Letters from a Hill Witch
by Cora Anderson


Letter #1

Most hill people are more intelligent than people realize. Hill people live closer to nature, and they see more of it than city people do. They've learned about the plants, and the wild vegetables and fruits. They have almost a college education without any formal education at all. They've learned to read and write by themselves. Some of the ones who have gone to college have gone on to become professors. I have known these people all my life. They're also more psychic than most people.



My grandfather was an herb doctor. He studied with the Indians to know what plants were useful for healing, like the plants he'd studied in Ireland. He found that much of them were the same as the Irish plants. He'd take the plants home and study them. He had one sister that suffered from a sore through her anklebone, and it was getting infected. So he took the plants there, and he used sheep manure to make a poultice. The hole was clear through her anklebone. He cleared it himself.

People would send for him when they were sick. He'd get his little bag of medications and go to see them. If they had pneumonia, he used to build a tent over them and put steam in there. He used a lot of plants, and a lot of times he could cure them. Sometimes he couldn't. If he couldn't cure them, he'd say, "I don't know if I can do this or not, but we'll try to have faith in God."

When I was a baby, he cured me of colitis. I used to pass blood, and they'd be saying, "If she lives to the morning, she'll live." I was eighteen months when my mother died, so I was maybe two years old at the time. My grandfather came to see us, and he told my father, Harvey, "Harv, I don't have the means here to do what I need to do for Cora. Will you let me take her home? I'll take care of her, and when she gets better, you can come get her." So he took me home with him, and didn't give me anything but clear water and about two teaspoons of pure whiskey. He made his own for medicinal purposes. He gave me that, and I began to clear up. He told my aunt to cook some rice and skim the water and give me the rice water, and I got even better. He baked some biscuits real hard, real brown inside. He gave me some rice with it, and I got well.

© 2003 by Victor E. Anderson. All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced or distributed without express permission of the author.

Letter #2

There's all kinds of good things in the Bible.

The Bible has some secrets of the Craft in it. And we that have studied it know that. And one of the verses I like in the Bible is: "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." [1] In other words, think on the things that are right to think about. I've always loved that. I liked that even when I was studying the Bible. I used to study it pretty good. I studied the Bible one time through and through. Just on my own. I never went to Bible school or anything.

Then I like the beatitudes of the Bible. That's what they were called everywhere I went to school where they studied them: "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."[2] Those are two things that are in the Bible that I like. Of course, the Psalms are beautiful.

And one thing I don't like in the Bible, in Exodus, it says "Don't suffer a Witch to live."[3] Now, I don't like that. That was probably put in there during the Witch-hunts.

There's a lot in the Bible that is very good. Victor said it was a sacred book, and you should never tear it up or throw it away.

[1] Philippians 4:8
[2] Matthew 5:5-5:8
[3] Exodus 22:18 "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."

© 2004 by Victor E. Anderson. All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced or distributed without express permission of the author.

ADDENDUM:

The magical use of the Bible is quite common in the rural southern areas where Cora grew up. During production on her book, Kitchen Witch: A Memoir, Cora mentioned some magical usages for Bible texts, such as this spell:

To Return What Was Loaned

One time we didn’t have much food, and we were going to the store to buy some more. Somebody knocked at the door and said, “Could you give me some food?” I had some biscuits, so I gave them to him. And I gave him some beans and some salt to go with them. As I did this, I said to myself, “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” [Ecclesiastes 11:1] I repeated that lots of times. After he left, I said to Victor, "We’re going to see that guy again."

Sure enough, several weeks later, he knocked on the door and said, "Do you remember me? I’ve been working, cutting wood. I’ll just drink up the money, so I want to give you five dollars of it." And he asked for some pepper, so I poured some out of the box onto some paper, wrapped it, and gave it to him. As he gave us the money, I said again, "Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days." And we did just that.

© 2004 by Victor E. Anderson. All rights reserved. This document may not be reproduced or distributed without express permission.

The following are examples of scriptural magic from catherine yronwode's Hoodoo Rootwork Correspondence Course. Used by permission:

Protection Against Malevolent Dream Work

"A protection against malevolent dream work consists of placing an open Bible beneath the bed. You may open it to Numbers 6:24-27, Numbers 23:22-33, Deuteronomy 32:10-12, Psalms 91, Psalms 121, or Psalms 126, as you prefer. Using open scissors or a knife to mark the page is common."

To Keep Your Money From Running Out and to Protect Yourself From Poverty

"Recite the 136th Psalm. (This Psalm begins "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.") This describes a state in which you will receive continuous, uninterrupted, eternal blessings from the Lord, so that you will not have some good luck and bad luck, but just good luck and good times, one after another."

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