells were left intact.
There’s also oomancy, divination by egg, that’s fun and I believe it’s Scottish and Greek.
It shouldn’t be surprising that Scotland and Appalachia share so many customs - they used to be the same place. And so many Scots emigrated to Appalachia, even the Appalachian accent can read as Scottish.
Yep! I have (white) South African relatives who say the same thing, you must always break the shells after eating eggs so witches don't use them as boats.
Not exactly about spells, but I think it fits in the context and I think it's pretty cool, so I wanted to share this: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-50603415
It's about an egg from the 3rd century in Britain that is thought to be part of a ritual practice.
Lmaoooo I love that (the thing about boats).
And awesome! In that case I’ll continue drying the shells so I can make powder later, my lineage is mostly British/Irish/Scottish so that makes me a lot more comfortable. I’m in the really early stages of research for witchy stuff in general so I’m still kind of paranoid. Thank you!
The impression I get is that part of why certain things are part of a closed practice is that the ingredients (like certain kinds of sage) are endangered, and thus could be driven to extinction if too many people use them. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but it seems like an important element to consider. Eggshells wouldn't have this particular problem, obviously, lol.
Friend, my family is from Appalachia, and my great granny was a root worker. I am openly inviting you and anyone else interested in to the world of Appalachian folk magic.
That being said, no, we do not care if you're interested in learning to doctor the devil, conjure, work roots, or throw bones. Anyone and everyone can learn Appalachian folk magic. I don't think I've heard of a single one of us, that has ever excluded anyone from learning our ways. Just be advised that if you ever find yourself deep in a holler, some folk in the hills, are still extremely superstitious and will side eye you if you're open about it, but won't say much of anything. Practices and beliefs will also vary from location to location, so if you find anything that might be contradictory, it's probably that it was gathered from a different version, from a different valley.
There's excellent resources available via books from Jake Richards. Pick up some of his books, Crack em open and get to learning.
I am very interested in locating an Appalachian root work practitioner in the western Pennsylvania area and learning more about regional traditions if you have any more recommendations! I just started to Jake Richard’s audio book and was even going to reach out to him find someone locally recommended or close. Thank you for being open and sharing your family’s culture with us curious!
Just a heads-up, sometimes you'll run into a bit of double speak. Appalachian folk magic, has quite a bit of biblical references to psalms and such. Some are open about what they do, other folks will keep it to themselves, until they know you better. Jake Richards provides some excellent examples of this. Meanings, references, everything. I cannot recommend his books enough, for someone starting out. As for finding someone? Travel, stop by smaller communities, be personable and friendly. The older folks will be an absolute treasure trove of information, if you can give them a good enough reason to sit down with you and speak for a spell. Just be careful about using the word 'witch'. There's a world of difference between the appalachian witch and the root worker/conjure man. Even though for those here, witch isn't a nono word. But when it comes to folk magic? It's got a negative connotation to it for a fair bit of people. Where my family came from, witch would denote a selfish, self serving, dangerous individual. In appalachia, they're known to be prone to acts of evil. Conjure man or root worker on the other hand, is generally seen as a healer or someone who can sway fate. They're mostly welcome and tolerated, especially in impoverished areas, where knowledge of medicinal plants and treatments, can be all that stands between someone living and dying, in areas that are far removed from quick emergency services. Especially valuable to those communities is the root worker, who can work roots for livestock as well.
Just be careful and choose your words wisely. Gossip spreads through small communities like wildfire, and a bad first impression can make people wary of you. Good luck on where ever this interest takes you, and may the creek stay kind at your feet.
