Byron Ballard grew up wild and “unchurched” in the mountains of rural western North Carolina. That lack of religious structure allowed her to grow her own spiritual practices - which later she would identify as Paganism/Wicca, a collection of earth based spirtual practices.
Such beliefs manifested around the world with similar ideas. Ballard is a folklorist specializing in the cultural history of the Scotch/Irish who immigrated to the Appalachian mountains.
You can find more about her here:
https://www.myvillagewitch.com/
If you order her latest book from Malaprops you can get a signed copy:
https://www.malaprops.com/book/9780738764535
H. Byron Ballard, BA, MFA, is a western NC native, teacher, folklorist and writer. She has served as a featured speaker and teacher at Sacred Space Conference, Pagan Spirit Gathering, Southeast Wise Women’s Herbal Conference, Glastonbury Goddess Conference, Heartland, Sirius Rising, Starwood, Scottish Pagan Federation Conference, Hexfest and other festivals and conferences. She serves as senior priestess and co-founder of Mother Grove Goddess Temple and the Coalition of Earth Religions/CERES, both in Asheville, NC. She podcasts about Appalachian folkways on “Wyrd Mountain Gals.”
Her essays are featured in several anthologies and she writes a regular column for SageWoman Magazine. Her books include “Staubs and Ditchwater” (2012), the companion volume “Asfidity and Mad-Stones” (2015) “Embracing Willendorf” (2017), “Earth Works: Ceremonies in Tower Time” (2018),“Roots, Branches, and Spirits: the Folkways and Witchery of Appalachia” fromLlewellyn (Feb. 2021) and “Seasons of a Magical Life: a Pagan Path of Living” (Weiser, August 2021). Upcoming: “The Ragged Wound: Tending the Soul of Appalachia” (Smith Bridge Press), “Porch Food: a cookbook from Wyrd Mountain” and a musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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