Mountain Witches of Appalachia

[@lindseycockerham8308]

I live in the Appalachia mountains and I've been told a few stories about our witches. This man's voice literally sounds like home to me. A lot of people make fun of us for our deep southern accent but, I find it quite warm, welcoming and charmin.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@tiffy3865]

I agree his voice sounds soothing, like home.

[@cdd4248]

I love accents of the South- it is warm and welcoming.

[@cherierussell4197]

What a great story telling voice ,I agree so very warm. My family is from the Maritimes and although we are Canadian ,to me I hear the same comforting warmth of family . Just a whole diff breed of ppl . God bless

[@justinecuellar1146]

I enjoy the southern accent as well, it’s kinda soothing to my ears 🙂

[@kevincage1641]

My great grandfather was an ex-slave and a famous water witch in Mound Bayou, Mississippi. People would come from all around to ask for his help as well as test him. He was never wrong once. I love this information you provide. Thank you much!

[@donnielaws7020]

That's awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this.

[@jenhitch5199]

A medicine witch moved up North and we use to visit and help out. My brother had terrible asthma and she said drink this. Not only did it help his asthma it was one of the few things he was not allergic to, arrowroot.

[@sharrylanderson9701]

Wow my family is from Mound Bayou Mississippi and I grow up there .

[@kevincage1641]

@@sharrylanderson9701 My great grandfather was Augustus Simmons. He was friends with Isaiah Montgomery, Ben Davis, and was property of Jefferson Davis. Are you related to any Thompson's, Simmon' s, Lambert's, Holmes?

[@sharrylanderson9701]

@@kevincage1641 no I’m not related to any. But you really have history there. How wonderful. My great great grandfather was a exslave to the a family outside of Mound Bayou and once freed he relocated there and started a family.

[@bonniewilliamson110]

The legends come from the “grannies” many of Cherokee heritage. They healed with natural cures, delivered babies, taught young wives how to plant gardens make simple medicine and care for children, even cook. Elder women passing their knowledge and being valuable members of the community.

[@donnielaws7020]

That's so true! Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@gypsylove4291]

Oh how I miss my grannie.Im told she was a strict Christian. And certainly had some gifts of the holy spirit. She read tea leaves.She would tell me exactly why I couldn't go somewhere with her. For instance I wanted to go to the grocery store with her. Why can't I ? I whined. She finally said you can't go because you'll stand on the back of the cart. If you do that the glass milk bottles will fall out and cut you. Guess what? That's exactly what happened. She was from Holland or the Netherlands. The old days are the good old ways. To live plant and nourish the Earth. The Earth is a living biological being,like us.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@gypsylove4291 Awesome story my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this story. God bless you.

[@southernsassy4453]

That is very much true, my heritage is Cherokee/Scottish Irish. I come from a long line of ladies that are skilled in healing, gardening, herbs, dowsing, tea readings and etc.,. We are from the deep hills of Southeastern Kentucky. My granny, aunts, great grandma, great aunts, mom and cousins would never call themselves witches even though the things that they done and do is what others call’s witchcraft.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@southernsassy4453 Thanks my friend for sharing this with me.

[@Hannah-h.k]

As someone born and raised in east TN, this was strangely comforting. There are far too few videos on Appalachia and it’s unique and fascinating features. Keep up the good work my friend

[@donnielaws7020]

Thank you friend. God bless you.

[@zackearl3200]

TN gang rise up

[@sublime7617]

Bristol gang

[@imjustroscoe]

Thank you for mentioning that the Natives/Indigenous people had healing medicine. Much of our ancestors plant healing was taught BY the native people. The Cherokee were and still are MASTERS of plant medicine. Not all of this knowledge came from the "old country" because there's different plants between North America and Europe. My granny learned from her mother and granny and so on, and THEY learned from the Cherokee medicine women way back when!!!

[@donnielaws7020]

So true! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@juliamillikin118]

Beautiful 🙏🏼

[@theravyshow2570]

yes! this!!

[@ThePatriotParadox]

You are so right.... I'm from the Tennessee Georgia line. Around lookout mountain, signal mountain, pigeon mountain.. And my grandma was part Cherokee

[@PaulaRamsey-t9e]

I've seen my Seminole Indian grandmother buy warts and moles from people . You had to bring her 50cents tho. She Said everything in life and nature has to have a trade . She read me and my other 2 female cousins the whole edition (encyclopedias) of man myth & magic 🎩 ✨️ . This was way before computers or phones. The people she wud buy the moles and so forth from would come back the next day to get their 50cents back if it didn't work....Well let's just say her coin jar was so full all the time she buried change all in her yard for over 50 years. She would tell us stories that we thought were just that. Um no she was telling the truth . So she taught us about the ways of the world and how to protect ourselves is what she was doing . God rest her sweet soul ❤️

[@pamcollins2207]

My mawmaw was from Floyd County, Kentucky. She cured me when I was little. I was covered in warts on my arms and legs. She just did the "laying of the hands " on my warts and praying to the Lord. It worked. I've been wart free almost 50 years.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks my friend for sharing.

[@steveo7116]

My people are from Floyd County as well. Specifically, Hi Hat. My great-grandmother was a healer. Folks would come from all around to have her lay hands on them.

[@Houndini]

There is something about it that can't be explained. This must has happen in other parts of the country, They has the same type of stories we have. That we never heard about. All I heard about been in Appalachian Mt. ranges. I am originally from Logan County WV area. I don't have even close to the fingers & toes to count the times I should been dead after 37 years as a Coal Miner. Joke but true. I been trapped in coal mine saved myself after 12 hours of being trapped. Caught in the great 1963 flood & sweep away. Talk guy saved me I was blue & 2 years old. Thank God I wasn't in the area on Buffalo Creek for 72 flood. My Great Grandmother & both my Grandmother's all believed in this.

[@Houndini]

Collins? Ever had any kin. 2 brothers 1 was nicknamed I think it was a family nickname Peanut I know his daughter was kind of sickly he told me little about her, Other brother his name has slip my mind worked on Surface Mine in Mingo County. I worked with them boys. Both was great people. Very extra nice to myself when I worked with them.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@Houndini WOW! good stories my friend. Thanks for sharing. I agree!

[@leslieross8708]

My Scottish ancestors settled in the mountains of NC because they said it reminded them of the Scottish Highlands. Many of the females in the family have what we call "the Sight" - just super strong intuition. I also had a neighbor "blow" the burn out of my arm when I was young. He waved his hands above the wound, said a prayer, then gently blew on the burn. The pain was instantly gone and within a week it was completely healed like it never happened. Thank you for the upload. Super great video 😊

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@deadrabbitstraining7018]

We still blow on injuries Ms Ross, the old ways have not left us. Love from Scotland.

[@leslieross8708]

@@deadrabbitstraining7018 that is wonderful to hear. I wish my ancestors had never left your beautiful country. I've never been but I always say my heart lives in Scotland and her blood flows through my veins. Best of wishes to you from NC 💗

[@robinbanks9691]

My mom passed that gift, "blowing out fire" to me. She said her father passed it to her and told her she could pass it to only one child and that child had to be of the opposite sex. I can tell you it works.

[@robinbanks9691]

@@deadrabbitstraining7018 lived in drumnadrochit 68-69. Had several inspiring experiences including my first out of body. Love scotland!

[@kccain4011]

Thank you so much for sharing these stories and this information. Im a blk woman in my mid forties from Alabama. My great grandmother was a former slave and a healer. She was African Anmerican and Native American. She had a light caramel complexion with long dark hair and light blue eyes. I was scared of her when i was a little girl. I remember being around 6 or7 yrs old, i burned my hand on a heater. It was bad. My parents took me to my Big Mama's lil shack. My Mama wanted to go straight to the hospital. My Dad told her, we'd go see big Mama first, and then we'd go to the hospital if she couldn't help us. I absolutely without a doubt in my mind remember Big Mama pulln me to her lap. She put something in her mouth and then she blew on the inside of my hand.....pinched a piece of a plant off of her porch and told my Mama to put itin my sock when i went to bed. I don't remember being in a lot of o pain, but i remember we never went to the hospital. I remember my Mama unwrapping my hand the next day and she called for my Daddy to come and look. I remember him saying, i told you Big Mama could " talk fire( pain) out" of a burn. I remember all of this because i was a curious/nosey child. Back then ..either you didn't ask, or you had to be selective about how you asked about grown folk stuff. Thankfully, my Daddy tried to explain to me that Big Mama was touched by God as he would say. After that incident i wanted to be around Big Mama as much as i was allowed to be. She taught me things i carry on with me to this day. She lived to be well past 100. Her skin grew to be thin and soft like tissue paper. I remember brushing her long hair. When she died i was sad but i understood that in her own words " her work on dis hea side" was done. Rest in Power Big Mama.❤️🙏🏾✌🏾

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW Thanks so much my friend for sharing your memories and story. God bless you. Thanks so much. Your very welcome.

[@AppalachianHierophant]

I’ll bet there was no African American at all she was a straight native.. that African slave tale is made up by the inheritors of this realm to confuse people about our true origins.

[@Elizabeth-yg2mg]

Neat story.

[@F5kah7]

What a lovely story thank u for sharing

[@eledatowle7128]

I remember the first time I was shown by my dad how to water-witch (it's a verb here in Maine, never heard it used as a noun before. We'd call the person a dowser, but say they were dowsing or water-witching). My cousin needed a new well dug, and I was probably about 5 or 6. I followed my dad while he sought out a forked alder branch and cut it. He said he preferred apple, but there weren't any around, so alder was the next best. Its roots always look for water, so it's branches would, too. I watched as he walked through the woods between our house and my cousin's, and that forked stick went from pointing straight up to straight down in no time flat when he got to one spot. He walked to it from a couple of directions to pinpoint it, and marked it for the new well. Then he asked if I wanted to try. It felt like any old stick to me, but as I walked through the woods back toward our house, the thing suddenly twisted in my hand so hard and unexpectedly that it left red marks! I nearly dropped it, half amazed and half afraid. He smiled, pointed it back up and told me to do it again. I walked some more and then it happened again. It turned out, it was pivoting to the ground every time I crossed over the water line from our own well to our house. When we built our own home in a different town twenty years ago, the local building inspector offered to dowse a well for us. He did, and it was a full Artesian - Spouted water right out of the ground so strongly they had to provide it a run-off pipe down the hill. I assure anyone who's skeptical that water-witching is very real.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW, Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@tomrobards7753]

It was the same here in Kentucky .

[@tomrobards7753]

It ran in my family, one family member even dowsed the water and dug the well , that was Dad's side of the family , mom's side did the medicine part even as a girl she could rub warts and with in a week they were gone .

[@gretchenohnstad7054]

Thank you for connecting the tree branch to the tree's root system searching for water . That makes a lot of sense to me. Yet, I guess the wire hanger works too, not sure why. Maybe frequency or vibrations in the water attract the metal? Hmm...