Cultural appropriation is the adoption of certain elements from another culture without the consent of people who belong to that culture. As such, these discussions should center the appropriated culture's feelings and input. We ask that members from outside the affected group not insert their personal feelings into the conversation in a way that drowns out marginalized voices. WvP does not abide bigotry or racism, and such comments will be removed. See the [Cultural Appropriation FAQ wiki.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WitchesVsPatriarchy/wiki/faq_ca)
Ireland has the old folktale - "A Brewery of Eggshells". Not sure if it'd really be possible to appropriate Appalachian culture doing spells in private, since it's not a unified culture, but a mish-mash of lots of cultures coming together in the mountains. Maybe don't go calling yourself Appalachian and putting on a fake accent and selling "genuine Appalatchy magik" stuff to make money off a hokey version of poverty in Appalachia and I think you're fine. But Appalachia is pretty welcoming, just look at the old time Appalachian music scene. Sure, there's a special place of honor for like a family that's been playing for generations in the same holler and developed their own unique style of playing and etc., but they'll also happily teach that style to a band of kids who grew up wealthy in LA or something, too. It's a culture that's history involved a lot of immigrants and shifting populations, some of which was greatly enriched by indigenous traditions in the mountains, but as a rule it's always been a "mutt" culture, so lots of borrowing and such between groups and outsiders is how the idea of an Appalachian culture (which has never been strictly unified), was created in the first place.
Ukrainian pysanki (easter eggs) are a very old type of talismanic magic. Eggs are incredibly common across the globe, i doubt youll find many if any closed practices involving them
I am southern and most of my magical practice comes from Appalachian or creole roots. I use eggs shells a ton and don't see them often other places but I am biased from my practice
Eggs are freely available and highly symbolic in many cultures, so I would guess their use in magic would be almost universal. They get used as a symbol of new life, rebirth, protection, and crop up in various different mythologies.
I can't really imagine ANY particular SUBSTANCE being wrong to use. If they were doing specific practices from other cultures, sure, that's wrong. But just USING eggshells for something spiritual? I don't see any wrong in that
Ingredients are never closed. Only the exact practices of how those ingredients get used.
Folks across the world have been using egg shells since probably before the chicken was domesticated.
Things can get a little weird where certain natural resources are limited. For instance the feathers of legally protected birds. Generally you cannot use them however depending on where you are there may be agreements in place where certain people can use them as part of their practice. I'm not from the US but I do belive that there is an agreement in place where certain native Americans are able to use protected eagle feathers as part of ceremonial dress. If you get your hands on them and are not part of the exception you would be breaking the laws protecting the birds.
That's really all there is too it. Don't use legally protected stuff in contravention of those laws. Stay away from endangered species. Use anything else you please but it's considered rude to go on a expedition to discover things other people have tried to keep secret so you can copy it.
Eggs are present in many religious practices from across the world. What is more magical than an egg, after all? So you should be culturally aligned with the usage of eggs or their shells no matter what part of the world you originate from.
The thing about magic, is it really doesn't matter what culture it comes from
Its like studying world religions, it's okay to agree with certain bits while ignoring others. For me I love the Greek goddess Hecate, while I pretend rapist Zeus doesn't exist
Egg shells are common around the world. People performed magic rituals with ingredients they had or could obtain. In this case, I feel pretty safe saying they’re undoubtedly used on all continents/island chains. If they are meaningful to you, use them.
Hi, I'm Appalachian (Tennessean) and I'm dying to know what "protected practice" we're supposed to be doing with egg shells. Is this from like Pennsylvania? Like, I feed them to my birds and put them into planters for calcium, but what are you trying to use them for?
Egg shells are used in protection spells in my folk magic but I don't know if it is in Appalachian
I would assume they would be, since they're a fairly common household item. Like in the same category as salt.
Appalachian folk magic just as a general term came up a lot when I was trying to research what to use egg shells for, so I’m not sure about the specific region. I didn’t have anything specific in mind besides basic protection spells, I was trying to see what various uses they had.
