Mountain Witches of Appalachia 

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!!!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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'😍

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.

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

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 😊

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.❤️🙏🏾✌🏾

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 ♥️♥️♥️

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!

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. 🤗🐝❤️

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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.

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."

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.

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. 😊

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. ❤️

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

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, 🔥🙏🏼❤️🙏🏼🔥

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.

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!

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.

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.

Witches were really healers. Man had to create a scary version to deter people from wanting to engage. I would be considered a “Green” witch, which is a healer that relys on nature, etc Thank you for covering.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Some people are gifted healers. Dowsing does work, we used forked branches. There must be a scientific reason why it works. I was told when my Grandparents built their big house, Grandma dowsed for the place to sink the wells for the barn and for the house. A very elderly lady lived with her daughter across the road from us. My mother and I would bring her lunch and visit. I told her I had nose bleeds every day for no reason. She held the front of my face gently and said a few words I could not understand. She said I was better and would never have another one and to this day, I have not.

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.

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.

My grandfather who I never knew because he was very, very old and died shortly after I was born, was a water-witch in rural Louisiana according to my dad (who is also no longer living). He said the people around that neck of the woods, (and that's exactly where they lived, out in the woods) would call on him to find where to dig water wells. And yes, apparently he would use a stick.

Most people don't know that mountains and forests, are all connected to the under world, and have openings and doorways through caverns and major root structures that you would never think existed.

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.

The Granny Witches descendants of the Druids.My grandmother was a Granny Witch.She and my mother had the second sight meaning they could see events before they happened. My grandmother made all types of medicines .

I love deep southern accents. There is a lyrical quality to them that seems stripped from many other accents (including my own Albertan accent). There is an energy to them that is palpable. I get the same feeling from strong Irish accents. Love them. ❤️

Love your stories. New listener. My family comes from, or through the Appalachian mountains, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and the Carolinas, settling to raise their families on Lookout Mountain. The history and knowledge passed down fizzles out and young folks just as keen to hear it as I wish they were. Thank you, I love this and can't wait to hear more. Sounds like home to me. Lord bless you and keep you.💝🙏

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.

As someone who practices currently, including Appalachian folk magicks, I'd like to say thanks for the way you handled this subject. Two things of note though: 1. There isn't really "bad" or "good" as far as practices goes. Like most things, it comes down to the who, how, and why of it. 2. Most people don't realize just how many little things they do comes from various paths of practitioners. Lighting and blowing out birthday candles, knocking on wood, salt over the shoulder, all sorts of things. Its really interesting. Edit: there's a book called candle and the crossroads, its all about Appalachian conjure he learned from his grandmaw if I remember correctly. Could be an interesting read. See behind the curtain, so to speak.

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.

The mountains may be beautiful, but the real mystery lies underneath our Earth. We have the largest network of caverns and caves right under our feet....they're truly a gorgeous sight. I can only imagine what we haven't seen.

One of my grandmothers was called a "witch of her kind," by Local N.C. Story Teller Ray Hicks. she could read things about people in tea leaves. All the generations of my family love the Lord, and believe in laying hands for prayer. All of us women seem to have varying degrees of healing /seeing gifts, and mountain medicine/foraging knowledge. Some is genes passed down I suppose, and the other is heritage, and teachings. I'm proud to be an Appalachian girl, and of my family and heritage. The water witching technique is also called dowsing. And yes! It can work for several things. There's some science behind it as well. 😊 Thanks for video!

My granny, it’s been said, could blow the fire from a burn and stem the flow of blood while reciting bible verses. She was a tough little West Virginia mountain woman.

Thank you for another great video. My family is from Clay County, Kentucky and my mother is 71 and she would tell stories about how her grandmother could make tables walk. I always thought it sounded far fetched. That grandmother was Pennsylvania Dutch. I know we had wise women in the family as well that gave medical treatment to neighbors. Very strange indeed.

I dearly love listening to you. It takes me back to when I was 8kid listening to my grandparents and uncles and aunts talking. My grandmother knew how to use peach tree limbs to find water

Listening all the way from the UK🇬🇧. Thank you for this video. I love anything to do with folklore. This video was so interesting. People need to return to the old ways. I lived in Guyana when I was 5 and grew up with my Granny who would make poultices from herbs whenever we had cuts and sprains. Wish I had the wisdom to write down what she knew before she died. Now that I'm older I much prefer the natural way of living life, herbs, plants etc👍🏿🙏🏿

I so much enjoy your stories Donnie. I especially love content such as this one on Mountain Witches. I’d love to hear more of such as this like mountain ghost stories. I live in North Alabama and my father in law passed on to his oldest daughter (my wife) the knowledge of how to cure thrush. Who ever you pass this knowledge on to never tells anyone how it’s done except the one who that person passes it on to. My wife has done it several times and it always works. Thanks for all your stories!

There’s a lot more types of witches than this. Love your voice! I live in the Appalachian mountains and I absolutely love it here. Not all Witches are bad…🙏🏼🙂

Very interesting, Donnie. My grandmother was a dowser, I've seen first-hand how it works. There are things in this old world that can't be understood. Have a great weekend, Donnie!💖

My granny and great granny were both the medicine women. They both could tell you what herbs and mixtures to make to help you get better. They are both gone now and what a loss for the family it has been too. It is a forgotten art these days though. Thank you for sharing and you have a great day

Thanks for sharing Donnie. My paternal grandmother (Myrtle Foust, born 1898) from rural Anderson County, TN could stand behind a pregnant woman feel her belly and predict the sex of the baby. She was never wrong. My maternal grandmother (Nellie Moser, born 1892) from rural Monroe County, TN could rub fat back on a wart, then wrap the fat back in a rag, and then bury it. It always made the wart heal and go away.