[@eledatowle7128]

@@gretchenohnstad7054 I've never understood the metal wire tools... I have to assume their just a visual aid to a person's internal senses, moved subconsciously. While most would argue the same is true for the tree branches, I can say for certain I've never felt anything pull in my hands like that forked stick did. I still remember the red marks like rope burn, where it twisted unexpectedly. Dad told me to hold it more loosely after that - a lesson I took to immediately!

[@maitreyaisthebeast]

I've lived in the Appalachian Mountains my entire 48 years and yes, these mountains are mysterious. I've heard so many stories from my grandparents and great-parents and i will treasure them till the day I die. He is right, we are a superstitious bunch, but we also love and fear the Lord. I have used dowsing rods looking for things myself. I've also used willow branches (best when looking for water) when hunting. I don't know how it works but it does. I'm very proud to be from the mountains and feel very fortunate that God placed me here and gave me the wonderful mountain parents that have. To me the mountains of Kentucky are heaven on earth and I'm one lucky girl to have grown up here.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing that my friend. God bless you.

[@Witchy-Wonderland]

Do you use the willow branches like you do the dowsing rods?

[@donnielaws7020]

@@Witchy-Wonderland No they are a little different because of how you hold them.

[@kharakessler1390]

Right! Im not very "religious" per se as my experience with religion has been traumatizing, but there is a great divine, and so i include that great divine and acknowledge it in my spiritual practices because.... Well i didnt CREATE "magic", and no one did. We didnt make any of this, it just is. So hiw can it be "bad?" It can be used for negative purposes like he said, but i refuse to believe that it just IS evil and demonic off the break like my religious family likes to believe. How can i be bad or wrong when i just know things or can make things happen with my words? Gtfoh. It took me a long time to realize that i can be quite powerful and i had to make my magic my own.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@kharakessler1390 Thanks my friend. This depends on the person using it. The Bible forbids the dark arts. I don't consider dowsing for water or using plants for curing the sick witchcraft. It's just the old mountain saying for them. Don't get me wrong there is evil out there my friend. I'm just telling the history of these mountains. Thanks for sharing. God bless you.

[@katiesioux7757]

My daddy could somehow always find the spot in our or someone's yard where the pipes froze and he would take coals from the wood stove and put them on that spot and sure enough the pipes would thaw and not bust. Our community on the reservation thought he was crazy when they saw him do it in his yard one winter but soon as their pipes froze, they called my daddy❤️ I sure miss him and his magic. Lol when he did something awesome, he told us it was an ' ol Indian trick'😍

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@LilyGazou]

I’ve met one such person. Only one with that skill.

[@opybrook7766]

It sounds more like a "gift" not magic😊

[@katiesioux7757]

@@opybrook7766 to a little girl it's daddy's magic that spark will never die😉💪😊☺️ Hopefully all daughter's see magic in the things that their daddy can do

[@katiesioux7757]

@@whosoeverwill-ky I'm native American so the bible has nothing to do with me . Enough of my people were murdered over it. 😁😉 Have a good day, apparently it doesn't make you a happier or friendlier person 🤣😁😆🙄🤔😬

[@dnews9519]

I remember my grandmother quoting that verse in Ezekiel when I was a child. She said it would stop bleeding. She was definitely not a witch in fact she was probably the most godly woman I've ever known. She died many years ago and I'm well up in my 50snow. I count my blessings that I'm old enough to remember what real human beings once were bcause people today are absolutely nothing like them.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this. God bless you.

[@johnpelley8127]

Yeah, even as somone not fom Apalachia, this was the thing that perked my ears up. My granny--like yours--the most Godly woman I've ever known, firmly not a witch, she taught me this as a kid. Her mother and father had come over to Oklahoma from Arkansas in a covered wagon. The generation before that we'd been Natives and immigrants from Germany and Ireland. As far as I know we were never from Apalachia. I wonder if there's an Old World tradition this all ties back to where the knowledge originates from. There has to be a common thread that goes back to some kind of folkloric root. As to its efficacy, Ezekiel 16:6 certainly seemed to work when I was a kid. Enough that I believe it even now, in my 30s.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing this my friend. God bless you.

[@ornerydyke]

This sounds like Pennsylvania Dutch powwow

[@Ancient1Pisces]

Having these abilities doesn't mean you are not Godley. Some of my ancestors came from Southeastern Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, West Virginia and Virginia. My great grandpa was a water diviner. They didn't have electricity. They were farmers and lived off the land. They read the bible by candlelight at night. There were church going folk. My mom said that he used to take all the grandkids when a new well had to be dug. He always found the water.😊❤

[@bwktlcn]

When I miss my family members that are gone, I listen to your videos and hear their voices again. I hear the wind in the trees, see that magnificent green of the mountains in the spring, hear my great aunts and grandma in the kitchen making wonderful food, my Dad and uncles under the hood of a truck, once more bringing that old Ford back to life. Thank you for letting me hear the sounds of home again. My great granny was a granny woman, and half the kids in the county, she touched them first as she brought them into the world. What I would give to sit down at the table, shelling peas and listening to the swirl of their conversation around me. You never miss home until it’s gone forever, because the people who made it home are gone. I miss them.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Bobby-mg1uj]

Beautifully expressed, and so many of your memories mirror my own. My people were from hill country KY and the northern Texas prairies. I miss my grandparents. Would give 'most everything to have another conversation with them.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@Bobby-mg1uj I know the felling my friend.

[@Cristobels-Green-Boots]

@Nellie Olsen - thank you Nellie, for your beautiful writing ❤️ I grew up in East London, & my parents/grandparents were all from a place called Hoxton, meaning that they spoke with an accent known as Cockney (you know, like Liza Doolittle). We are world’s apart, but your fond reminiscences of your Grandmother - of those quiet times spent with her - sound so familiar.... These wonderful posts, & the sincerity of the comments, give me so much hope...we’re all more alike than we are different, & we can choose to live in a world of our own creation! From Brighton 🌈 UK, take care & be well y’all! 🙏🏽❤️🙏🏻

[@alexandersizemore1493]

I still reside in Southern West Virginia. The hills and hollers still hold the same secrets just a bit past the edge of sight. Yet, even though I still linger here, it is no longer the home of my childhood. As you say, the ones who made it home are gone. There are times I believe it would have been the better choice if I had moved away. Then I could recall my youth and still get to visit home, if only in my memory. Too late for that now I suppose. My memories have already become corrupted by the way things are now.

[@confusedpotato5535]

I have happy tears streaming down my face right now. I lost my maternal grandmother, my favorite grandmother 22 years ago this year. Mom's side of the family is from Appalachia. Tennessee mountains. Grandma was born in Kentucky. She always professed to be a white witch and I always believed her. Now I know she was a Mountain Witch. I watched your video on superstitions too and I just had to come back to leave a comment. You have brought my grandma back to life for me in so many ways. Her spirit is out there right now. Ashes thrown over the mountains as she wished. Now I understand why I believe the things I do, and why she blessed me with her abilities and where I get my born gifts for the supernatural. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making these videos. Now I can fully understand why she believed what she did. Many, many blessings to you. These videos are gems and I'm sending them to my mother.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Pottawattamie]

My grandad was from Kentucky I am from UK he never met my mum she was born in 1945 her name was Carol Ann sadly passed away in 2014.

[@kimberlybutler1155]

I pray you are using your gifts from the one who gave it to you and that's the God in the heavens.

[@Alexandra_Wolf]

This was beautiful. I lost all my grandparents early but my grandmother was very special to me. I’m not from the south but this also made me cry. It’s just beautiful to hear these stories of people having experiences with real powerful witches. It’s beautiful.

[@angierobertson1368]

My grandparents where very special to me and well.... They pretty much raised me. Me grandpa was the one that truly held my heart though. I lost him in 2001 and he could witch water.... alot of these abilitys run in my family too and is something I was blessed w/ and watching his video and hearing his voice does feel like home. I read your comment and I can honestly say I can completely relate to how you feel... My heart goes out to you, sending love and healing prayers.... I know how hard it is to miss someone so special.❤️🙏🏻 Prayers for you and your family sweetheart.

[@omegadubois6619]

Oh my goodness. You bring back so many of my childhood memories! Where I grew up, a ways out in the country, we had a Granny Woman, a yarb doctor. Her son, who looked about 70, did our plowing and helped with butchering time. He'd bring her down when one of us were ailing. She knew a great deal about natural medicine, plants that could help and heal, and what could kill. She was incredible!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@lindadamisi9302]

Love it

[@brookenebergall4171]

How did they use yarn? Do you know?

[@donnielaws7020]

@@brookenebergall4171 Not really sure my friend. I know how they made it and made cloths from it.

[@omegadubois6619]

@@brookenebergall4171 thank you for pointing that out. I had meant yarb but autocorrect changed it. I should have looked it over lol.

[@AuntieCreed]

I loved this video. My Mother would be right at home among these stories. She can find water with dowsing sticks, she can stop bleeding with prayer and heal sunburns. She can nurse just about any animal back to health and loves to go out in the woods to look for arrowheads and ginseng. I've shared your video to her so she can watch it too.

[@kimella1320]

I hope you're able to follow in her footsteps.

[@waynecribb4922]

My grandfather used to walk me through the mountains of N.C. and show me all kinds of plants and tell me what they were used for as medicine . It was amazing. He also showed me plants that were food. He made some strange concoctions in his day and they did exactly what he told me they would do. My family is mixed English and native American on one side and German English and Scottish on my grandfather 's side I'm speaking of. My mother had an old book that was passed down from my grandfather that showed my family pictures . The people all looked like native Americans to me and my Mom assured me that was so. The hills are amazing but my Mom could not wait to get out of those hills. She left at the age of 17 and moved to Fort Mill, S.C. ,met my Dad and that's where I was born. Thank you for this video, I can testify that it is very factual. I too can detect water with divining rods. I did it to find my well after a well drilling company could not find water on my land. I found the "spot and told them to drill here. That's where my well is today.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that my friend. God bless.

[@carolb6141]

my uncle could also find water with a "dowsing'" rod, as he called it. He could also "talk the fire out" if a person had been burned badly by repeating a Bible verse over them, but he never told anyone what Bible verse it was.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@carolb6141 Awesome my friend.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@trinatrina5811Amen my friend. God bless you Thanks for sharing.

[@angielovelace888]

I used a witching rod when I did land surveying. My boss told me, then taught me how to do it. It works and blew my mind! Amazing old dying breed full of knowledge. Will be sorely missed very soon

[@egyptcat4301]

Like a lot of poor kids in Appalachia, I grew up in the woods. I remember when I was very small, there was an old old woman who lived farther up into the woods. I remember her name was Lizzie. She wore ragged dresses down to her feet, and had grey frizzy hair and a permanent scowl. We kids were told to stay away from her because she was a witch. Looking back, I think she was just a poor old woman, living alone, trying to survive. It sure made for a colorful childhood!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome Thanks for sharing.