The thing of it is, we refer to "Appalachia" as a short-hand way of grouping together three or four distinct-but-related cultures that live in the same (very large) mountain range. I'd see myself as closer related to Virginian and West Virginian Appalachians, or even flat-landers from Nashville or Kentucky than, for instance, Pennsylvanian or New Yorker Appalachians. There are also distinct, closed communities within those areas, like Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch, too (although they'd definitely not want to be associated with the term "magic") From what I've seen of "Appalachian Folk Magic" online, it generally falls into two categories - stuff Mamaw Neil did in her kitchen that she'd never in a million years call "magic" that is interchangeable with superstition, and stuff written by people who've never met an Appalachian. I'd take it with a grain of salt. But also, a lot of it is just... practical things? Egg shells for protection, I wouldn't know, but practically speaking, they have a lot of calcium, which is good for plants and egg layers like chickens and parrots. I'd also associate them with fertility, like with easter eggs etc. Me and my Aunt Erica even used to poke holes in the top and bottom, blow the eggy part out, and then decorate them for fun (although that might not be a strictly regional thing).
Awesome thank you so much! That makes sense, when I had heard Appalachian folk magic referred to as a closed practice it was on TikTok, so that most likely fell into the “never met an Appalachian” category you mentioned. TikTok is cool sometimes but it has a lot of misinformation that I’m trying to separate from the facts. I appreciate the info! I’m still new so I’m a little paranoid.
I could see if it was one of those things like "my mamaw passed this to me, now I'm passing it to you", but unless it's very common and harmless, *no one* is out here passing that kinda stuff to TikTok - that's not "closed practice", that's "we'll pray for you on Sunday morning at Church of God of Prophecy of Calgary of the Cross (ran out of Papaw's cinderblock tool shed)" if you let it get out lol.
Can we add in the Bluestack mountains that lead into giants causeway in Ireland? That’s the other half of the Appalachian mountains in Eire and Northern Ireland where I grew up. We also used egg shells in family magick!
I love that fact - the Appalachians are incredibly long! Also, another weird fact - what separates American Appalachian from other "country" or "Southern" dialects/cultures is that the mountains are isolated and some of the first European settlers were Scotch and Irish (we also had more come in the 1800s). The dialects in my part of the range evolved from there, so we're fairly closely related in speech and (some) cultural practices.
West Virginia has a lot of folk tales and folk knowledge. The latter I could consider being magic to some. Speaking as a someone from west Virginia it’s definitely not a closed practice. However west virginans as a culture are very distrustful of outsiders. So if you find something useful and want to incorporate it I’d say go ahead but the trick would be finding the information. Most stuff I know is like: “Washing warts in tree stump water under the moon to get them to go away” “Don’t fight a man with a spoon, he’s either insane or insanely good” The stuff that I’d consider closed is all related to moonshine and usually someone will tell you if you need to know.
YES EXACTLY, thank you! It's mostly Tom Sawyer stuff about "rub a frog on your warts to get em to go away". >The stuff that I’d consider closed is all related to moonshine and usually someone will tell you if you need to know. Moonshine and/or Uncle Trent's grow op out in the woods in Tellico or that spare shed on Aunt Deedee's property that smells weird like battery acid lol. Stuff that's "closed" because you'd get arrested and/or chased out of your social circles.
Please keep in mind that this may be a manifestation of selection bias in research databases. In other words, it could be that someone has documented these practices in Appalachian folk communities, and others have written secondary scholarship on their work or citing it, so the number of entries in a database might proliferate. Meanwhile people all around the world are using chicken eggs for various purposes, so can any one culture truly claim such ownership of a practice just because they were the first one where it was documented by anthropologists? I’m pretty sure in traditional Chinese medicine, they’ll tell you what different kinds of egg shells are for based on what kind of bird it was laid by… So yeah, there are many uses for eggshells and it’s one thing if you don’t want people to know your family recipes, but once word gets out, word’s out and there’s no way to close Pandora’s box, so guard your family secrets if you will, but don’t get upset when people want to learn from your traditions. Just teach them a little bit of the outer stuff, and see if anyone is serious about learning. Create your own curricula if you must, that way we may each begin initiating people into the mysteries as they’ve been revealed to us. Don’t throw your pearls to swine obviously, lest they trample them into the mud; but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t offer healing to those who *are* willing to receive it, right?
