Indigenous Influences

This is an intriguing vid. It has great visuals of dragons from different cultures and in art. It also has some interesting facts and some theories attached to it.
imo it is worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTu602EoVho

Appalachia is a national treasure. It is a region stretching from New York to Alabama, comprising the oldest mountains in North America. It is home to the most ancient forest in the world and one of the greatest collections of mineral wealth on the planet. From the early sixteenth century when the region's name first entered the historical record, Appalachia has been a place of mystery and mythology. It has been romanticized, maligned, discovered, rediscovered, exploited, redefined, but only vaguely understood. In fact, more is known about Appalachia that is untrue than about any other region of the country. http://www.ageefilms.org/appalachia.html

The indigenous peoples of Appalachia are the Shawnee, the Mingo, the Delaware, the Cherokee and many other Native nations. The first settlers in the Appalachian region came over 14,000 years ago. There are no written records; so much about them remains a mystery. However, it is known that the ancestors of the Iroquois and Cherokee people migrated into the Appalachian Mountains from the west in about 12,000 BC. They then split into two separate and distinct societies: the Iroquois in the north, and the Cherokee in the south.
http://podcastappalachia.blogspot.co...orers-and.html
In the 16th and 17th centuries the European settlers began to arrive in the region. There were mainly Scot-Irish, Welsh, and German. Through the years the diverse cultures of the region have blended into its own distinct culture. Many have even referred to Appalachia, as a separate culture all its own. There are unique religious beliefs, dialects and music.

Appalachian Granny Magic

Author: Ginger Strivelli
Posted: January 8th. 2001
Times Viewed: 63,680

The Appalachian Granny Magic Tradition of Witchcraft is one that is only recently being heard of. Though the tradition is a very old one, dating all the way back to the first settlers of the magical Appalachian Mountains who came over from Scotland and Ireland in the 1700's. They brought along their even older Irish and Scottish Magical Traditions with them. Those two 'old world' Traditions were then blended with a dash of the local tradition of the Tsalagi (Now, called the Cherokee Indians.) The recipe for the Appalachian Granny Magic Tradition was then complete, though this potion simmered on a low boil for many generations before anyone dubbed it with the name, 'Appalachian Granny Magic.'

The Witches of the Appalachian Mountains called themselves 'Water Witches' and/or 'Witch Doctors' depending upon whether they were personally more gifted in healing, midwifery and such realms of magic, or if they were more in tune with dowsing for water, ley lines, energy vortexes and the making of charms and potions. Often a Practitioner called themselves by both titles if they were so diverse in their Magical practices.

The Appalachian Granny Magic Tradition, like many of the older ones, was passed on from parents to their children for many generations, and generally was not 'taught' outside of the individual family structures. Because of the rural and secluded nature of the Appalachian community, the old customs, wisdom, and practices were not as often lost, forgotten, or 'modernized' as the 'old world' traditions that came over to other, more urban areas of the 'new world.' Therefore, one will often find that ancient Irish or Scottish songs, rhymes, dances, recipes, crafts, and 'The Craft,' are more accurately preserved in Appalachia than even in Ireland or Scotland.

Many of these old Scot/Irish traditions, as well as the Tsalagi traditions, both magical and mundane, were carried on in Appalachia until modern times. Some songs, spells, and such have been passed down for many years that way, though sadly, sometimes only by rote, with the original meanings beings lost in the shifting sands of time….http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.htm...=trads&id=3207

I hope I have sparked your curiosity or have shared with you an interesting overview of the people of Appalachia.

[Mathew James]

Originally Posted by Sangress

I've realized that serpents and dragons are linked, they are symbols in every culture around the world, even in places where there are no snakes, such as Inuit legends.

This is true and it often makes me wonder about it. My thinking is the understanding of dragons must have all originated from a common place. The constellations Draco is the earliest one that is documented, but maybe there are older/earlier ones.

[Mathew James]

Originally Posted by nightowl

I find the topic of cultural beliefs fascinating and how sometimes there are amazing similarities that can be found within different groups.

Not sure about this, but about 12,000 to 13,0000 years ago wasn't there still ice sheet covering large parts of the north polar regions. imo, Celtic people could have packed up traveling camps and migrated north on the ice sheets cross near the polar region is and then down to areas of Canada. Maybe they had to cross some water, but they could have crossed small amounts of water, with the floating vessels that they had at the time.

[norseman]

Originally Posted by Mathew James

Not sure about this, but about 12,000 to 13,0000 years ago wasn't there still ice sheet covering large parts of the north polar regions. imo, Celtic people could have packed up traveling camps and migrated north on the ice sheets cross near the polar region is and then down to areas of Canada. Maybe they had to cross some water, but they could have crossed small amounts of water, with the floating vessels that they had at the time.

Bit of a non-starter there. The ice-sheet stretched as far south as Southern Europe and was up to 2 kilometres thick [say 6000 feet]. Nothing lived there or grew there, so no food at all. Far too early for the Celts also. Human populations would be small, although south of the Ice Sheet there would be adequate food

[Mathew James]

Originally Posted by norseman

Bit of a non-starter there. The ice-sheet stretched as far south as Southern Europe and was up to 2 kilometres thick [say 6000 feet]. Nothing lived there or grew there, so no food at all. Far too early for the Celts also. Human populations would be small, although south of the Ice Sheet there would be adequate food

When did the ice sheet move back to where there would not be a land bridge. Just thinking if there were people living to the south of it 13,000 years ago, they could have just followed behind it. The culture that was there 10,000 to 13,000 years ago would not be that much different then a culture living 6,000 years ago and those two cultures could have similarities even though they had been seperated.

[norseman]

I suppose the most obvious land bridge would be Siberia - Alaska. I did see a BBC series last year about the differentiation of mankind from a common root. Sorry, cant remember the name of the prog. There was mention of the several races of Man that came out of Africa and one who ended up in the Far-East who appeared to be distinct from the common model. There was mention of North America being settled from Northern Asia, and one idea was that, even during the Ice Age itself there may have been a narrow corridor on the coast of North America. Another thing mentioned concerned the structure of Ice Ages as episodal i.e. periods of relatively warmth within the overall cold. The one date we can be sure of is the final submersion of the land between mainland Europe and the British Isles - around 6000 BC.

Originally Posted by Sangress

Nice.

Hope I opened a door for you to start researching, I always like it when someone comes along and sparks my interest randomly.

Hi Sangress,
Random spark of interest for me. I was searching this forum for animism and totemism and found your post. I am Australian and I really liked your description of our indigenous people. They inspire me greatly, I have known some and known some of their practices, but not as much as I could or should.

To me, I have respect for them and am sorry for what white man did so long ago and continue to do today in a way. But i also see we have something in common - we are both born of this land and in this land. I admire this land, the plants and animals and think they should be respected.

Animism is not an easy subject to find a lot about. How have you learned so much? Is animism or totemism still practiced? I describe myself as animist but not exactly the same as The aborigines do.

Regards
@georgeTmaxwell
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