Free Holiness services are not dry and staid or filled with placid ritual. All church members participate—testifying to other members on God’s influence in their lives and moving their bodies as the Holy Ghost calls them to move and speaking in tongue when graced. Services were filled with enthusiastic singing to foot patting gospel songs such as “I’ll Fly Away” or “I’ll Meet You in the Morning.” All this shouting, singing, and praying created a unique spiritual energy that was a far cry from the sedate hymns and boring sermons of my school friends’ churches. Free Holiness members understand the power of the spirit, recognize spiritual power in others, and expect that power to be used in Godly ways. The Holy Ghost could possess a person and fill their body and act as a conduit for healing energy by the laying on of hands. Voices lifted in song could be heard rolling across the land, inviting everyone to experience the joy of salvation. This common ecstatic spiritual experience brought folks together in a strong and supportive community.
Christianity
The principles and practices of Southern Folk Medicine can be used within any spiritual system, but I hope you appreciate the role Christianity played in its creation. This must be acknowledged and respected. Catholic missionaries came with the Spanish and immediately worked to convert the Native population. The Irish, Scots, and Scotch-Irish were Christians, either Catholics or Protestants, and other immigrating groups also brought the Cross to the New World. Both Native Americans and African slaves were soon indoctrinated with the Christian religious beliefs held by the growing and strong white culture, which would soon dominate the land and the peoples of the region.
Let’s begin with the Spanish and the first recorded religious interactions with natives. In 1528, Panfilo de Narvaez, after having been blown off course in the Gulf of Mexico, landed at Florida instead of Mexico. This changed the lives of Native Americans in the New World forever. The Narváez Entrada made its way through Florida and into Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, exploring and mapping the land while searching for “Apalachen,” where it was believed that gold and grain could be found in abundance.
From a journal of the time by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, a member of the party: “We inquired of the Indians (by signs) whence they had obtained these things and they gave us to understand that, very far from there, was a province called Apalachen in which there was much gold. They also signified to us that in that province we would find everything we held in esteem. They said that in Apalachen there was plenty.”
The governor, Narvaez, had been conned. Indian tales of gold in Apalachen were a trick to get him to move on and leave them unharmed. Along the way, in the search for Apalachen, many of his men and African slaves died from illness and injury, and others fled into the surrounding land hoping to survive with the local natives. “Most of the horsemen began to leave in secret, hoping thus to save themselves, forsaking the Governor and the sick, who were helpless,” writes Cabeza de Vaca.
To facilitate the exploration of the countryside and to save the governor’s life, the expedition was divided between land and sea. The ships, carrying the governor, sailed onward to Mexico with the expectation of a rendezvous with the remaining men who undertook an overland journey. This strategic mistake cost the Spanish. Disease, lack of food, unfriendly natives, and a foolish attempt to reach Cuba on rafts devastated the overland expedition, reducing the original crew of about 250 to four. The rafts landed not in Cuba, but off the shore of what is now Galveston, Texas. The four surviving original crew members were Cabeza de Vaca, Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, and Andres Dorantes de Carranza, and the African slave, Estevan, the first historical black man in America (also called Stephen the Moor and Black Stephen). It is from Cabeza de Vaca’s journal that we gain knowledge of this expedition.
Castillo, Carranza, Estevan, and Cabeza de Vaca lived for several months as the slaves of various Indian tribes, helping gather firewood, water, and wild foodstuffs. Prickly pears were an important survival food for the group, and the narrative contains numerous accounts of the gathering of this fruit along with others, as well as edible roots. Upon escaping their tenure as slaves, the castaways’ fortune changed for the better when they were accepted as free men by the Avavares tribe in South Texas. Improving their position even more, the castaways became adept at healing prayer. Tales of their abilities grew and preceded them upon their journey.
From Cabeza de Vaca’s journal: “The very night we arrived, some Indians came to Castillo telling him that their heads hurt a great deal, and begging him to cure them. After he made the sign of the cross on them and commended them to God, they immediately said that all their pain was gone. They went to their lodges and brought many prickly pears and a piece of venison, which we did not recognize. Since news of this spread among them, many other sick people came to him that night to be healed. Each one brought a piece of venison and we had so much we did not know where to put the meat.” Cabeza de Vaca’s journal entry cites the first documentation of faith healing in the New World.
The castaways became the rock star healers of the New World. Their fame spread across the land, and sick natives walked miles to receive the faith healing prayer; Castillo became the most accomplished and the most willing to take on extreme cases. Cabeza de Vaca writes: “When I neared their huts, I saw that the sick man whom we were supposed to heal was dead, because there were many people weeping around him and his lodge was dismantled, a sign that its owner was dead. When I got to the Indian, I saw that his eyes were turned. He had no pulse and it seemed to me that he showed all the signs of being dead. Dorantes said the same thing. I removed a mat that covered him, and as best I could I beseeched our Lord to be pleased to grant him health and to grant health to all who needed it. After I made the sign of the cross over him and breathed on him many times, they brought his bow to me along with a basketful of ground prickly pears. Then they took me to cure many others who had sleeping sickness.…They said that the man who was dead and whom I had healed in their presence had gotten up well and walked and eaten and spoken to them, and that all the people we had healed had gotten well and were very happy. This caused great wonder and awe, and nothing else was spoken about in the entire land.”
