Trailers & Tidbits
This page is the home of trailers and tidbits from the making of There's Magick in Them Mountains.
Appalachian
Granny Witches
For many documentarians, it is the love of the subject that motivates us to complete films like There's Magick in Them Mountains. Money doesn't inspire us; it is the people, the topics, and the passion for storytelling that act as a muse for us to give a voice to the film.
As the director of the documentary, I embarked on this project to preserve the stories of Appalachian granny women and their understanding of the mountains, their healing abilities and knowledge of healing plants, second sight, and magickal practices. Gifts, knowledge, and abilities that were passed down to many of their descendants who are still living in these ancient mountains today.
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Pat Bussard O'Keefe
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Ancient Monoliths
The backdrop for the documentary is the ancient Appalachian Mountains. The oldest mountain range in North America, they are 100-300 miles wide and 1,500 miles long, running from Georgia to Maine. These hollers and hills are steeped in folk magick, often referred to as "rootworking," or granny magick. Tales of cryptids, dimensional doorways, haints (ghosts), faeries, and a wealth of other reported paranormal phenomena are plentiful. Told by folks who believe what they experienced was true.
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Granny women (used interchangeably throughout the documentary as granny witches) and their descendants had a very close relationship with the magick of these mountains. Many also had gifts of second sight. They used the natural bounty of herbs and plants to heal and feed their families. Their gardens were essential to them, allowing them to survive and flourish. But, most important to them was their faith and family.
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Find out more about granny witches by watching the documentary, There's Magick in Them Mountains.
Mountain Music
The work our Appalachian ancestors did was brutal, primarily in the mines and logging industries. So when the week's day of rest came on Sunday, folks would gather around with friends and relatives and listen to melodies that mirrored their own lives of struggle, love, life, and death. Music is still revered in the mountains, and some families continue to gather on the front porch on Sunday afternoons, listening to voices so raw they cut to the soul.
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Michelle Horan recreates a few minutes of one of those Sunday afternoons in the mountains as she sings, "The Ballad of Omie Wise." The melody is a true story of love and betrayal sung by someone whose voice carries the spirit of Appalachia.
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*Michelle Horan's music is featured in, There's Magick in Them Mountains.
There's Magick in Them Mountains
When I was small
Living amongst the Appalachian Mountains
My grandma pointed into the distance one day
And said, "You know, there's magick in them mountains."
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Her words reverberate through the tunnel of time,
Reminding me that life is short, the mountains old
These monoliths of rock, dirt, and greenery,
Will be here eons after my descendants are born, and I am gone.
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That image gives me comfort,
To know the mountains where I live
Will remain unchanged for those whom I would love,
If only I were there.
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Within the hollers of this mystical land,
Overshadowed by the all-seeing, all-knowing mountains,
Lies a magick that few know about and to which fewer connect.
A magick of rare power, proving granny right,
There's magick in these Appalachian Mountains.
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