Southern Conjure Tradition
By Catherine Madden
Southern Conjure Tradition is a tradition unique to North America. It’s still practiced in
Appalachian and Ozark Mountains. Unlike South American and Mexican traditions it is a combination of Celtic, African, and American Indian.
The tradition is usually associated with the Deep South: New Orleans, Savanna and bayou country but is also found in the Mid West and Southwest. It continues today as a verbal tradition usually passed one on one. It is a hybrid practice made up of the spiritual traditions of the oppressed. Africans were not the only slaves in America. In the 1700’s Scottish and Irish landowners were pressed into indentured service and immigration by enforced “land clearance” policies. Many of our European ancestors came to the America as slaves.
America’s indigenous people know relocation and disenfranchisement. Slaves in the new world shared their spiritual tap roots. The result is a rich mixture of fairy tradition, nature based ritual and magical practices born in the USA.
Practitioners of the Southern craft are referred to as Fairy Seers because they are able to see both sides of the vale simultaneously. I am from Missouri where you can still find Ozark Witches in the rural areas. City folk call them dousers, but in the country they are called Water Witch. Dousing is a popular topic in alternative bookstores and shops where I come from. There are state and national dousing associations with active memberships. It is an ancient spiritual practice which is a part of contemporary culture.
I recall a summer trip I made with a group to England. We were looking for the Holy Grail. One member of the tour was an investigator for a international crop circle community. She was notified that a new formation had been reported so that evening at dinner we made plans to walk the formation the next morning. At 9:00AM the next morning our tour bus deposited us at the farmer’s gate. Among my fellow travelers was a married couple from Tennessee. She was a psychologist and he a professional douser. Bill was in his mid seventies when I made his acquaintance. He told me he learned his trade from an old black man who was a “real witch and did a lot more than just dousing”.
I asked him to teach me to douse. Finding a proper stick was a problem as wheat fields do not have many trees. We were forced to improvise but Bill demonstrated how to hold the rod and how to walk. By the time we got midway to the circle my stick proved to be ill suited to the task. Bill said “ just watch me for now” as we continued making our way to the center of the crop circle. The closer we got to the center the more Bills stick nodded and bobbed when suddenly douser rod snapped in two. A stunned Bill look at me saying, “I been witch’en for thirty five years, that’s never happened Ota me before. I don’t know what’s here but it’s not for humans. We better get outta here.”
Some of the terms associated with Southern Conjurer Tradition are Doctors, Healers, Conjurers, Slave Magic, Hoodoo and Voodoo and lots of others. The objective of these traditions, teachings and practices is to awaken the entranced consciousness of human kind so that the Child of Promise may be reinstated as the heir of the kingdom.