The castaways left the Avavares tribe and headed toward Mexico, hoping to meet up with other Christians. Along the way, natives brought their children to be blessed, the sick came to be healed, and for this service, they were well-fed, often given the tribe’s best food. They received other gifts: bows and arrows, flint, precious stones, and hides.
Cabeza, the bold, performed the first surgery by Europeans in the New World in northern Mexico, when he opened the chest of a wounded warrior and removed an arrowhead lodged near the heart, then stitched the wound closed. The Spaniards continued their journey, winding their way back to Texas, returning to Mexico, and then heading toward the Pacific Coast, and always, the word of their healing abilities preceded them.
After eight years of living with various tribes, Cabeza de Vaca returned to Spain and finished the journal about his experiences in the New World in 1540. The journal became the talk of the town and even before its publication made Narvaez a hero. Cabeza’s best-selling journal, Relación, was published in 1542 and urged a charitable policy toward the natives, one most Spanish ignored and one that was believed to later contribute to his fall from grace. Cabeza’s journal, though initially written as a personal memoir and travel journal, provides a wealth of information for scholars and historians. In 1544, the government of Spain began legal proceedings against Cabeza for his visionary policies, and in 1551 he was banished to North Africa.
By the early 1500s, the first interactions between the Spanish, their African slaves and the Native Americans had already taken place. Healing, herbal, food, religious, and survival information was being exchanged in a way that would forever change all cultures concerned.
The Bible
It is not the scope of this writing to delve into all the interactions of early Christians and the Nati
ve peoples or African slaves. The focus here is to acknowledge that interactions did take place and to acknowledge the role of Christianity in the early development of Southern Folk Medicine. This would be incomplete without mentioning the importance of the Bible itself.
The family Bible was often the only book the settlers and poor people owned. It was, and still is for many Christians, a reference book for daily living and a guide to good health. The family Bible held records of family marriages, births, and deaths, and in lieu of governmental agencies held legal and binding records. When Mama was in her early sixties, she discovered that a birth certificate or proof of birth was required to apply for Social Security. She had been born at home and, at that time, there was no legal requirement to register a birth. In order to establish proof of birth, Mama used the family Bible along with notarized statements from relatives who were alive when she was born. She felt quite an achievement when her birth certificate came in the mail.
The family Bible and the Blue Back Speller were often used to teach reading to homeschool students. Children were needed to work on the farms and that meant forgoing proper schooling. Schools could also be miles from where folks lived, and children had to walk or be taken by wagon.
The King James Version of the Bible is the English translation completed in the early 1600s and approved by the Church of England. Being translated in that time period means that it is filled with humoral language. For my Mama, the King James Version was the only official version of the Bible, and she admonished me more than once not to read any other.
The Bible itself is sometimes used as a healing tool. For example, it can be opened to a specific passage relevant to a situation and placed under the bed for four days and nights. This is thought to help those who are sick to effect change in their lives that will lead to healing. A Bible can be placed under the bed to keep away bad dreams. A Bible either under or by the bed can be a source of comfort and companionship. Opening the Bible and believing that a certain scripture is an answer to a question or offers direction is considered a form of divination and was very popular in the Appalachian Mountains. It’s also thought that sleeping with a closed Bible under the pillow will allow you to dream the answer to your problem.
Customs such as this made their way from the British Isles to Appalachia and the Deep South. For example, Elizabeth Mary Wright remarks in Rustic Speech and Folk-lore that to find a husband, “after supper, then wash up the supper dishes and go to bed without speaking a word, placing the Bible under your pillow with a pin stuck through the verse previously read; or place a Bible under your pillow with a crooked sixpence over the verses: ‘And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or return from following after thee.…’” Quotations and passages from the Bible were also used to support a principle for healthy healing or the use of herbs or essential oils for health or for spiritual cleansing.
Herbs in the Bible
The Lord hath created medicines out of the earth; and he that is wise will not abhor them.
—Ecclesiastes 38:4
Herbs are mentioned throughout the Bible, both as remedies and for spiritual cleansing. Because they were mentioned in the Bible, some people believe these plants have extraordinary healing powers. There are 128 plants mentioned which were used for food, cosmetics, medicine, and religious ritual. Some herbs, especially shrubs and trees, were made into essential oils.
Many of the herbs and foods mentioned in the Bible were native or able to grow in Israel, and some were introduced through trade. I’m not going to discuss all 128 plants mentioned in the Bible, but I will mention a few that continue to be used today. This is also a validation of the safe and effective use of many herbs which have a history of thousands of years of use. Talk about empirical evidence!
Aloes were used to heal skin irritations and burns and to embalm the dead. To avoid confusion, scholars believe that the aloes mentioned in the Bible are not the cactus variety, Agave americana, found in the New World, but rather the Aloes agallocha tree. This tree produces a fragrant resin and a high-quality wood of which the heartwood was the most prized for its resin. That being said, minus the fragrance, the aloe tree and the aloe cactus are used for many disorders, including healing burns, sunburn, and skin irritations. Aloe has an affinity for the skin and soothes and protects damaged skin.