[@sielukettu]

It's like a real life story from Terry Pratchetts book Wee Free Men. Awesome books 🙏🏼

[@Mrzeee999]

colorful but damaging and destructive childhood....................

[@freddheckman7144]

Would that be Lizzie Rankins?

[@alexandersizemore1493]

We had one who lived less than one hundred yards from my home. Her name was Violet and she delved too deep and became tormented until her death. Her shack and her "church" were finally torn down Perhaps thirteen or fourteen years ago. She wanted to be free from whatever had attached itself to her and strived to embrace Christianity in her later years, asking my father often to preach to her. I was never allowed into her shack, not that I ever wanted too despite my childish curiosity.

[@chasbee]

Many years ago I worked in a civil engineering company. Sometimes on a work site they needed to find a water line that they knew was there, but the location of which had been lost to the records. We had an older engineer who was the son of the company's founder, and he would go out and find the water for them every time using the same method as you do. Always was very impressed that he hadn't let his engineering degree and book learning get in the way of some old-time methodology.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@rebeccalynn3092]

I know it was amazing to witness. It opened my mind to a different way ... like a sensitivity to the natural ebb and flow of our world that I found to be fascinating. I often wonder, "so how did God put that together now, or how did He balance this out?"

[@ChrisWaters-nq3hw]

My family came from Scotland & settled in the Appalachian Mountains of KY, TN & NC. My great grandma could heal & told me when I was very young that God had given me my own magic. Her daughter, my Granny, had a sixth sense & regularly told me of people that she had seen or talked too, that had passed away. I inherited their gifts and I treasure the knowledge they passed on to me. I have lived & traveled extensively across our country, but these mountains are my home. They speak to me & bring me comfort. They have their own magic, just like all the people that healed, dowsed for water, and knew or saw things most couldn’t. Thanks for sharing this story with so many others!

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW Thanks for sharing this my. They were gifted. Your very welcome.

[@lindamortimore-bc6zs]

Can you read me hun?

[@francisjohnson665]

I grew up , and still live 75 years later, in Southern Kentucky. There was a woman in our community that could " draw" out fire . She really could. A neighbor child burned the whole palm of his hand on an iron stove . She just blew on his hand. He immediately stopped crying and it was never sore . I think that she was a healer , not a witch .

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@thegreatselkie6009]

Witches ARE healers.

[@joydurham5437]

I’m from the South and know/knew someone who can do this too. She also told me she couldn’t tell another woman how to do it, only a man, but he could tell a woman.

[@linaulnes8821]

Yes. Witchs are healers. Thats why the church wanted them gone. Because why would they get followers if people knew their own power and could seek help with the women and men in contact with their feminin side. So they killed as many as they could and installed fear and called it devils work. Because fear is powerful way of controlling people.

[@thegreatselkie6009]

@@linaulnes8821 you hit the nail on the head!

[@jacktribble5253]

My Mom grew up "Way up the holler" in a place called Tiger Creek, near Roan Mountain on the Tennessee side. She was a very strong and confident Woman and she was thought by many to be a Witch. Things just always seemed to go her way but I think it was more that she knew what needed to be done and stepped up to do it than any supernatural power. Still, even members of the local biker gang feared her. And this was just back in the 70s.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@ianworcester4640]

Local biker gangs afraid of yourn mom , ppffffffh , ....that's a bit funny . Did she lay a spell on their riding ability??

[@jacktribble5253]

@@ianworcester4640 Gang. Singular. And I'm guessing you didn't live through the 70s.

[@aarondigby9859]

People knew home remedies, understood the medicinal use of plants and herbs: hoe hound plants, catnip, lemon plants, garlic, sassafras, ginger, cherry bark and other tree barks, mullin plants, they were just women who didn't have easy access to hospitals and took care of their own.

[@aarondigby9859]

@@ianworcester4640 those people were spiritualist and had knowledge of things that are still mystifying today, could tell and predict the weather accurately by the movement of insects, birds and bugs. They were really mystifying.

[@robertmassie3452]

I had a witch-doctor took a some sort of tree limb, cut it to my exact height and chanted a saying or chant like. Said when I out grew it, my asthma would end. They placed it above my mamaws door frame. My mother and mamaw both witnessed it, and as I outgrew it all my asthma left. As a baby I was in and out of hospital for not be able to breathe and ever since I grew taller than that stick I’ve never had issues with it. I’m 53 now and my stick is still above my door frame to date. It would worry me if it wasn’t!!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@MIZZdarkerPerspective]

The Old Ways are The BEST Ways. make no mistake.

[@ishtarkimmycraigasyouare8320]

#beakimmy

[@genkiferal7178]

most people outgrow their asthma. me and my brother did.

[@robertmassie3452]

@@genkiferal7178 yes true but I outgrew mine before age of 3 , hospital atleast once a month. Either way I am glad it left so that I was lucky enough to enjoy playing like most back in the early 70’s

[@ghostdeluxxe]

My family in East Tennessee had a lot of connection to the Appalachian Mysteries. I grew up close to the TN NC border on a 400 acre farm and spent most of my young life out in the woods, just playing in the Nolichuckey River and watching cattle. One day when I was around 12 years old I found an old 2 story house out by the river, and my grandparents told me there was no house back there, when I gathered up the nerve to back, they were right. There wasn't anything there. My granddad could use dowsing rods too, he told me that's why he built his house where he did, he had a well that pulled from an underground spring. He worked often but had collected a lot of folk medicine from his grandmother and shared it with me on occasion, my granny didn't like it though, she said it was the devil's work. The one I remember the most clear was I had a planters wart on my foot, he made me rub a kidney bean on it, wrap it up like a present and leave it at a forked road. The next day it was gone. I cut the tip of my finger off once too, he made me soak it in diesel fuel and just taped it back on, I was little so I don't remember much else, I still have the top of thumb though, and no scars. Now on my father's fathers side, they always told me the family was Cherokee faith healers, my aunt is a healer witch but I don't know her well. My Dad told me the women could pass down the miracles, women and men both could use them, but if a man passed down the gift he would loose the ability. My father was given the gift to 'remove the fire' from a burn, and I saw him do that often when I was younger. If you had a burn he'd say a bible verse to himself and touch the burn, it would stop hurting but it didn't heal it, just 'take the fire out'. I personally haven't been taught anything, I lived with my religious grandmother and again, she thought it evil. Last bit of story, it was only at the end of my granddad's life did he tell me the secret of his farm. When he bought the property, he didn't know much about it, and when he began tilling the land, back where I played at as a child, he hit a mass burial site for the Natives. He told me he was afraid he'd lose the land or not be able to farm it, so they relocated the bodies they dug up down to the very spot I spent so much time at down by the river. Still to this day I have such strong urges to go back that spot, it was always so peaceful and serene. I like to think the Natives' spirits watch over that place, and watched over me when I was younger.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW that's awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing your story. God bless you.

[@lizziesangi1602]

@ Heart of Arsene Thanks for the stories. My mom is from Appalachia and never forgot her "roots". We were raised practicing Roman Catholics and this is the good that fights the bad.

[@xxkissmeketutxx]

Wow!! You could tell stories all day long and never be boring! Thanks for sharing

[@Greenwitch385]

My grandmother was a kitchen witch, as my Mom and myself. My family is from a small town called Rose Hill, Virginia. I enjoy your videos very much.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thank you very much my friend.

[@sallymay3643]

A kitchen witch how interesting & vital 4 the family. I was called a witch in another life but I was actually just a herbalist. I grew & sold herbs 4 cooking & medicines soaps lotions rubs all 4 healing people that didnt trust or couldn't aford 2c a doctor.

[@rvingkeepitrolling8797]

Rose Hill is in far from Appalachia same general area.

[@pinkiesvlogs2]

Hey there, sister.... from a kitchen witch in the desert hills of n.m!

[@valerief1231]

I never knew a Kitchen Witch was real, I remember somewhere in the late 70’s early 80’s a trend going around, Kitchen Witches were a little doll on a tiny broom that was hung in the kitchen. Someone gifted my mother one, and I would be unsettled by it when it was my turn to do the dishes and clean the kitchen lol.

[@clay1883]

Another fine video story. My Great Aunt was from Duff, a little coal town in Campbell Co. TN. Oldest child of a large family and times were lean. She knew wild herbs, medicines, edibles, poultices, and man could she cook. She'd cook anything I could kill and it was fine! And make wine! Several people below mention removing warts. My Great Uncle could do this. People from all around would bring their children and get him to remove the warts. It was in the Knoxville News Sentinel back in the '60's. I think the reporter was Don Whitehead. I never knew how he did it as it was done in private. I know he NEVER took any pay for it. Both of them taught me gardening, hunting, fishing, trapping, the signs and seasons and many things "country". My Great Uncle also showed me "witching" for water, pipes and such. I use it on occasion mostly just to help people locate an old line or keep from digging into a water or gas line. I can't explain how these things work. I don't question it. It is a gift. Just use it for good. Thanks Donnie!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@lisajohnson8707]

My grandpa removed a wort on my finger bout 40 yrs ago. I hadn't thought bout that in yrs

[@TS-mq1fj]

My Nanny was West Virginia Appalachia and gave me knowledge and wisdom beyond anything available even today. I came across the Foxfire Series as a adult and marveled at the gift she'd given me . She'll forever hold a special place in my heart and soul as do all of the folks of the "Old Ways".

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@kevinklingner3098]

0000000000

[@linnymaemullins3319]

😊

[@andeannafarnes4719]

My daddy bought the Foxfire Series for our family. It is excellent with a lot of "forgotten" practical knowledge.

[@lulumoon6942]

Found the Foxfire series at a favorite Aunt& Uncle's home (no running water) in a holler one special summer in WV... Never been the same since that magical time, and lucky enough to live in a log cabin in the country now. Thank You K & C!!! 🪶🙏❤️🌈

[@Melancholy1966]

I read the Foxfire Books in the 70's. They were a series of books that told stories from the Appalachian Mountains. The students of Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School in Northeast Georgia went out to interview the old mountain folks and learn about things like butchering a hog, wildcrafting, making a banjo, woodcarving, making soap, etc. Thank you for posting these videos and preserving the history of these people.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing. Your very welcome.

[@dnews9519]

Those were incredible books.

[@sunnydaze1]

Thanks for that book set recommendation. I just ordered them as my Christmas present to myself. My mom was born in Smyth County, Virginia (RIP) and her mom's family was generational Appalachia. My maternal grandpa (RIP) was from Hardin County, Kentucky. He was a coal miner before enlisting in the Army and retiring as a Master Sergeant. Thanks for the excellent history in this video presentation.

[@susansowers5909]

Awesome books, amazing resources lovingly recorded in those Foxfire Books ❤️‍🔥.

[@sunnydaze1]

@@susansowers5909 Indeed. I'm on the second book and I LOVE THEM!

