diaryofamelungeon:

I won’t be answering anon questions here, but I have had a small influx of people asking about traditional Melungeon beliefs and more spicifically Machisaba.  This is a practice that is incredibly hard to research, but many Melungeons and Melungeon descendants have been looking into reconstructing and reconnecting with. Due to the relentless efforts to remain hidden and pass in a world of discrimmination much of these oral histories and practices have been lost to many descendants.  From what I have found many Melungeon families assimilated into more socially accepted belief systems like Chritianity, including my own family. However, there are a few families that I’ve spoken with that practice more traditional beliefs or other non-christian religions that they carried on from before assimilation. It seems many melungeon communites practiced a variety of different folk magic practices and religions likely deriving from the different cultures we descended from (we are a heavily mixed race community), one of these practices is known as Machisaba, believed to have evolved from European folk lore, African spiritual practices, and Indigenous beliefs brought together by the communities history of heavy endogamous mixing among the three groups. Machisaba is the only practice that appears to be unique to Melungeon communities and likely was born in the 1700′s in Melungeon communities in the backwoods of Southern Appalachia. (some other spiritual practices found in melungeon families include Hoodoo, Brauchrei, and Curanderismo). It is important to make a note here that most or all of these practices are viewed as closed by those within the communities that practice them and should be respected as closed practice. 

Machisaba is a mix of faith and holistic healing practices, conjure, and folk lore. It is a polytheistic belief system that recognizes multiple dieties known as Alma. Machisaba is centered heavily on Ancestor veneration, reincarnation, and animism. Many Machisaba practitioners are known as Vavo(a)’s or Broxo(a)’s and are considered sacred healers and conjure people in their communities. They were historically referred to as cursed souls, witches, and demons by outside communities for their traditions surrounding spiritual events such as death like “sin eating”, or birth ceremonies that invlove painting infants red in ochre. Due to their continued discrimination, many of these practices were held and taught in secret, and kept hidden to protect families from people like Walter Plecker.  It is most likely that Machisaba was influenced by our need to survive off the land and mountains we were forced into and being heavily outcast by all white christian communities. Today, most Melungeon people identify spiritually with some branch of Christianity, most commonly Southern Baptism, with mere remnants of Machisaba appearing in passing. Machisaba is by all means, a dying practice, but in recent years the shame that came with being Melungeon has began to lift and Melungeons today are beginning to speak openly about who they are, their history, and their heritage, with many lost Melungeons trying to reconnect and honor their heritage and ancestors while decolonizing their spiritual practices. For the first time in history Melungeons are finally starting to get comfortable learning, reconnecting and practicing our traditional beliefs, and being able to do so openly without losing our homes or rights.  Most people who practice Machisaba today are reconstructionists, trying to rebuild what little was left behind by ancestors, and breathe new life into a nearly dead culture.