It is said that the pharaohs fed garlic to the slaves to keep them strong and healthy while they worked on the pyramids. Whether this is truth or legend remains to be seen, but garlic helps build a strong immune system, helps lower cholesterol, and helps lower blood pressure. Used topically, garlic is anti-infective and antimicrobial. Garlic has an affinity for the lungs and is traditionally used for asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia. And, it helps ward off evil spirits and vampires. How awesome is that? I could talk for an hour on garlic, it has such amazing health benefits, but space prohibits this.
It is generally accepted that the anise referred to in the Bible is actually dill; both plants have similar healing properties, though opposite tastes. True anise is slightly sweet with an underpinning of bitter. True dill is slightly sour with an underpinning of bitter. Both are aromatic plants whose main healing properties are found in their essential oils, which come from the seeds. Both are plants of the Mediterranean area, and both help soothe irritated bowels, and are useful for colic and indigestion and gentle enough for babies. Other properties or uses of both plants include to aid diuretic activity, as an expectorant, to increase milk flow, to ease menstrual pain and cramps, as a sleep aid, and as an aid to stop smoking.
Bay or bay laurel or sweetbay is one of my favorite herbs. Traditionally, bay laurel represents wealth and prosperity. The Greeks and Romans made crowns of laurel to adorn the head of victors of athletic events and military campaigns. The head of Apollo is depicted adorned with a wreath of bay laurel. It’s also used to denote a graduate of higher learning and used in some commencement exercises. King David had his personal rooms paneled in bay laurel, and today the leaves in emblems decorate many churches and temples.
The dried leaves of bay are used in soups, stews, and in vegetable and meat dishes. It’s used as pickling spice, and its antioxidant activity reduces food spoilage. Bay is a digestive aid, increases the flow of bile, and reduces intestinal gas. It has antifungal and antibacterial properties, and, I do believe, immune-stimulating properties. Bay has also traditionally been used to lower blood sugar. It has been used topically for skin cancers, infected hair follicles, and for dandruff. This herb is in one of my favorite formulas to boost the immune system and one that personally works for me. If I feel that I’m coming down with a virus and take this formula immediately, it usually reduces the amount of time I’m sick if not stopping it altogether. This is based on a Dr. Shook formula and includes pine bark, bay, cayenne, and cloves.
These are just a few of the herbs listed in the Bible that are still being used today similarly to their traditional uses. I can’t think of a better testimony to the safe and effective use of these herbs.
The Signs
Let there be light in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.
—Genesis 1:14
That was the Bible verse most often quoted to me by my mother-in-law, a staunch believer in the Signs, who also went to church at least three times a week. The Signs, also called the Man of Signs or Almanac Man, were used to plant the garden, harvest produce, cut hair, bale hay, set important dates, potty train the baby, find the best days for hunting and fishing, and just about anything else. I was a young adult before I realized that this was actually astrology—folk astrology.
As an oral tradition, folk astrology, based on sun and moon signs, has survived in the South and Midwest longer than other parts of the United States and Europe. It’s not complex astrology. As a matter of fact, most of the people who practice folk astrology depend on an almanac for vital information, such as the constellations where the sun and moon are loc
ated on any given day. The solar zodiac is divided into twelve signs (constellations), and the sun stays in each sign about thirty days. On the other hand, the moon moves fast across the sky and rotates through the twelve constellations about every two-and-a-half days. In folk astrology, it is the moon that is most important.
The use of the almanac is a tradition that clearly made its way from the British Isles and Europe to the United States. An early documentation on using moon signs along with the pictorial representation of man dates back to 1496, in Margarita Philosophica by Gregor Reisch, published at Heidelberg. This is the forerunner of the Almanac Man that became highly popular in the original colonies.
Early almanacs contained all sorts of useful information. Here is some advice from the British Husbandman's Practice or Prognostication Forever (1664): “Good to purge with electuaries, the moon in Cancer; with pills, the moon in Pisces; with potions, the moon in Virgo. Good to take vomits, the moon being in Taurus, Virgo, or the latter part of Sagittarius; to purge the head by sneezing, the moon being in Cancer, Leo, or Virgo; to stop fluxes and rheums, the moon being in Taurus, Virgo, or Capricorn; to bathe when the moon is in Libra, Aquarius, or Pisces; to cut the hair off the head or beard when the moon is in Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius, or Pisces.” While all this is interesting information, the part I find most fascinating is that bathing was only recommended four times a year. Things had to have gotten pretty smelly in between.
In colonial America, Poor Richard’s Almanac (1732–1758), published by Benjamin Franklin (writing as Richard Saunders), was full of wit and wisdom and a wealth of information based on astrology. Franklin’s almanac was a combination of puzzles, herbal remedies, witty sayings, proverbs, verses, humor, and weather predictions (based on astrology). An early form of the Man of the Signs appeared in the 1741 issue—a man is seated on a globe surrounded by the twelve signs in a square. The current form of the Man of the Signs, standing with limbs outstretched and surrounded by symbols, appeared in Poor Richard, Improved, in 1783.
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