[@appalachianhomegrown9207]

Thank you so much brother, for these videos. I was born in the mountains of SW Virginia & as a young girl, all I wanted to do was to get out of here. Now, at 51 years old, I’ve traveled to all the continental US states & can find nothing more gorgeous than these southern Appalachian mountains!! I’m proud of my accent & proud of all the family that came before me. This is my home & I will die in these hills ♥️♥️♥️

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@morecm3322]

There is no place like home. I am so glad you went back to your roots.

[@ishtarkimmycraigasyouare8320]

#BEAKIMMY

[@AmericanPatriot-cw9xe]

I lived in wayne County w va and what a great place to live, i love the good people of wva

[@appalachianhomegrown9207]

@@AmericanPatriot-cw9xe Husband’s Mother is from West Virginia 😊👍🏼

[@lavenabaxter6504]

My granny was from Indiana and was half Blackfoot Indian, my papaw was from Tennessee and was full blood Cherokee Indian. They both knew how to live off the land & were able to cure sickness, fever, & other ailments by using herbs,roots, berries and whatnot from the wild. Granny was a midwife in Indiana & I guess you could have called her a medicine doctor because she set my arm when I fell out of a tree & broke it, she sewed my leg up when I had a deep cut on it. She also placed a poltis made from a root of some sort on my leg to ward off infection from setting in. I never ever was attended by a real doctor until I was age 12 & that was only because I kept having a severe sore throat that granny could never get it completely healed. Turns out I needed my tonsils removed! My grandparents were the best in my world! And oh yes my granny would tell me witch stories that would scare me so bad but would take a hickry to anyone else who told me a scary story. Thank you so much for sharing these old Appalachia stories, I charish each & every one of them.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@pamelaburks8695]

I'm not sure why but I can feel that your story is truthful.

[@robertayoder2063]

Not blackfoot territory

[@ms.beasly8871]

Sounds like wonderful memories

[@AmericanPatriot-cw9xe]

@@robertayoder2063 she said he moved there

[@LVXMagick]

Proud Appalachian Witch. These videos are really great. I didn't realize the world cared about what we do in these mountains lol cool to know people are interested. Appreciate you sharing all this Brother. Blessings.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@carmaterra2275]

I would love to meet as many Appalachian witches as possible ☺️ hear about what they do . Beliefs . And so on

[@chrysallis2735]

Bless’d Be, sister!

[@nunnallyai]

I love how you’re a technologically inclined witch pretty cool 😎

[@sethcarter8385]

Come to Jesus Christ 💗 time is running out.

[@monicacall7532]

I fell in love with the Southern Appalachian mountain culture with its music, dancing, stories, crafts, etc. as a 13 year old girl living in the West. Everyone thought that it was a strange thing for me to be interested in. After I married my husband I learned that his dad’s side of the family came from the mountains of Western NC where his 3rd great-grandparents had been among the first settlers. Was I ever excited to learn more about this family! We’ve visited there and it felt like we’d come home. The new relatives were pretty surprised when I told them about my “strange obsession” (according to my own family and friends) with their mountains and culture. I’m now my husband’s family’s resident expert on their family history. I’m wondering now if I was somehow meant to marry into that family. Who knows? Your channel is such a marvelous place to visit and to use to help the family appreciate their amazing Appalachian heritage.

[@joncothranphotography9375]

Great stuff Donnie! My uncle was one that could talk out fire and my Grandpa would use a forked limb from a fruit tree to find water. I find it amazing that the old ways are being forgotten so quickly. I try to ask about those things and folks just act like they don't want it to live on. Thanks for sharing!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@ese_rafa6941]

Thats called water dowsing something that is now being forgotten that is how people used to find water holes or gold underground

[@eledatowle7128]

I haven't heard of "talking out fire." What is that, please?

[@donnielaws7020]

@@eledatowle7128 If get burned by something hot by saying the bible verse I showed it should take about the pain of the burn.

[@eledatowle7128]

@@donnielaws7020 Very interesting! Thanks for the explanation!

[@mountainpatriothomestead]

I certainly appreciate your videos. Over two centuries of my own family history in those mountains. My grandma was a granny doctor, which folks now fancily call natural herbalists. I use a lot of the same remedies today. My grandpa could waterwitch, as could my daddy and myself. But we were also told stories about the bad ones and we stayed away from certain areas, especially at night, even when coon hunting. Again, thank you for sharing and not letting this history pass away.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks my friend for sharing.

[@donnalabruno7936]

Share your knowledge. We need to return to natural God given cures. Big Pharma is poisoning us then offering a “remedy” at a profit. It’s criminal. Much good to be said for natural remedies and medicines. I hope you have a student ❤️

[@donnielaws7020]

@@donnalabruno7936 Thanks my friend for sharing.

[@davidbarnhart5101]

@@donnalabruno7936 p

[@ILoveLakeSuperior]

Its been over 40 years last time I ate some coon. My granny would barbeque with sweet potatoes, onions and apples. Some hot water cornbread, poke salad and it was goodnight..yes sir..Burger King cant touch a well roasted coon!

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

I love this one. I’m a water witch too, but I use a tree branch. I was told there is always at least one person in each family that can do it, so that every family can find water. If the witch dies, another will be born or someone in the family will inherit the gift. 🤗🐝❤️

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@colinkillian9265]

You're not a "water witch" you have just been told a bunch of superstition and your confirmation bias is strong so you believe it. You have no magical powers, you can't do anything paranormal or supernatural, you would we wise to sober up to reality..

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

@@colinkillian9265 Go away troll. You’re not wanted here. I will not argue with a fool.

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

@@donnielaws7020 You’re welcome🐝❤️🤗

[@colinkillian9265]

@@deborahdanhauer8525 I'm sorry the truth can be upsetting, removing the confirmation bias is something many people who suffer under lower mental acuity are simply unable to do. Perhaps one day you'll realize the mundane reasons for your supposed "powers" as the subconscious need to feel special and unique.

[@EpicHighFive321]

I was born in Missouri near the Mississippi but now live in southwestern virginia in the mountains. And i find all this culture fascinating. You can feel the secrets the mountains hide when you travel through them.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this.

[@kimella1320]

Maybe that's why I'm drawn to be there...

[@agneslong2323]

Welcome!

[@hillbillydan4721]

Mr. Donnie when I get a video in my feed that has your name on it , I am ALWAYS interested in what you got to say...you have a very unique way of telling a story, that kinda takes me back to a kinder gentler time in our nation's history !!!! Mr. Donnie thank you my friend and may God bless !!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks my friend for sharing.

[@bertdockery3606]

Most of the males in my family can dowse with bent coat hangers.

[@wynonabieneman7985]

I agree, his voice calms the mind, which in turn helps with the storyline. Thank You Donnie for your stories I find them very interesting 🙏🦋

[@chinese1181]

@@bertdockery3606 Thanks Bert; that is exactly what came to mind: bent coat hangers. The thought was put into me. Now I know.

[@summerfi]

Your narration of these stories has a calming effect, Donnie. I enjoy them very much. Several comments have mentioned healing through prayer. The prayers of a person who is right with God have amazing power. I would like to see you do a video on this as a testament to the unbelievers. I have several examples of my mom's prayers performing true miracles.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@rvingkeepitrolling8797]

Oh yes and it actually works if it's God's will.

[@VanessaMallia]

Thank you Donnie I just found your channel! It brings me back home hearing your stories!

[@donnielaws7020]

@@VanessaMallia Welcome friend. Thank you. Make yourself at home.

[@lisaryherd4685]

Yes, please do!!!

[@gladyskravitzjr825]

I just found your channel and this is the first video I watched. When you described the medicine witches who could stop nose bleeds with a bible verse the hair on back of my neck stood on end. I watched my own granny do this very thing when I was a child and I have never forgotten that miracle. She lived in the Indian Nations of Oklahoma but her family were Scots that migrated from the Tennessee mountains. She also did other things that scared us to death.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Welcome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@deborahhenning7917 Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@rodneystanger1651]

@@deborahhenning7917 If you don't mind explaining further, I'm very curious what this gift would be, and would love to hear a deeper explanation. Thanks.

[@linnymaemullins3319]

Scared why?

[@realcanadiangirl64]

@@rodneystanger1651 It's a gift from God

[@Mochichan2]

Donnie, my Mimi was from Spruce Pine, NC, and her daddy was Auby Harrison, a descendant of Benjamin Harrison. She told me a million stories about growing up in the mountains, and I wish I’d had the foresight as a young woman to write them down. The history of the Appalachian Trail and those who lived along it are American gold. I just love listening to your stories.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this. Thank you. God bless you.

[@jerrymcfaddin7719]

I am strong in studies of the Bible. And getting a witch doctor to come and investigate the actions of another witch is totally against the biblical advice given by the lord's profits. How can Satan cast out Satan???? Don't call a suth sayer to get rid of a tarot card witch. If you see this and have issues with inside your house contact me I have had trouble get on KZbin all Evening long.

[@MissouriCrookedBarnHomestead]

I had a really bad allergic reaction to strawberries when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I stayed with my great grandmother a lot on Heaton Creek in Roan Mountain TN. She took me to a friend of hers because if she hadn't, I was going to die. I was going into anaphylactic shock. It really tore my stomach apart. This friend of hers said she knew exactly what would cure me. She made a drink of coal and milk and made me drink it. It was terrible, but within minutes it worked. This friend that I cannot remember the name of anymore knew all sorts of tinctures and remedies for this or that. When he mentioned people lived so hard, they most certainly did. I'm 45 years old and I can remember working in the fields by the time I was about 6 years old. We would climb up onto the back of an old pickup truck and go from field to field to hoe the fields, harvest the fields, stake the tobacco, fertilize, or whatever was needed. My family occasionally did not have electricity, we occasionally went hungry, and occasionally, there wasn't a dollar to my Dad's name. It was later that my family became better off because they began traveling and playing Appalachian music.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@prestonsmith9824]

Hello Cheyenne! How are you doing? I hope you are fine and staying safe?

[@MissouriCrookedBarnHomestead]

@@prestonsmith9824 I am doing pretty well and always safe. Just making my way through life.

[@ericasimonson8737]

Coal absorbs toxins.

[@nicolawatson3051]

Was your allergic reaction in the belly ? My daughter had it in her throat airways being squeezed she would have lost consciousness within minutes I can't imagine anything but adrenaline epi pen working at that point . But iam interested in the earth and mother nature has to offer in health benefits. Really interesting

[@Necron-ez2cc]

Thank you Mr. Donnie. I know growing up in the Alabama Canebreak, Dowsers still practiced their art, and just about every rural community had a Spiritual Advisor. My 3rd cousin was an Advisor who taught me how to interpret the cards... Mind you, this is NOT fortune telling or any type of Hoo Doo... It's the art of helping people find their own answer by divination through their own memories and experiences they may have forgotten or not considered. The Evil Eye was also a very real thing, and we were constantly warned against being hateful and swearing curses... We were taught "Do no evil, for it will return upon you threefold."

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks my friend for sharing.