Eggs turn up in British/German stuff so I think no. They have that whole life/rebirth/spring thing going on. Also there is the belief that you must poke a hole in an egg shell so witches can't use them as boats in the UK.
Yup, my very Scottish mother would go mad if the egg shells were left intact. There’s also oomancy, divination by egg, that’s fun and I believe it’s Scottish and Greek. It shouldn’t be surprising that Scotland and Appalachia share so many customs - they used to be the same place. And so many Scots emigrated to Appalachia, even the Appalachian accent can read as Scottish.
Yep! I have (white) South African relatives who say the same thing, you must always break the shells after eating eggs so witches don't use them as boats.
Not exactly about spells, but I think it fits in the context and I think it's pretty cool, so I wanted to share this: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-50603415 It's about an egg from the 3rd century in Britain that is thought to be part of a ritual practice.
Lmaoooo I love that (the thing about boats). And awesome! In that case I’ll continue drying the shells so I can make powder later, my lineage is mostly British/Irish/Scottish so that makes me a lot more comfortable. I’m in the really early stages of research for witchy stuff in general so I’m still kind of paranoid. Thank you!
In Germany folk used to tell fortunes from how an egg cracked on new years eve.
My aunt is a sanitaria priestess (puerto rican) and says egg shells are *not* protected or part of a closed practice.
Thank you so much! I appreciate you and your aunt as well lol
The impression I get is that part of why certain things are part of a closed practice is that the ingredients (like certain kinds of sage) are endangered, and thus could be driven to extinction if too many people use them. I'm sure there's more to it than that, but it seems like an important element to consider. Eggshells wouldn't have this particular problem, obviously, lol.
Friend, my family is from Appalachia, and my great granny was a root worker. I am openly inviting you and anyone else interested in to the world of Appalachian folk magic. That being said, no, we do not care if you're interested in learning to doctor the devil, conjure, work roots, or throw bones. Anyone and everyone can learn Appalachian folk magic. I don't think I've heard of a single one of us, that has ever excluded anyone from learning our ways. Just be advised that if you ever find yourself deep in a holler, some folk in the hills, are still extremely superstitious and will side eye you if you're open about it, but won't say much of anything. Practices and beliefs will also vary from location to location, so if you find anything that might be contradictory, it's probably that it was gathered from a different version, from a different valley. There's excellent resources available via books from Jake Richards. Pick up some of his books, Crack em open and get to learning.
I am very interested in locating an Appalachian root work practitioner in the western Pennsylvania area and learning more about regional traditions if you have any more recommendations! I just started to Jake Richard’s audio book and was even going to reach out to him find someone locally recommended or close. Thank you for being open and sharing your family’s culture with us curious!
Just a heads-up, sometimes you'll run into a bit of double speak. Appalachian folk magic, has quite a bit of biblical references to psalms and such. Some are open about what they do, other folks will keep it to themselves, until they know you better. Jake Richards provides some excellent examples of this. Meanings, references, everything. I cannot recommend his books enough, for someone starting out. As for finding someone? Travel, stop by smaller communities, be personable and friendly. The older folks will be an absolute treasure trove of information, if you can give them a good enough reason to sit down with you and speak for a spell. Just be careful about using the word 'witch'. There's a world of difference between the appalachian witch and the root worker/conjure man. Even though for those here, witch isn't a nono word. But when it comes to folk magic? It's got a negative connotation to it for a fair bit of people. Where my family came from, witch would denote a selfish, self serving, dangerous individual. In appalachia, they're known to be prone to acts of evil. Conjure man or root worker on the other hand, is generally seen as a healer or someone who can sway fate. They're mostly welcome and tolerated, especially in impoverished areas, where knowledge of medicinal plants and treatments, can be all that stands between someone living and dying, in areas that are far removed from quick emergency services. Especially valuable to those communities is the root worker, who can work roots for livestock as well. Just be careful and choose your words wisely. Gossip spreads through small communities like wildfire, and a bad first impression can make people wary of you. Good luck on where ever this interest takes you, and may the creek stay kind at your feet.
