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Author Topic: Granny Women  (Read 3655 times)

milkeyedmender

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Granny Women
« on: July 26, 2016, 11:54:27 pm »
Does anyone have any experience with or come from a family of granny women?  I come from a line of (what my grandmother referred to) as white witches.  While some things are similar, I'm more interested in granny women and their practices.  

I've recently begun incorporating (what I can find) the remedies/beliefs of granny women into my personal work.

Granny women to me meaning the Appalachian healers/midwifes who practice a bit on both sides of the hedge.

MeadowRae

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Re: Granny Women
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2016, 09:41:58 am »
Quote from: milkeyedmender;194430
Does anyone have any experience with or come from a family of granny women?  I come from a line of (what my grandmother referred to) as white witches.  While some things are similar, I'm more interested in granny women and their practices.  

I've recently begun incorporating (what I can find) the remedies/beliefs of granny women into my personal work.

Granny women to me meaning the Appalachian healers/midwifes who practice a bit on both sides of the hedge.

 
I have granny women on both sides, tho they wouldn't call themselves that. My great grandmother always says to throw salt over your left shoulder to keep the devil away. She ate the first wild Violets and dandelion greens of spring for health and luck. Both women believed in a healthy dose of sunshine and to not drink from the first snow. My great grandmother on my dad's side believes you should be barefoot as much as possible "because her momma did so, and she lived pretty good." She's 99 now, so I will take her word for it. :) She is also a believer in black coffee and real butter.
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RecycledBenedict

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Re: Granny Women
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2016, 11:12:04 am »
Quote from: milkeyedmender;194430
Does anyone have any experience with or come from a family of granny women?

Elderly neighbours in the village where I grew up happily told us children old folk customs: To run bare-foot around your house on 25th of March in order to receive good health from the cranes, for instance.

When anyone died, most households would put a long branch of spruce outside the door, broken in the direction the undertakers car would pass by on its way to the graveyard. In my childhood it was said to be an act of solemn politeness towards the departed, but, decades later, I read that, hundred years earlier, the custom had been described as 'warding off bad luck emanating from the corpse'. The custom had survived, but its meaning had been reinterpreted in the meantime.

No one believed in supernatural creatures, except for the Holy Trinity, saints and angels, but many of the elderly could tell with amusement about the folk beliefs of their great grandparents: The Tomte (farm wight), the Skogsrå (forest spirit), the Näck (Knucker), the church grim, the ghosts gathering for Christmas Matins hours before the living ones', the Lusse who spread bad luck on St. Lucy's night, and the Wild Hunt.

Divination was very much alive. The weather on St. Urban's day and the week 19-24 of July were helf to be significant for the future, so would the unlikely event of thunder between Christmas and Twelfthnight. Cartomancy and divination in melted tin were held to be innocent pastimes. All these old women and men were devout Lutherans.

A folk custom which is still alive all over the country, is to pick seven or nine flowers during St. John's night and sleeping with them under the pillow, in the hope to see one's future husband/wife in a dream.
« Last Edit: July 31, 2016, 11:12:41 am by RecycledBenedict »

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Re: Granny Women
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2016, 03:27:11 pm »
Quote from: MeadowRae;194543
I have granny women on both sides, tho they wouldn't call themselves that. My great grandmother always says to throw salt over your left shoulder to keep the devil away. She ate the first wild Violets and dandelion greens of spring for health and luck. Both women believed in a healthy dose of sunshine and to not drink from the first snow. My great grandmother on my dad's side believes you should be barefoot as much as possible "because her momma did so, and she lived pretty good." She's 99 now, so I will take her word for it. :) She is also a believer in black coffee and real butter.

 
...I like both your great-grandmothers. They sound amazing.
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milkeyedmender

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Re: Granny Women
« Reply #4 on: August 01, 2016, 08:23:57 pm »
Quote from: MeadowRae;194543
I have granny women on both sides, tho they wouldn't call themselves that. My great grandmother always says to throw salt over your left shoulder to keep the devil away. She ate the first wild Violets and dandelion greens of spring for health and luck. Both women believed in a healthy dose of sunshine and to not drink from the first snow. My great grandmother on my dad's side believes you should be barefoot as much as possible "because her momma did so, and she lived pretty good." She's 99 now, so I will take her word for it. :) She is also a believer in black coffee and real butter.


Very cool!  I see you're from West Virginia-are you in/near the Appalachians? Forgive the question, I'm terrible with geography overall.  I've read one novel by an NC author that incorporates granny women.  The Appalachian tradition is where my interest really are, and your great grandmothers sound awesome.  I hope you were able to soak up as much of their magic as possible!

GrayEyes

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Re: Granny Women
« Reply #5 on: September 04, 2016, 02:39:43 pm »
Quote from: milkeyedmender;194430
Does anyone have any experience with or come from a family of granny women?  I come from a line of (what my grandmother referred to) as white witches.  While some things are similar, I'm more interested in granny women and their practices.  

I've recently begun incorporating (what I can find) the remedies/beliefs of granny women into my personal work.

Granny women to me meaning the Appalachian healers/midwifes who practice a bit on both sides of the hedge.

 

I'm not Appalachian, not by a far stretch, but my maternal grandmother did things like that, as does my mother to a lesser extent. They never, ever used words like magic or witchcraft.

My mother will put a pot of herbs on the back of the stove, depending on the needs of the household. A good general pot will be basil, bay, and cloves on an average day or sage, rosemary, and thyme. Cinnamon and star anise and allspice are good when someone's away on business. But if someone's ill, you'll be sure she adds caraway seeds and fresh pine needles to a pot of water. She'll just simmer them until the whole house is infused with the herbs.

Yarrow should always be planted at the front door, according to them. Thistles are best grown around the edge of the property and harvested around Easter. Keep a portion of your garden/land a little bit wild and you will always have a better harvest.

While my mother is nominally an Evangelical Christian, I grew up with an understanding of the bean sidhe and  the spirits of the dead (particularly the family - we visited their graves and homes often to talk to them). I had a distinct conversation with my mother once where she told me that I took after her side of the family because I understood that the land has a spirit and a voice, whereas my brother thinks it's dead earth.

MeadowRae

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Re: Granny Women
« Reply #6 on: September 04, 2016, 06:47:34 pm »
Quote from: milkeyedmender;194628
Very cool!  I see you're from West Virginia-are you in/near the Appalachians? Forgive the question, I'm terrible with geography overall.  I've read one novel by an NC author that incorporates granny women.  The Appalachian tradition is where my interest really are, and your great grandmothers sound awesome.  I hope you were able to soak up as much of their magic as possible!

Forgive my lateness, please. I don't get on here as much anymore and just saw this! My maternal great grandmother was definitely Appalachian. They lived more toward the middle of the state. Unfortunately, I never met her in person, as she passed before I was born. On my paternal side, it was more culturally Appalachian in the past. The area is more sub urbanized now. My paternal great grandmother is 99 years old and kicking.

This thread prompted me to question my mother a bit more about my great grandmother. Apparently there is a book somewhere in our attic of her "remedies" as she called them. My grandmother said she would go into the woods and come back with something to gargle or take as a tea. So, yeah. Her grimoire has just been hanging out in the house this whole time. :eek: I tried not to act too excited, but I can't wait to get into our attic this winter.

On a different note, if you're on Facebook you should follow Anna Wess or just look up Appalachian Ink. She writes short stories and histories of the granny women in her family. I adore her writing style.
« Last Edit: September 04, 2016, 06:50:38 pm by MeadowRae »
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