While the Dumb Supper has come to be more commonly known today as a ritual used to honor the dead and our ancestors, its origins are said to lie in a divination rite used to foretell one’s future spouse, and in some rural regions of the United States (particularly within the Appalachian, Southern, and Ozark regions), the use of the term Dumb Supper is still mostly used when speaking of the divinatory practice. Believed to have been brought Stateside by immigrants from the British Isles, the Dumb Supper was practiced in the United States at liminal points in the year, with the hope of revealing the identity of one’s future spouse or beloved.

Divination, Holidays & Traditions, Folk & Traditional MagicKeziahOctober 27, 2023halloween, dumb supper, divination, ritual, samhain divination, halloween divination, appalachian magic, appalachian dumb supper, southern folk magic, ozark folk magic, appalachian folk magic

Hollers, Haints, & Hocus Pocus: Halloween Customs of Southern Appalachia

Halloween takes many forms throughout the United States – a night for parties and pranks; a night for trick-or-treating with family and spinning spooky yarns with friends; and, in some areas, a time for divination, superstition, and dealing with haints. The south has a rich well of folk magic and tradition with plenty of Halloween customs to take part in, and the regions of Southern Appalachia are no different.

Holidays & TraditionsKeziahOctober 21, 2023halloween, folk magic, southern folk magic, appalachian folk magic, appalachian granny magic