Appalachian Folklore, Wives Tales, and Superstitions

Brought to you mostly by my grandparents, but also by my family at large. These are all things I heard growing up in the northern region of Appalachia and wanted to share with y'all. The lore and sayings may vary based on location, family tradition, and other factors, but this is just what I’m sharing from my experiences!

• Give the first pinch of a freshly baked loaf of bread to the Good Men to keep them happy. • Deaths and births always come in threes. • Spin around in a circle three times before you walk in the front door to confuse any spirits that are following you. • Don’t throw your hair out! If a bird builds a nest with it, you’ll have migraines. • “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.” • If the leaves on trees are flipped over with their backsides showing, rain’s coming. • If you hear a dog howl at night, death is coming. • If you’re giving someone a wallet or purse as a present, put money in it to ensure they’ll never financially struggle. • Spirits can’t cross running water. • Cats and dogs won’t enter a room where spirits are present. • Carry an acorn in your pocket for good luck, a penny for prosperity, and a nail for protection. • If you’re having nightmares, put a Bible under your pillow. They’ll go away. • Take a spoonful of honey to keep your words sweet. • Keeping a pot of coffee on ensures a happy home. • It’s bad luck to walk over a grave. • A horseshoe hung above a door ensures good luck. • A horseshoe in the bedroom staves away nightmares. • If your right hand itches, you’ll soon be receiving money. If the left itches, you’ll be paying it. • Wishing on a star works. “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.” • When you have a random shiver, someone just walked over your grave. • If smoke from a fire rises, expect clear skies. If it rolls along the ground, expect storms. • Rosemary near the door provides protection. Lavender provides peace. • “A ring around the sun or moon, rain or snow is coming soon.” • Wind chimes and bells keep spirits away. • Seeing a cardinal means unexpected company. • For that matter, so does dropping silverware. • Rubbing a bit of potato on a wart helps it to go away. • If the soles of your feet itch, you will soon walk on strange grounds. • Black eyed peas, greens, and/or pork and sauerkraut should be eaten on New Year’s Day to welcome good luck and good fortune. • Driving a nail into a bedframe or crib will drive away curses. • If your ears are burning, someone’s talking about you. • If you dream of fish, you are or will soon be pregnant. • Listen to the wisdom of children, they see and know more than we think. • To dream of death means birth, to dream of birth means death. • To cure a headache, crush some mint leaves in your hands, cup them over your mouth and nose, and breathe in a few times. It should help. • Placing a fern or ivy on the front porch protects against curses. • In a vegetable garden, never plant the same plants in the same spot two years in a row. Rotate where they are, and you’ll save your soil. (Note: this is a real thing called crop rotation, and is actually kind of important) • A black bird (Raven or crow, doesn’t matter) on the roof or a windowsill is an omen for death. To avoid it, you have to scare it away without using your voice before it caws. • Say a prayer when you pass a coal mine for the lost souls still in the mine. • Thank the land and the Lord with every successful hunt or harvest you have, for nothing is guaranteed.

These are a few of the folklores, wives’ tales, superstitions, and sayings that I’ve heard growing up (and still living in) in Appalachia! I encourage other Appalachian witches, cunning folk, and general inhabitants of the Appalachian region (and just the mountain range at large) to share whatever bits you’ve heard over the years! I just wanted to share a bit with y'all to give you an insight into some Appalachian lore, my own practice, and maybe give you some things to research and incorporate into your own practice! 🌿✨

Being from this area I have heard almost everyone of these, never realized they were local. 

To add to the post

• “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.” FACT. Weather systems generally move west to east. A red sunset is caused by dust particles in the atmosphere, indicating dry weather headed your way. The red in the eastern sunrise, however, indicates that the dry weather is seeing itself out. • If the leaves on trees are flipped over with their backsides showing, rain’s coming. FACT. High humidity before wet weather makes the stems of deciduous trees floppy and limp, so they often get blown over in pre-storm weather. • If smoke from a fire rises, expect clear skies. If it rolls along the ground, expect storms. FACT. Storms are caused by low pressure atmosphere systems, which by their nature cause smoke to hang low instead of rising. It also causes birds to swoop and fly low to the ground, which is another true weather-predicting bit of folklore. • “A ring around the sun or moon, rain or snow is coming soon.” FACT. Sun- and moon-halos are caused by light refracting off ice crystals in the high altitude clouds that usually come before a rain or snowfall. Makes you wonder what other bits of folklore will be validated by advances in science.

I life near the appalachian area and I never realized these were local! This is pretty cool. <3