THE COUNTRY DWELLERS

Immersive Video Installation

2023-Current

The Country Dwellers is an immersive video installation which traces the connections between Appalachian folk magic and the rise of Neo-Paganism. The title of the work derives from the Latin root of the word pagan, paganus, meaning “rural person” or “country dweller,” a term that gestures toward the deep spiritual relationship these communities maintained with the land and how that connection shaped their sense of self and belonging. It traces the throughline from herbalist healer “granny women” in the rural South to the Witch as a reclaimed archetype of feminist empowerment. Conversations about Paganism proliferate in online spaces like TikTok, aka WitchTok and have been fueled by women. These contradictions and connections have inspired this film. 

The first chapter of the project traces the lives of women in Appalachia from the 1800s to the 1960s. Extensive archival research for the film has been conducted throughout the Southeast including research in the archives of the FoxFire Institute, Georgia Folklore Archives, Appalachian State University, and the Prelinger Film Archive, in addition to the artist’s family archive. Stories about folk magic like wart conjuring, water dowsing, thrush healing, and planting by the signs are investigated in this film in order to connect regional folk magic practices to the resurgence of neo-paganism.