Appalachian History

Please welcome guest blogger Timothy W. Hooker, author of the Sushi Tuesday blog. Tim teaches English at Cleveland State Community College [TN], is a "Point of View" moderator for WDEF-TV 12, and is the author of several works, including: "Rocket Man: A Rhapsody of Short Stories," "Duncan Hambeth: Furniture King of the South," and "Looking For A City."

I don't pretend to know how or why it works; I just know it does.

Among the Appalachian people, it's known as the Blood Verse and it is probably the most controversial aspect of hillbilly witchcraft. I don't feel comfortable calling it a spell. But, it is something my analytical, scientific, humanistic mind can't rationalize away.

Simply put, the Blood Verse stops hemorrhaging on sentient beings when nothing else will. And, by sentient, I mean it will work on animals just as quickly and effectively as it will on humans. I've seen others use it. I've used it myself.

And, up until now, I've been very hesitant to talk about it.

But, here we go.

The Blood Verse is found in the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 16, Verse 6. It
reads:

"And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said
unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou
wast in thy blood, Live."

Not just anybody can use it. It has to be handed down from male to female to male to female, by someone who already uses it. My mother handed it down to me.

If a sentient being is bleeding uncontrollably, the practitioner can say the verse aloud three times and then say the complete name of the person who is bleeding, and the bleeding will stop.

It's that simple.

The practitioner does not have to have rock-solid faith. The practitioner doesn't have to be sinless. The power of the Blood Verse overrides any deficiencies in the practitioner.

I've seen my mother use the Blood Verse on cattle that have been de-horned. I've used it on people who were recovering from dental surgery. And, it's always worked. Immediately. Conclusively. No questions asked.

I even used it on my father, when his brain stem hemorrhaged. By that time, the damage was done; he was already brain-dead. But later, the doctors, not knowing what I'd done, reported that the bleeding stopped, believe it or not, at the same time I used the Blood Verse.

I don't expect anyone reading this to believe me; feel free to think I'm nuts. I've got a wall full of academic degrees that say I excel at critical thinking skills; I'm not supposed to believe in things I can't measure in a test-tube. But, I know the Blood Verse works.

And, as Charlie Daniels would say, "There are some things in this world you just can't explain."

TWH


Blood+Verse Ezekiel bloodstoppers appalachian+witchcraft appalachia appalachian+history appalachian+mountains+history