[@BlanketyBlank9050]

Divination is witchcraft a sin which God hates !

[@Necron-ez2cc]

@@BlanketyBlank9050you're using the first definition of the word, as per Webster's I'm using the second definition : unusual insight : intuitive perception... divination, or to devine, means to solve. As in, "My Granddad had no formal education as a mechanic, but he could devine the malfunction just by listening to how the engine ran.' By the way, you any relation to Kenny Blankenship, late of Paducah?

[@BlanketyBlank9050]

@@Necron-ez2cc I do have some people in Paducah. My aunt was married twice once to a Dunn, and then to a Blackburn. I doubt if I’m any kin to Kenny Blankenship but who knows it’s a small world. Thanks

[@Necron-ez2cc]

@@BlanketyBlank9050 I worked on towboats running the Ohio, Upper Mississippi, and Illinois with Kenny back in the 90's. He was an assistant engineer back then. He would be about 58 years old now.

[@Yodie208]

My Grandmother was from the"old Country". She had a gift in that she always knew when there was something wrong in the family before it happened. When my dad was a child he started having nightmares involving snakes. my grandmother lit a candle and let the wax drip into a pan of water. The wax formed into the shape of a snake. After that he never had the nightmares again. There are truely forces in nature that simply cannot be explained away. Thank you for sharing your stories on this subject.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Schmeepschenstein]

It's interesting to see cultural links between areas of the states that were settled by the scots/Irish... I'm Scottish born and bred and several of these tails share direct parallels with our own stories. Same theme different place. Live from Alba

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing this my friend.

[@shepberryhill4912]

You can see the same thing in music. I've seen performances where the same tune was done in three versions, the original Scottish or Irish tune, the old-time version, and the bluegrass version, strung together.

[@skylerstemper4627]

While it is definitely a different place the Scottish Highlands and Appalachia and parts of whales are actually all the same mountain range and a lot of people from here descend from Scott's Northern English Irish and Welsh people

[@lakrishamoore1638]

I really enjoyed this! My grandpa was a water witch. People would hire him to come out to find water to dig their wells. My great aunt (his sister) showed me all kinds of stuff growing up like how to make protection talismans or her what she called them “her trinkets). As an adult who does practice it’s amazing how much was taught to me from them both. The gifts I have definitely came from that line of family. Btw, your voice is so comforting! You sound like my grandpa!

[@donnielaws7020]

Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@billiescott9799]

You are so fortunate to have this connection.

[@davebennett7646]

Great comment, I’m a long long way from the Appellation mountains, way up in North western Ontario. There are Witches here as well…I know them! They’re great people… most of em!

[@jilleaston1148]

You and witch oil gas too. They use dowsing along with companion stones that appear near areas high in the gasses. I've lived in the Appalachian all my life. My great granny was a healer. She'd take collic from a baby by turning it upside down then blowing in its mouth while singing things I didn't understand. Me being epileptic, she called them fits. She said I would be able to take a burn away or stop blood. She wrote words from the Bible n told me to lie still n think on those words. She had 13 kids all at home 3 sets of twins in a row. One set she was picking beans n never left where she was picking had the older girls take the babies inside after she nursed them awhile then back to picking beans. She was never sick a day of her life and born in 1900 died in 1998. My grandaddy passed and she died the same night in her sleep. Ol doc came round and said she'd died healthy as a horse but of a broken 💔 heart. She ne er saw the sun rise again after he passed. She was always my everything.

[@Woodsyintroverts]

My grandpa would have been the medicine witch. He was amazing with a garden and the herbs. ❤️☀️💐

[@Pumpkinail]

I grew up at the end of the Appalachian mountains, I grew up with cautions of what is in the woods or what wasn’t (because if you saw something, no you didn’t). My family could grow anything out of nothing and very well known medicine women of the area. The traditions are still wild and alive! And it can be so beautiful

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@helenvanpatterson-patton]

My grandpaw was a dowser. I have always wanted to learn from a granny lady.

[@Pumpkinail]

@@helenvanpatterson-patton go to local libraries and look into natural remedies! There’s a ton of insight on folk magic, just under a different name

[@helenvanpatterson-patton]

@@Pumpkinail I have looked in my area and copied what I could find. I have gone to flea markets and garage/estate sales too. I have acquired a small group of books about medicinal herbs and some native American herb booklets as well. I am a hands on learner. To be able to pull the plants and do the work for the granny so I could learn would be a dream come true. I am trying to teach myself and have some luck with it. Maybe by the time I am granny aged I will have acquired enough knowledge. My family is from Monroe County, Mississippi by way of South Carolina. My mother was delivered by a granny lady. We had to move to the city for my dad's work. Being born so late to the family I was not exposed to enough knowledge. Funny how all 5 of my older siblings have no interest and could not wait to get out of the sticks. Me? I am going to school to make enough$ to buy land and get back in the sticks:)

[@maryohare4141]

I lived in an area of Appalachian trial. Our woods were peaceful, full of sunlight, birdsong. We have Cherokee and Scot- Irish in our paternal family history and Irish in our maternal history. i have always been "in tune" with nature, vibes. I noticed one day that the woods felt different...a sense of danger, foreboding. I looked to weather, to see if storm was rolling in. No...but the woods were silent, no bird or animal noises...which gave me chills! I told my husband and he just laughed. For some reason, I decided to get our digital camera, take his photo by edge of our woods and gravel drive. When we looked at the photo....there was something very dark, not human, standing directly behind him! He thought I had photoshopped it into photo...but it was on digital camera, not computer. I immediately felt evil presense. I told him something was wrong with our woods...that evil had entered. He got mad, said it was nonsense. He was great outdoorsman, loved nature and our land. A couple days later, he told me that in a ravine on our property...he had found a campsite and "kids" had left witch signs spraypainted on rocks. He assured me he had destroyed that. THAT worried me and I sensed he was in danger. I asked him to go to church with me, to get priest to bless him. He wasnt of my faith, so he refused. Within three months...I found him, in our woods on an eerily foggy morning devoid of all nature sounds...crushed beneath a massive fallen tree. I truly felt a sense of evil near and prayed to God to take his spirit safely to heaven...and to protect me from the evil lurking near. I had a minister and a priest come bless our woods. The sounds of nature, the normal lightness of the woods, returned after that.

[@glenndavis1868]

My great grandfather on my grandfather's side was a healer. My grandmother told us stories of when she was still dating my grandfather how people would come to him for healing. The most amazing one was a man who was thrown from his horse had a compound fracture in his arm. My great grandfather sent my grandmother to get a couple of bath towels and wrapped his arm with them. He told everybody else to leave the room. As my grandmother was leaving she looked back as she closed the door behind her and saw him put his hands on the injured area and began chanting in a strange language. About 1 hour later my great grandfather opened the door to let everybody else in and they all reveled in the fact that the injured man had full use of his arm and there was no scab or scar from where the bone was protruding (only redness which was probably leftover blood stains). My grandfather said that his father was supposed to teach him how to do the healing, but died in a car accident before he ever taught him.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing this story my friend.

[@glenndavis1868]

@@donnielaws7020 Forgot to mention that I am from PA Appalachains

[@N2Mtns2]

My Grammaw Daisy Bell from Bell County was a Medicine Healer - very busy woman that was called counties over. The 2 Doctors depended on “Miss Hill” and her leather bag too. I went with her on several midwife calls and boy did she change once the men were scooted outside. She Glowed & I’m not kidding. First time I ever Heard Her get called a “White Witch” ii offended me because she was so highly respected. She giggled & put her hand on my shoulder and simply said, “It’s a Good thing, child. It’s a Good thing”. She taught me a Lot. My 83 yr young Momma calls me a Seer. And a Medic. Momma’s a Dreamer and people say she’s got a direct line to God. 🙏🏼💕. Thank you for this Mr. Laws. I recognize hearing your family’s name. “The Laws”. No specific story but ‘Good People’. Thank you for the precious memories and truths. God bless you and yours. (edit) another thing Grammaw took me & taught me is (where are we going Grammaw?) ‘Oh we’re gonna go run off that Ol’ Devil’. Oh my gosh her stomping & loud prayers of Rebuking the ‘ol’ serpent’. I’ve been called upon by Southerners up here north for that too. I don’t know *what people called/ call that but Wow. God *ALWAYS* Wins. Always. 🙏🏼⚡️🙏🏼 Ephesians 6

[@brianpulstsr8680]

I could sit and listen to you tell stories all day! You have a real talent for it! Thanks again for documenting and passing these stories down to future generations. I really believe this is very important.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this. Your very welcome. God bless you.

[@danielpollak6075]

👏👏👍Good video, enjoyable

[@jean6061]

A long-past relative in the Allegheny Mountains in New York was an herbalist. She'd collect all sorts of plant material and dry it from the rafters of her home. Folks would visit, tell her their ailments, and she'd select various items, place it in a little bag, and give it to her visitor, usually for a nickel or a dime, I'm told. There is much wisdom in the old medicine, in Native American medicine. As for water dowsing, I've tried it, too - and was surprised when the hanger ends moved on their own! (You know how some hangers come with a cardboard tube over the long metal part? I cut that to use as "sleeves" around the smaller parts of the rods, so the long rods would move freely.) Really enjoy your videos - thank you!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@patmlaw]

I had an uncle on my dad's side who was a dowser. However, he had some brain damage and, although he was lovable, he was not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He lived with us for a while when I was a kid. We lived in town and paid a water bill. When he found that out, he was indignant about it, because he believed water was God given and should be free. One day, while my dad was at work, he started dowsing on the front lawn. He was determined to dig a well and do away with the water bill. He found water and had the water pipe dug up (4 foot down) by the time my dad got home from work. 😄

[@CarolAnnHenderson]

@@patmlaw Incredible Patricia. I love this. Thank you.

[@claricec2291]

My cousin can witch water, I've seen her do it. My Mom come from the Pennsylvania ridges and told us many stories about witches and unexplained happenings with which she had experience. I too have seen things. I believe in most of the old folklore. Thank you for this video

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@cookie244]

What's that?

[@justus8430]

My great uncle was a water witch. I come from a long line of healers. My family still makes salve by hand. Same recipe and process for hundreds of years

[@bobbygrisham1469]

My Grandma taught me that same verse for stopping bleeds. I asked if she really believed that, she was a very saintly Christian born 1920. She told me she not only believed it but had seen it done more than once. Now for the water-witching, I used coat-hangers too. My Dad was paying a well-rig and we were trying not to waste money and had already dug over 200 feet to only get a slow seep-in. It rises about 20 feet from the top, but too slowly. My neighbor, gone now, was an 80 something year-old, korean veteran and he brought the hangers, said he started this when a little boy. His wires crossed over and over in the same place. He handed them to me and told me to try it, said it works for some and some it don't. I was shocked when it did exactly as it had been doing for him. It was pretty amazing but the water was about the same. We dug nearly 300 feet there. Both wells have plenty of water, the last is only 8 or 10 feet down but both are slow filling. I've always suspected that the wires had more to do with some kind iof electro-magnetic field created by water across certain minerals, but I'm not sure that can explain the wood. I also was taught the Willow for it by my Dad though neither of us had ever tried it till our neighbor that time and I still haven't tried willow or actually done it at all since. Just thought I'd share that, thanks for the vids.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW, Great story my friend. Thanks so much for sharing this story with us. God bless you.