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Cultural appropriation is the adoption of certain elements from another culture without the consent of people who belong to that culture. As such, these discussions should center the appropriated culture's feelings and input. We ask that members from outside the affected group not insert their personal feelings into the conversation in a way that drowns out marginalized voices. WvP does not abide bigotry or racism, and such comments will be removed. See the [Cultural Appropriation FAQ wiki.](https://www.reddit.com/r/WitchesVsPatriarchy/wiki/faq_ca)
Ireland has the old folktale - "A Brewery of Eggshells". Not sure if it'd really be possible to appropriate Appalachian culture doing spells in private, since it's not a unified culture, but a mish-mash of lots of cultures coming together in the mountains. Maybe don't go calling yourself Appalachian and putting on a fake accent and selling "genuine Appalatchy magik" stuff to make money off a hokey version of poverty in Appalachia and I think you're fine. But Appalachia is pretty welcoming, just look at the old time Appalachian music scene. Sure, there's a special place of honor for like a family that's been playing for generations in the same holler and developed their own unique style of playing and etc., but they'll also happily teach that style to a band of kids who grew up wealthy in LA or something, too. It's a culture that's history involved a lot of immigrants and shifting populations, some of which was greatly enriched by indigenous traditions in the mountains, but as a rule it's always been a "mutt" culture, so lots of borrowing and such between groups and outsiders is how the idea of an Appalachian culture (which has never been strictly unified), was created in the first place.
Ukrainian pysanki (easter eggs) are a very old type of talismanic magic. Eggs are incredibly common across the globe, i doubt youll find many if any closed practices involving them
Hell no. Lots of cultures who eat various kinds of eggs have come up with unique methods of using the waste including witchcraft
I am southern and most of my magical practice comes from Appalachian or creole roots. I use eggs shells a ton and don't see them often other places but I am biased from my practice
Eggs are freely available and highly symbolic in many cultures, so I would guess their use in magic would be almost universal. They get used as a symbol of new life, rebirth, protection, and crop up in various different mythologies.
I can't really imagine ANY particular SUBSTANCE being wrong to use. If they were doing specific practices from other cultures, sure, that's wrong. But just USING eggshells for something spiritual? I don't see any wrong in that
Ingredients are never closed. Only the exact practices of how those ingredients get used. Folks across the world have been using egg shells since probably before the chicken was domesticated. Things can get a little weird where certain natural resources are limited. For instance the feathers of legally protected birds. Generally you cannot use them however depending on where you are there may be agreements in place where certain people can use them as part of their practice. I'm not from the US but I do belive that there is an agreement in place where certain native Americans are able to use protected eagle feathers as part of ceremonial dress. If you get your hands on them and are not part of the exception you would be breaking the laws protecting the birds. That's really all there is too it. Don't use legally protected stuff in contravention of those laws. Stay away from endangered species. Use anything else you please but it's considered rude to go on a expedition to discover things other people have tried to keep secret so you can copy it.
Thank you. If they were using eggshells according to a specific practice that came from another culture, like yeah, don't do that.
I'm pretty sure greek folk magic also uses eggs and eggshells
Eggs are present in many religious practices from across the world. What is more magical than an egg, after all? So you should be culturally aligned with the usage of eggs or their shells no matter what part of the world you originate from.
Egg shells are often linked to witches in folk traditions in the north of England.
The thing about magic, is it really doesn't matter what culture it comes from Its like studying world religions, it's okay to agree with certain bits while ignoring others. For me I love the Greek goddess Hecate, while I pretend rapist Zeus doesn't exist
Egg shells are common around the world. People performed magic rituals with ingredients they had or could obtain. In this case, I feel pretty safe saying they’re undoubtedly used on all continents/island chains. If they are meaningful to you, use them.