An explanation of 'Stob'
An explanation of 'Stob': A stob is a wooden stake used in Mountain/Southeastern/Appalachian folk magic, as well as, in old French folk magic. Each wooden stake has a particular property, the American differs from the European. The stake/stob makes a certain magical principle manifest when it penetrates the ground according to the intent of the witch/sorcerer/folk-magician. So, one may 'nail down' 'paradise' or 'hell' according to will and intent. In the Southeast, the Stob can be as simple as a 'sound/vibrational instrument' to drive snakes and night-crawlers (worms used in fishing- We invite you to watch the Eastern TN "Heartland Series" about fishing stobs) to stobs that cause a feeling of being watched/ moving out/ spiritual revelation, etc. So, this is the reason for the name, a whole Arcana in wood and 'we' are surrounded by it. I invite you to join us, but I also caution you that anything stolen from this blog (that IS claiming what is OUR own without proper academic citation will be followed by legal prosecution ). This is not OUR first time around and old problems of intellectual theft will be swiftly legally and by other means dealt with... Thank You...Cordially Yours, D.A. Tompkins ('Cole' of 'On Cumberland Ground')
A textual example, Leonard Roberts "South from Hell-fer Sartain http://www.amazon.com/South-Hell-fer-Sartin-Kentucky-Mountain-Tales/dp/0813101751 ", explains that Rhododendron thickets were described as 'Hells', The Heartland Series' Bill Landry says the same. Rododendron thickets were colloquially described as 'Hells' in East TN and KY . In my own experience, one can stand in a Rhodendron thicket and try to hide, but it is as many 'eyes' looking in toward you, as opposed to Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis) where one is hidden. So a stob of Mountain Laurel driven into a neighbhor's yard at midnight will make them agitated and nervous, as if they were being watched and they will leave their property, with correct intent and secrecy.
ReplyDeleteRhododendron is also densely leaved and branched and this has a 'collecting' effect.
ReplyDeleteThe first American Rhododendron was supposedly sent to England in the 1680's. English folk belief says that the honey was stupefying/mesmerizing (in agreement with my previous statements-overwhelming of the senses). St. Augustine is the patron of Rhododendron (American Southern or Chinese?).
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