[@cynthiathibault8775]

My grandmother from Kentucky swore by that verse too and taught it to me as a child too.

[@bobbygrisham1469]

@@cynthiathibault8775 Yes, I think that one was a very well known one. I memorized it when she taught me but never thought to use it. Maybe I should accidentally slice my wife just a tad to try it out, lol. I'm pretty sure in an emergency I would remember it. Though I did see a man stabbed several times and didn't. If you ever have experience with it, please let me know. Thank you.

[@maryohare4141]

We were building a home on 35 acres and twice, the drilling of well...came up dry. This was a cost of thousands of dollars...for nothing! My husband was talking about it at work and later, a co-worker of Scot-Irish decent, quietly offered to divine water for us, said his family had "the gift." My husband thought he was being pranked, but I had seen my Appalachian-born Daddy do it. So, the man came, the willow branches bent...we marked spot with spraypaint...and had the drillers try this totally new area. They were very skeptical...but we were desperate. YEP....best underground reservoir source of crystal clean water found EVER! Well drillers asked if the man we used could be hired lol!

[@donnielaws7020]

@@maryohare4141 WOW, Thanks for sharing this.

[@bbqbros3648]

My paternal line came from the Orkney Islands of Scotland and fought in the Revolutionary war. His line went through NC to TN to AL to TN again. Even though I grew up on the other side of the south, I hope to return to east TN someday. Love learning all the history of my people- truly appalachian folk (and southerners in general) are some of the most misunderstood and disenfranchised in this country.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing this my friend.

[@jacobparson7534]

That’s because we lost the war.

[@kskollections2142]

What a fascinating video! I am from Pennsylvania and am Pennsylvania Dutch and I am well versed in the history of the hex signs. I see them all the time. I love that your narration was casual. Many narrators tend to talk down to the viewers but when you spoke it was like you and I were having a conversation. Great job! You have gained a new follower!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Welcome my friend. Thank you. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@deajavire8488]

He signs? 13:22

[@The_Cosmic_Navigator]

I love seeing everyone on this page, makes me remember my great grandmother and that culture and tradition will always triumph over modernity.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Niccole-oq8wo]

My one of my great grandmother's were from Culpepper County VA. I was always told she had the gift of "sight". She was forbidden from ever telling anyone as she came from a strong Christian upbringing. They said she could tell you all about a person after meeting them for just a minute.

[@donnielaws7020]

She had a gift for sure! Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@loraanski7696]

I’m from Culpeper & I believe this wholeheartedly

[@ImJABBee]

My grandma came from a long line of witches from the mountains of Appalachia. My sister has incredible “sight”, sometimes all it takes is quick hand shake or brush of the hand.

[@TiffanyBedford]

I have that gift.

[@n0thersist3r]

@@TiffanyBedford I have visions sometimes, that runs in my family

[@margaret9198]

My family comes from The Appalachian mountains! Descendants of the Linville’s. Unfortunately never heard any of the stories but I would’ve loved to hear them! Thank you for mentioning the Cherokee Nation. Thank you for sharing!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this. Your very welcome.

[@amandiabowen4575]

Western WV. I have some Linville friends. ❤

[@chasitytaylor8858]

I remember as a young child in Mississippi going with my grandmother to an older woman’s house to get my baby brother cured of oral thrush. Mamaw said some people called the lady a witch, but she just thought she was educated in natural ways. It worked, and I hadn’t thought about that in 40 years, until I came across your video. 😊

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@bloozem]

My ex-wifes grandmother took my soon to be adopted son who had thrush to an "old widow woman who never met her father"...apparently it was a requirement. She blew in my sons' mouth so many times a day for 3 days. The thrush went away....according to my ex. This was down the mountain a ways but a lot of locals in the piedmont NC area have family from the hills.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@bloozem Awesome, Thanks for sharing this my. God bless you.

[@dreamsofadaffodil650]

Educated in Natural Ways....wow!!! Great use 💙💙

[@JujuBonez]

My Mamaw called me a "thrush doctor". I have never met my biological father. Everyone comes to me when their babies get thrush. It's neat that others know of this too!

[@heathertackett7956]

My grandmother said the bleeding prayer. Thought the bleeding stopping was always coincidence. Until she prayed for my aunt who was gushing and spurting blood (bleeding to death) and it stopped.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@jimmynewsome859]

Who's ur grandma

[@jacoblocklear783]

Same with my grandma an her sister they prayed for my cousin who was bleeding inside and it stopped

[@MarzannaMorana]

My Great Great Grandma was a midwife back in the early 1900's and she delivered over 500 babies in our area of WV. Her name was Lula but she had 9 names! ❤️ I never got to meet her, but I wish I could have. She was a healer & we have several nurses in our family. Awesome video as I admire our ancestors and what they went through. I believe witches overall have been given a bad name. #WVWITCH

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@dianaaiello588]

I just bought a book Witches , Midwives and Nurses . I like it !!! Witches got a bad rap back then .

[@naturalwitch1359]

I to come from a family that has witches.We have native American and Irish Viking heritage. And my daughter is a nurse.

[@jeffracer6231]

Lula was my grandmother name from Pineville KY

[@melonieisham9788]

Omg I have so many stories about my grandmas on both sides just like y’all. My dad’s mom was a midwife, and went around everywhere in the farm community of Western KY birthing babies, and they tell she could blow in the babies mouth to cure oral thrush. That was my Welsh memaw. But my mom’s mom took off warts, made healing salves for burns and cuts, congestion etc and we never went to the hospital for stitches. Just smeared the ointment on and wrapped it up a few days. Then it was all healed. Memaw said even “lockjaw” wouldn’t grow in it. Lol. They were both very praying spiritual God-fearing women. I have never heard anyone call them witches, but that memaw was Cherokee but never told us until we ran our genealogy and asked her. She said you didn’t talk about it bc it wasn’t proper to be considered a half-breed. She was born in 1912. But when we sent our DNA in, we were confused about the Cherokee part. It came back as Iberian peninsula and 73% Welsh Irish Scots. I kept digging and there is some speculation on the Cherokee that maybe they came from there, so there’s that. I know they differed from the other tribes in that they built houses not teepees and had their own written language. So… maybe something to that. But anyway on both sides of my family, most of the girls are nurses. Myself included. And I still use the salve in our family. I love all these stories. Bless everyone of you.

[@TaylorBennett2000]

My family is from southwest VA, and I grew up there right next to the Appalachian trail. My great great grandmother was called “the blood stopper”. She passed it down and taught it to every woman in the family but she passed several years before I was born. My mom told me stories of her doing it for her and my grandmother when they got hurt, got nose bleeds, etc. and it really worked. It was never passed to me so it was interesting hearing about it in the video. First time I’ve heard it talked about outside of the stories my mom told me. ❤️

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW Thanks for sharing your memories and story with us my friend.

[@SeraBurris-np9gm]

It's strong unwavering faith through the Holy Spirit, while reciting a certain Bible verse... I knew someone that could. ❤

[@mountainmama4133]

I'm in S. West Virginia. They called my great grandma a medicine witch. She helped a lot of people but I don't recall her being anything but God fearing. Everything handed down is Scripture based. Thank you. Love how you talk. Reminds me of - me.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@nazgullo]

Same with my great grandmother over near Big Stone Gap. She was always called a witch cause she healed and such.

[@AO-ir6ec]

Same with my Maw in VA. I remember we were visiting her once and a man ran in with a baby. The woman followed him screaming and crying. My aunt tended to the woman and Maw took the man and baby into the parlor. Wasn’t long until she brought the baby out on her shoulder and the man started comforting the woman. A few minutes later she was thanking Maw profusely. I asked later that night what happened and was told that she saved the baby’s life. She could take away warts, soothe toothaches, and stop bleeding with the Bible verse mentioned. I’m sure there was lots more that she could do, AND she was one of the Godliest women I have ever known.

[@lalaisis5126]

Christians learned from the Pagans. Pagans were using teaching & passing these traditions decades BEFORE there were Christians.

[@angeladavis9254]

​@@lalaisis5126 Yep...

[@thomasbEvans]

I just recently discovered your channel, I love your presentation and the content, a perfect combination that covers subject material, Appalachian culture and locations that I really enjoy taking the time to learn more about and thank you for being such a good teacher Mr. Donnie.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Welcome my friend. Thanks my friend for sharing.

[@robinlawson2145]

Thank you Mr Laws! You my friend,are super!

[@sallymay3643]

Only a mother would leave a comment like that. So thanks mom Donnies videos r doing well.

[@nancym5341]

Donnie you brought back an old memory of mine Lordy! When it came time to drill our well at our Chalet in my Dads hometown in New Brunswick Canada I was really young but I remember this! An older man came by with one of my many Uncles. My Daddy told us in English what that man was there for: find drinking water spot to drill well! Our Chalet was in the Bay (salt water). As you said he took out 2 coat hangers and started walking and we were watching!!! I can’t recall if they crossed or split apart but one of the ways indicated FRESH water not SALT. He found the spot said to my Dad in French; “ drill here it’s good!” It cost Dad a bottle of whiskey. By golly they brought in the drill equipment and lo and behold it was the best water we ever tasted!!! I believe that some folks have “gifts” but you have to believe that anything is possible with God! PS: the man’s Granny taught him!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

[@prestonsmith9824]

Hello Nancy! How are you doing? I hope you are fine and staying safe?

[@ellodica]

this is an older video but it’s the first one that was recommended to me by youtube. i love that you’ve taken the time to share such a fascinating part of appalachian history and lore! my family is from west virginia but many of them have passed so a lot of their stories have been lost as well. your channel is helping to connect me to that part of my life and i have to say, i love your voice and the way you narrate!! will be checking out more of your videos after this!

[@donnielaws7020]

That's awesome, my friend! I'm glad you found it and I hope you enjoy the rest of the videos! ❤️

[@denverbevins4052]

Great Grandmaw, Thelma Richards, was a travelling midwife in the mountains around Williamson, WV. She told me a story about a demon-possessed woman who was kept in a basement room of an old mansion. The first time she visited the old mansion, the owner answered the door saying, "You must be Thelma." "How did you know my name?" Mam-maw asked. "My daughter has been yelling your name for the past 20 minutes." Creepy. Would be interesting to watch a show about the more extreme parts of the Christian faith in those mountains. The pentacostal mountain religions are an interesting mix of faith, superstitions, and fear but like everything else, there's truths to be told.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@downrighthorizontal9931]

woah. reading this- my grandma is named Thelma Richmond, she's lived in souther WV for ages (just east of the New River Gorge)- honestly potentially could've been her, she's done a lot of odd jobs & travel & knows a thing or two about having kids cuz she had 7 of them. I'll have to ask her about this whole thing next time I visit her :)

[@dianeyoung8068]

Keeping someone in a basement because they have abilities that most don't have is so sad and cruel.

