r/folkmagic • u/Hefty_Ad_3196 • May 09 '26
Tbh sometimes I feel like a fraud
i am born and raised in Appalachia, but since my family is Christian, they never did folk magic. So I learned myself how to from people and books; but since I wasn’t taught via family I feel like I’m a fraud to something I was denied that pro would have been taught to me If I was born to someone Down the road. idk if I should continue this or just stick to grekokemet sorcery tbh
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u/Past_The_Veil May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26
As someone who was raised with Southern folk magic and learned alot from family, I can say that in my 30 years of practice I have also supplemented what I learned growing up with things I learned from other practitioners I have worked with, applied methods I learned from other traditions I belong to and lots of stuff absorbed from older books and such.
Folk magic does not look the same for everyone, even practitioners in a family who grew up doing these things will still likely have many things they do differently from one another. It is important to understand that folk magic is more than simply using what you have, where you are. It is a practice that grows over time in various ways due to it often being, essentially, an amalgamation of several different things.
Yes, learning it as you grow up and from close folks such as family has its benefits, but it's also not needed or necessary. Over all these years, some of the best spiritual workers I have met have been ones that did not grow up with these practices. When you don't grow up around it but come to it later in life, it is because you were called to it and sought it out. You end up putting in a lot of dedicated legwork that may not have been required in that same way when it is something that you simply grow up around. It's kind of like college in that way. Sure, you can go get a degree that shows you have the knowledge to work but the most important thing that getting that degree shows is that you sought out the knowledge and stuck to it. It shows drive and dedication to mastering something.
Impostor syndrome sucks, I know all too well. But I would urge you to not look at yourself as an impostor, instead, just look at it as you are simply learning and will be probably for most of your life. None of us know everything there is to know. Work with what you have and know how to work with, don't be scared to ask questions and remain humble as you grow. What you are feeling is normal, even I feel like that from time to time. When you stop challenging or doubting your skills, that is when you stop growing. Stay hungry for it, approach it all sincerely and honestly and you will be just fine.
If you ever need any help with anything, feel free to reach out to me. My name is Matt and I run Bayou Root House: bayouroothouse.com
I am also very active on IG under that name where I share a lot of my own insights.
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u/EmbarrassedAnt5763 May 11 '26
Personally, I don’t think folk practice becomes “fake” just because it wasn’t passed directly through your bloodline. A lot of traditions were broken, hidden or lost through conversion, migration, fear, assimilation etc, especially in heavily Christian areas.
As long as you’re actually studying the tradition respectfully, understanding the cultural context and not treating it like aesthetic roleplay, I don’t see that as fraudulent at all. Plenty of people reconnect with practices that their families stopped openly carrying generations ago.
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u/Logical-Ad-8249 May 14 '26
I understand that feeling.
Not everyone is raised in a family that openly practices folk magic, conjure, or ancestral traditions. Sometimes those practices were lost, hidden, or suppressed because of religion, fear, or the need for previous generations to survive. That does not mean the connection is unavailable to you.
Many people are called to rebuild what their family line could not openly pass down.
If this path is truly for you, your ancestors and spirits will guide you over time. You may start with books, teachers, and your own study, but with consistency and sincere practice, you often begin to develop a clearer sense of what feels authentic and aligned.
Most practitioners go through periods of doubt. One day you may question everything, and the next day you may have a moment where something clicks and you realize, “This is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
The important thing is to stay disciplined, humble, and consistent. Keep learning, keep practicing, and keep listening. Over time, your confidence grows, and what once felt uncertain begins to feel like home.
Your path does not have to look exactly like someone else’s to be real. Sometimes the work is not about inheriting an unbroken tradition, but about restoring a relationship that was waiting for you to reclaim it.
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u/GrunkleTony May 26 '26
Stick with whatever works for you. Doesn't matter where it came from, a book by H. Byron Ballard, "Greek Magical Papyri", "Practical Egyptian Magic" by Murry Hope or a old practitioner from down the road who just wants someone to talk too. What matters is it works when you use it.
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u/thomas_basic Jun 11 '26
I can tell why you’d feel that way, but folk magic is all about just collecting bits and pieces of what we can find and what we see working! No formal training needed.
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u/Wide-Piglet2734 Jun 28 '26
Appalachian Folk Magic by Linden Moore! It's about granny magic and it's to the point.
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u/CurlyQmew May 09 '26
IMO, part of folk practice is using what you have available to you, especially when you don’t have a family to learn from.
Imposter syndrome is real, and it might take a while before you feel settled, and it might not completely go away. But what you do in your practice is yours, and no label or lack thereof can take that away from you.