Oh Donnie you have done it again. I remember going with my great grandmother to gather plants and roots for sickness. And as she aged she would send me to gather different plants and roots for her. And my dad was called on many times to witch for water before someone would drill for a well. Lol..there was know harm from my great grandmother or my dad. Dad was frequently called on to sharpen saws of all kinds. Cross cut, hand saws,and later on chainsaw but neither of them ever charged for anything they made, sharpen or witched for water. They took it as a gift and you don't charge for gifts, or abilities they felt was given knowledge from the Creator. Wonderful vedio again thank you so much ❤ my friend

Thank you Mr. Donnie!! The old mystery’s of the mountains. There are 2 groups of people that if they told you something it was the truth. Mountain people and Native Americans. Thanks again Donnie, good stuff. 👍

I can trace my family tree to the Appalachian mountains back to the 1700’s. I just visited last week in northern Georgia and it was like a religious experience. I collected rocks, I waded in a creek and I talked to my ancestors. What a wonderful channel. I feel my familiar family history has been lost. I love your videos. Keep them coming. Especially on the witchy topic PS, my whole family on both sides is from Kentucky and northern Georgia

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.

Thanks for sharing Mr. Donnie! I love listening & learning about the history of the Appalachian Mountains. I have some of those rods I use to locate the water lines and or underground streams. They also work for locating underground electrical lines to. Take care my dear friend! 🙏🏻👍🏻🙌🏻😇

Granny was from Lafollette TN , and I've heard many stories of her healing warts, sick kids, etc.... and she had stories of her own. Darker tales were told by Papaw. Cats that wouldn't die after they'd been shot many times. For a kid in Ohio, they all sounded so strange. But, you grow, and then realize that there are many strange things in life.. I still feel at home whenever I visit those mountains and hills...

I’m a WV hillbilly and I think you have explained things very well. My granny taught me a lot about healing remedies. Many have really worked for me.

Donnie, can we please talk about how relaxing your style of talking and story telling is? Definitely subbing. Thanks for posting this!!

This video was very informative. Growing up in Louisiana, I knew early on a lot of the paranormal, supernatural things I saw for myself wasn’t just folklore, but the truth! I took my daily walk in nature and I saw a Water Witch dousing rod it looked exactly like what’s depicted in the video. Because I am a healer I know now I was led to this video. Confirmation! I love your voice by the way.

Thank you, kind sir, for 13 minutes of the most lovely ASMR. 🥰 i very much Adore your voice and storytelling manner. All my best! Subscribed😉👍

Another great video Donnie, my grandmother removed my warts and she could talk out fire and stop bleeding. I love your videos sometimes I go back and watch them over and over again better than any TV or movies

I grew up in Southern Appalachia, down near the Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia border, and I knew a Granny a woman (as we called her) as I was growing up. She used to know the herbs and “spells” and remedies for pretty much everything, and she was a midwife who helped more than one woman give birth. My parents have told me that when I was three years old, they took me to her after I had spent several days in the hospital following a really bad asthma attack. I remember that she took me out to a tree (they never said which kind, but probably either an oak or a poplar) and put the Bible on top of my head. She took a hand drill and bored out a small hole above the Bible, then took a pair of scissors and cut off a lock of my hair, tied it with a thin strip of cloth, and then stuffed it into the hole that she had bored in the tree. My parents said that she then corked the hole and prayed over me, read a passage out of the Bible, and then traced the Cross on my forehead. They said she told them that when the bark grew back over the cork, I would be cured of the asthma. I cannot remember ever having an asthma attack in my life, but my parents have told me several times that I suffered terribly from it when I was a toddler, and that I nearly died a couple of times. So I guess it worked. Aunt Jane (which is what we called her) also knew how to cure warts, thrush, migraines (what we called “sick-headaches”), knew which herbs a woman should use if she didn’t want to get pregnant as well as which herbs a woman should use if she wanted to get pregnant, and all kinds of things. My family also says that she knew how to reverse hexes and spells that someone might have on them, and that she could cast out ghosts from houses. I know it all seems like a bunch of superstitious nonsense, but there just might be something to it, like the gentleman says in the video.

Donnie, I remember when I was a youngster, my dad showed us how to use tree limbs for dowsing rods and we had a ball playing with them. In later years I made some with the coat hangers and they really do work. I still have them. Thanks for the reminder of some fun yet mysterious ways.

Another interesting and informative video Donnie. I enjoy listening to your stories.This one is right up there with ole green eyes, Tennessee wild-men, raw head and bloody bones and my all time favorite The Guardian. I watched an elderly man find a drain line near his home using dowsing rods. We got about two more inches of snow overnight up here in southeast Ohio. It sure makes the fire from the wood stove feel nice.

I honestly listen to this everything to help me sleep, it’s weird your voice is strangely comforting. Thanks

I grew up in the foothills, my mother's side can down from the mountains, and so I grew up with stories of witches and they used the term "witch doctor" also. I had always assumed this was some leftover remnant of Native American culture but later learned that it probably did come over with settlers also. I sure do miss the old times. Thanks Donnie.

As a small child here in Alabama I remember a well going dry, my Great Grandma witched for water. She found it. Then asked my Grand mother to see what she came up with, which was the same. It was passed down to me in some way and healing. Thank you for sharing Donnie.