[@jjreddickowns]

@@dianeyoung8068 no it’s not, it’s keeping a dangerous compromised entity relatively contained. She should have been killed or burned alive in the basement to finish it.

[@MsSaudm]

My Dad ( now passed ) also told a tale & swore up & down which he said he saw with his own eyes . As a young man he and his buddies went to taunt a woman who was known as a mountain witch not believing the tales about her. He said that when they started to yell at her house the hedge that ran the length of her yard SHOOK violently and SCREAMS like wild animals shrieking came from it. They were so scared they ran and never went back. This happened when he was a teenager so LONG before any video projectors , sound systems or other modern devices that could have made the event. He never made up tall tales & I believe what he said happened exactly as told.

[@donnielaws7020]

WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@samsalamander8147]

My ex who was a stoic man and never once a liar told me he was walking in the woods of Mashpee and he was messing with a girl pinching her bum and chasing her and making out with her when he was 12 and he had a woman walk up to them tap him on the shoulder and pull her hair aside and she had an eye in the middle of her forehead. She is a famous witch named Granny Squanit she was a beautiful native woman who was cursed with an ugly 3 rd eye and she would steal bad children and make them her slave for years then she would release them when they were good again the old chief of the tribe from the 80 said he was abducted and kept because he was bad on her island in the middle of the Mashpee pond. My ex swears granny Squanit was warning him to be good and he is so afraid of her that he made me believe him I had to pull the story out of him like teeth he was afraid to even tell me. His Dad died in the house we were living in so he said that was the only reason he felt comfortable telling me he freaked me all out we lived in the middle of the woods in Mashpee. He was Wampanoag himself he also said she wouldn’t mess with me or my daughter because we are white lol and she always went for little boys. I wanted to put out an offering for her of beach plums and rum because I read that online after doing some research on her but he wouldn’t let me he said he was worried that would encourage her to come around. Creepy though I don’t believe in ghost or the supernatural but that story freaked me out bad at the time.

[@primitiveonpurpose]

Thank you Donnie for keep our rich tradition of storytelling alive here in Appalachia, especially on your witches subject. Don't change a thing! ~Sincere listener from Erwin, TN.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my. Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing this.

[@melancholymoon13]

I'm from Jonesborough TN! Hello neighbor!

[@moritod]

Thank you so much for this! My great grandmother was a healer in this tradition. People would travel incredible distances (for the time) to have her lay hands on whatever they suffered from. Her track record is pretty amazing. Perhaps they healed themselves, simply based on their faith in her. perhaps she did it. Maybe a bit of both, who knows? But it's a time honored tradition, definitely not a myth.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this. Your very welcome.

[@joyceleeper7247]

My uncle had a way of getting rid of warts he said he got it from an old witch lady who taught him and it would work when he did it.

[@themetaphysicalmermaid6852]

I loved this video so much. Me being a witch who is moving to Tennessee permanently. It’s so refreshing to hear the stories. Especially so well narrated. Your voice is incredibly soothing.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Find-Your-Bliss-]

East TN is a beautiful place! I’m returning as soon as I can! Check out the Center for Peace in Seymour, TN. Best-

[@MWah747]

I'm so glad I came across this video. This was amazing to watch. I believe many people were falsely accused of being witches when in reality they were strong people of faith. Intelligent people who knew and know how to survive. Special people and misunderstood by many in the cities. When you brought up the scripture out of Ezekiel, it just blew my mind because I know someone who did this when my cousin accidentally slit his wrist with a machete. The blood stopped immediately. Thank you so much for making this video.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome, Welcome friend. Thanks for sharing this my friend.

[@autumnsmith3585]

I love these stories about old traditions. Thank you, Donnie.

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@amberkumar4514]

I’m a descendant of the Shinaberry and Wilfong families and my mom was born and raised in Pocahontas county WV. By the time I was a teenager my grandparents had developed some dementia and I never got to learn our history. This voice is very nostalgic for me and it’s a blessing to learn about witches as a modern pagan. Thank you.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing. Your very welcome.

[@Disl3cic]

I knew of some Wilfongs when I was younger. Nice people.

[@HighPriestessAngelique]

It is music to my ears to hear you tell what I so desperately want to hear from my elders who are long gone. Thank you for this beautiful expression of this gift that a higher power has passed along to me. I truly honor you for this. Blessed be, 🔥🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼🔥

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@redraven7948]

Another GREAT video Donnie! My great grandma was a 'witch doctor'. It is something that I take pride in and handed down by the females in the family. You do so many wonderful and great videos..Thank You!! 💙💙

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@oralindahapp3226]

I was born in the Appalachian Mountains in Logan County West Virginia. As a child we used to play a lot of different kinds of games that I learned later in life were actually considered "witch games". As far as I know no one in my family practice any type of negative witchcraft. According to your article I guess there were family members who would have been considered medicinal witches. Also, I have seen dowsing rods work. It was super cool

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@donnielaws7020]

@Seven Inches of Throbbing Pink Jesus Awesome! Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@sandmtnirishred]

I'm a dreamer and a healer

[@sandmtnirishred]

I can dowse for water, and tell if a woman is in a family way by looking in her eyes. My older brother and I both have the Sight, and it used to run off each other's, but I cut it 2001. Ider, DeKalb County, Alabama. Sand Mountain.

[@sandmtnirishred]

@Seven Inches of Throbbing Pink Jesus I am Owl Sister, winging thru shadows that are this Earth and I am the Little River and the Great Falls into the Valley.

[@stoltergeist437]

I was shown the witching process when I was a boy and use it to this day. My children can do it, but their mother can’t. You gotta have the right heart and mindset. It’s saved me countless times.

[@iamauntmeem]

Back several generations on my mother's side of the family one of my great-grandmothers was a healer. She went from house to house healing people with herbs and her healing gentle touch. She was also, a midwife and delivered the area babies. My grandmother had that healing touch, she just knew what felt good for each of us. Her demeanor adapted to each ill person and could soothe them with her gentle touch and voice. It was not magic, it wasn't witchery it was love for others well being. I believe that is why there are so many nurses in my family.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend

[@bonniewilliamson110]

The people in my family call them the grannies. They knew all the cures they helped everyone and were highly respected

[@bonniewilliamson110]

Funny. I’m a nurse now to❣️

[@Teressa690]

Our Granny and Mamaw told us alot of stories about witches. They were God fearing people. They believed in witches. They used old mountain remedies for medicine too. Great great grandparents on both sides are full blooded Cherokee Indians and very proud. Thank you for sharing this.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks my friend for sharing.

[@gotohellenwaite6371]

Granny was from Blackfoot up in West Virginia. My papaw was Irish and won Granny in a poker game. So me being a mutt wasn’t allowed in many of her sides pow wows , but I was Granny’s baby and she was the most strongest , wisest woman I had ever known ( still is to this day and I’m 56 and Granny is long passed on) I got in trouble at school in 4th grade because I was to write a paper on a strong woman in history and I wrote about my Granny. I was told that even though my paper was good I didn’t follow instructions. I argued that she was the strongest woman I knew and would be in my history as part of me. To this day I still feel this in my heart snd am grateful for her being in my life and part of me.

[@prestonsmith9824]

Hello Teresa! How are you doing? I hope you are fine and staying safe?

[@luism.raposo5138]

More, please!. I'm Portuguese and I have family back in the day up in them mountains. You are like one of the last Mohegans. God bless you for telling the real history of a beautiful tough time back then.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@seditious2253]

Your voice is so soothing, I'll put on one of your videos when I'm going to sleep. It's like a spooky bedtime story told by a beloved grandad

[@jogrant3851]

Thank you Donnie for this fabulous video and the interesting comments here by viewers. I'm in Australia and we don't seem to have a strong witching history here (EDIT: among ther European descendants). There are some gifted people with European ancestry (transported to Australia in 1800s from UK/Ireland/Scotland). The indigenous people here have a powerful and rich spirituality and it is ingrained with the country. They have natural mental abilities that have a strong affinity with all the spirits of the land and it is is normal, everyday life to experience their presence. Some indigenous people who have been taken from their land/families, those living in white society, often develop mental illness as a result of losing their spirituality. It;s clearly an energy that they are born into, and need to thrive. The presence of the Earth energies is proven by the behaviour of the dowsing stick. Anyway, again thank you. Really enjoyed hearing about the Appalachian mountains and the people who lived there.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@lulumoon6942]

Interesting to hear of the differences in Oz, be well friend ❤️

[@nataliesugar2117]

Oh but we do have a very strong Witch history, it's only because it's a young land,,, only 28M people. I think it's quite rife 😀 there's many of us Witches new and old in Australia now! 😉 Don't be fooled haha.

[@donnasnorthernlights2089]

Donnie, my mom's family has been in America for over 450 years. She taught me how to remove warts by wishing them off with a cotton string. I tried it several times on myself and sure enough the warts just fell off. Sometimes it's best to not question things. Thank you my friend for your words of the past.

[@donnasnorthernlights2089]

My mom told me that older family told her...to take a piece of loose cotton string...I used a white piece of frayed jean material on mine....take the white cotton loose thread and loop it around the wart and tie it with 1 loop of a tie...not tight but touching the wart. Don't laugh when I tell you this...it has to be done the evening/night of a full moon. You wish it off...just wish....then remove the loop still tied and bury it in the earth someplace where it won't be dug up. When the string begins to rot the wart will just fall off. It works. I've done it twice.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@donnielaws7020]

Good question my friend. So many secrets to behold my friend.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@allthingsfairy]

My mom had a skin tag near her eye, and I tried what I read about that was done years ago, I bought it from her. I asked her if she’d sell it to me for a dime, and she said yes, and I gave her a dime. My mom said her skin tag was gone one morning after a couple of weeks. I asked if she was putting me on, and she said no it was gone and I went over and it was gone. Sometimes these old superstitions work! It might sit be “spicy psychology” but if it works, it works!

[@brianelkins8604]

You forgot about the ditch witch lol. Man your accent really takes me back to my childhood with my grandparents and aunts and uncles up in the mountains. Still live in east Tennessee, but just seam like that great old mountain life is fading away. Makes me sad. Once heritage has been lost it is gone forever.

[@donnielaws7020]

A Ditch Witch😂Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@Jeanmarie8406]

I live not even 10mins from Appalachian Trail in Hot Springs North Carolina Born and Raised. I Love to hear about my old folks and nobody but you to tell it ❤️ thank you so much for all your videos and the time you Devote to them. I really appreciate my Elders and just about all of them are gone on Home, my Daddy was Gene Gentry he'd be around 67 yrs old had he lived. He passed my senior year at high School. He was my best friend but God needed him and I'll see him again someday. Your Voice is very Comforting the way you tell a story of these old mountains. Would you ever do a video about the owls in these Mountains?? God bless you my friend.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks so much for sharing your memories. God bless you.

[@DANIGAL101]

I’m not from Appalachia, but my family is Irish. My Grandmother and Great Grandmother were both considered “witches”. They were healers who were able to tap into an energy. Thank you for sharing this!

[@donnielaws7020]

Your very welcome my friend. Thanks for sharing this.

[@heartofthunder1440]

I’ve always heard that earth at one time was a very magical place.

[@rebeccagilstrap3507]

Same here but I’m a redhead of Scottish /Irish decent from upstate SC.

[@lockandloadlikehell]

@@rebeccagilstrap3507 Scots-Irish, more likely

[@thegreencat9947]

@@rebeccagilstrap3507 as myself...red head...my mom and her grandma...she never questioned me when I said take care.

[@jujumulligan43]

I live in western North Carolina and I absolutely love watching and listening to this program. Please do more! So very interesting and makes me so much more drawn to the land of my ancestors. Thank you!!

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Your very welcome Thanks for sharing.

[@monicacall7532]

Where in Western NC are you from? My husband’s ancestors were among the very first settlers (the Whitakers) in what is now Buncombe County in Fairview. We’re from the West, but we love going to the mountains back there. They’re so different from the ones we have out here. I love both kinds. However, I love the mountain music, folklore, customs, etc. much more than what passes for culture out here.

[@jujumulligan43]

I'm from Henderson County. My family name is Mills. My great grandfather built the Court house that still stands today on main Street. W.F. Edwards.😊

[@twothreestickstravel344]

Thank you for posting this video, sir. My family and I are from Appalachia. There are stories passed down of mountain witches and healers. Natural herbs and remedies saved many kin through the centuries, as we were isolated in the mountains. Many of the superstitions and craft came from our Irish and Scot ancestors. My mother and I had a real eye opening experience to the old ways on our trip to Ireland a few years ago as well.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for the info! Your very welcome. Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@woah6958]

Please tell us the story, I'd love to hear it.

[@marymcsherry1965]

The Irish have always believed in "faith healers." These were people who could cure through prayer and faith

[@mandyjeanne3124]

I love this so much. my family is east Kentucky Appalachian, and this is a great connection to some of the mysteries of my childhood. I've been researching for a long time. My family kept many secrets. I've gone back home several times, but the mystery only grows deeper.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing this my friend.

[@sarahjschmidt78]

My mother’s family is from the “Happy Hollar” area of West Virginia and she spent her first 7 years of life in those mountains. Her Great Aunt told her stories of the mountain witches to keep her and her 2 other siblings (my aunt and uncle) in line. I love hearing those stories and about the way of life for the people who made their homesteads there.

[@donnielaws7020]

That is awesome! Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@kdbw3]

I'm a water witch. I recently helped my mom locate the spot in her yard where one of her gutters was stopped up...only took me about 2 minutes. My daughter is a water witch as well. I purchased my dowsing rods online and they are made out of copper...works like a charm. I have 2 sons but they aren't dowsers. We are from and live in the Appalachian region of Tennessee.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@amyteurlife9408]

I found i could find water when college instructor asked for a volunteer. The copper just moved downward as i walked. I dont consider self to be a witch. I just let nature do the work and i dont hokd rids tightly. I dont try to control the rods.

[@melonieisham9788]

My dad and grandfather witched for water. I can too. Dad said one child in the family would receive the gift. My sisters can’t just me. But we use a forked branch of a bearing fruit tree. I like apple. Pulls hard.

[@francisjohnson665]

I've seen watcher witches witch for water . Finding a place where too dig a well . Worked too . My grandmother's nephews were well diggers and both were water witches . I have seen them find water , dig a well and find water . They preferred Peach Tree limbs.

[@donnielaws7020]

@@francisjohnson665 Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@mulekickhandmadeguitars8465]

Using the coat hanger wires, as he showed, I've always been able to find anything that lays under the ground. I've also found very old graves, as well. I know some folks can't do it, but I only attribute it to something in our individual physical makeup that allows it to happen. Perhaps like some materials will conduct electricity, and others will not. Great video.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@valerieglisson4879]

My Maw Maw had a superstition and sayings about everything....and her sisters all had a gift as they would call it....healers...cards... medicine and hex!!

[@donnielaws7020]

@@valerieglisson4879 awesome,Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@glynnphillips9703]

I am so grateful that I found your show. I feel like I not only found a super great show but I also found a new friend. Thank you so much Mr Laws

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing this my friend.

[@shivakat2297]

My brother in law and myself found water on my property using coat hanger wire. My husband and my father were not believers until we found it. We had a well dug and it is going strong now for over 37 years. I'm in Southeastern NC.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@sherryturner7070]

Love this! We are from the Appalachian mountains and my fiancé is native American and I am a solitary witch many generations down through the years . We have all kinds of witches around us and we are mostly called healers and seers. Thank you for your story and your time. Blessings to you from east Tennessee.

[@donnielaws7020]

Awesome my friend. Thanks for sharing this story.

[@sherryturner7070]

@@donnielaws7020 no problem , thanks to you my friend for covering us in a good light!!!

[@Kord8peas]

Would be cool to meet you 🌊🌊🌊🌊

[@TheJohnnyCalifornia]

I’m from Western KY but had plenty of friends and relatives from Eastern KY. My cousin lived there as a kid in the 60’s and when he was a boy he was seriously burned in a kerosene heater explosion. The doctors thought he would die but his parents took him to a local Witcher Man who wrapped him in some foul smelling rags and then said a few prayers over him for a night. He not only lived but today he doesn’t even have scars. I haven’t heard of any witchers anymore but they weren’t uncommon when I was a kid. Probably not that many around since the New Age movement took it all over and packaged it up into a commodity.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@melonieisham9788]

Turpentine, grease and coal oil. It will work on that. We still use it. My memaw’s recipe.

[@tenessasutton8579]

there was an old man my gpa told me was a healer. we parked way down at the bottom and walked up 3 miles to see him. no vehicles allowed and you had better been known or u wouldnt have been seen again! i liked it. lol well he was a old man on a porch overhanging that mountain, it looked like the house was going to tip off if he rocked his chair too hard. but i met my cousins and their mom and we played and danced and chased baby ducks till we all fell asleep and i guess pappaw got some peace and shine.

[@donnielaws7020]

​@@tenessasutton8579 WOW! Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@roseredd7895]

I’m from Appalachian mountains NE region , PA. We still have healers - not called witches anymore dear . Anointed . Yes they still use Ezekiel to heal ! I’m fantastic with plants 🌱 I shop at Walmart for the dead or badly browned ones , bring back to life and have quite a beautiful collection in my yard and kitchen as well as herbal garden all year to cook with . Forage as well - nothing like fresh herbs to cook with and make medicinal cures ! Blessing from God 👍. Loved your video thank you for posting , it’s good to hear something positive about our beautiful area !

[@masonwagner768]

I had the privilege of living right along the Blue Ridge Parkway for about 6 years. I had to move away for financial reasons, but I miss those mountains every single day. Magical place, really, and folks like yourself always made me feel at home.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing this my friend.

[@mayte8018]

What state???

[@masonwagner768]

@@mayte8018 North Carolina. Asheville, to be specific

[@Tea-fg5we]

On the American side of my family, my grandmother's folks are from the mountains in NC. She's always been...unnaturally good at growing plants (and she loves doing it. Like I've NEVER seen anybody with that kind of affinity for plants, ever.) Also animals (mostly small animals -- housecats, chipmunks, squirrels, etc.) really love her and are drawn to her, and it's very uncanny. Birds will fly right up to her, squirrels don't seem to mind her existence, and she's always finding injured animals and nursing them back to health...or maybe the injured animals are finding HER lol. Plants that are pretty much on their last legs, too...she can bring them back to life. Bring her your crunchiest, sorriest, most deprived little plant and she'll turn it into the belle of the ball. Her third eye is also wide tf open, because I've never met anyone who was always right in terms of making judgements about people? She can pretty much read someone's vibes and gets what she calls "a gut feeling" or "getting her hackles up" around someone who is bad...and outwardly, you physically couldn't tell. She's the best vibe-checker I've ever met. A guy I was dating came to the house to meet her. My granny had never met/seen him before. He didn't act strangely or do anything out of place, he was chill and we just kinda hung out. But the second he left, she started saying that he was a creep and I should stop seeing him. I didn't really get it at the time and I just thought she was being judgmental. She was REALLY insistent that I stop seeing him, so I did. A few months later, sure enough, the guy turned up on the news convicted of rape -- apparently he had a habit of SA and such. There was NO damn way she could've known that in advance. A time before that, I introduced a friend of mine to her, and granny really seemed to like her. She told me to keep that friend close, because she felt that person was the type of person who would save someone's life at the drop of a hat without being asked to...and years later, that friend helped me get out of a really abusive living situation when pretty much all my other friends had abandoned me. We've been friends for almost 15 years now and continue to keep in touch regularly even when most of my old friends from 10+ years ago have kinda fallen off the bus, so to speak. Additionally, I was told that she took one look at me when was little (when she first saw me) and said she knew I was gonna have a rough time...and I have had a pretty rough life, missing 1 parent to suicide, the other surviving parent suddenly hating me and marrying a stepparent who also hated and abused me, multiple abusive relationships throughout my life, and having to endure some pretty awful medical malpractice.

[@donnielaws7020]

She had a gift. Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@cynthiakeller5954]

I'm glad she was a part of your life, virtual hugs.

[@jacoblocklear783]

My granny was just like the she’s was from nc a town call eunaka

[@lindaparker6]

Love to you,and to the blessed people in your life!❤️

[@1961musiclover]

💕

[@melissagalloway7675]

I heard the story of the Bell Witch for the 1st time while I was in 5th grade in Etowah, TN. Scared me to death for about 4 months. My mother’s parents are from New Hope, TN. I grew up with a good deal of respect for those who had ‘sight’ and for respecting beliefs.

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing that my friend.

[@megbrie4207]

My grandfather healed these ways too.. as well as water witching. I’m next in line. If he would have lived till I was older, I believe I would have been taught.. as it typically went male, female, male.. and I now am a witch myself. It felt like this is where I should have been all along. And not all witches, as you know, are bad. They can be healers, and they can be dark witches. I chose love. I chose my path as my Grandfather chose God. I’m from Kentucky .. these witches spread out around the Appalachian areas as well..

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing my friend.

[@georgeannstinnett910]

My great grandma was also .the light side

[@AotearoaAnge]

Kia ora - I’m from New Zealand - I don’t know how I stumbled across your videos, but I love them! My husband is from North Carolina, our kids have an interest in his heritage (Native American, African & German) so I’ve added your videos to show them. Thank you!

[@donnielaws7020]

Thanks for sharing. Your very welcome.