February, 2026 | USFolktales.com

A Southern root doctor prepares a mojo bag with herbs and roots by lantern light inside a wooden cabin.

Hoodoo Rootwork in the American South

February 20, 2026

American Folk Magic & Healing·American Traditions & Beliefs

The evening air in rural Mississippi carried the scent of damp soil and magnolia blossoms. Crickets sang from tall grasses while the last glow of sunlight faded behind cypress trees. At the edge of a dirt road stood a modest wooden house with a small front porch. Inside, lantern light

A Cherokee medicine person gathers sacred herbs in a misty forest before performing a purification ceremony.

Cherokee Sacred Plant Medicine Traditions

February 20, 2026

American Folk Magic & Healing·American Traditions & Beliefs

Before the sun touched the ridgelines of the Smoky Mountains, the forest was already awake. Mist drifted like breath between tall hickory and oak trees. Dew clung to fern leaves, and the slow murmur of a nearby stream carried through the valley. In this quiet hour, when night still lingered

A young boy believed to be a seventh son gently prays over a child on a farmhouse porch in rural America.

The Seventh Son as Folk Healer

February 20, 2026

American Folk Magic & Healing·American Traditions & Beliefs

In a small wooden farmhouse nestled between rolling hills of rural Appalachia, a baby boy was born just before dawn. The midwife counted carefully as she wrapped him in a quilt stitched by his grandmother. One brother already slept in the next room. Six boys had been born before him,

A handmade red cloth gris-gris protection bag filled with herbs and roots resting on a wooden table in a Louisiana Creole home.

Louisiana Gris-Gris Protection Bags

February 20, 2026

American Folk Magic & Healing·American Traditions & Beliefs

The humid air of southern Louisiana hung thick with the scent of moss and river water. In the early morning light, cypress trees stood tall along the bayou, their roots twisting deep into dark soil. The sound of insects hummed softly as the sun rose over wooden homes built on

A Mormon pioneer woman prepares herbal remedies while family members pray in a Utah Territory cabin.

Mormon Pioneer Herbal Healing Traditions

February 19, 2026

American Folk Magic & Healing·American Traditions & Beliefs

The sun rose slowly over the wide plains and rugged valleys of the Utah Territory. Early Mormon pioneer families stirred in their cabins, preparing for a day filled with labor, travel, and care for the sick. The desert air was sharp and dry, and resources were scarce. Illness often spread

A ceremonial singer performs a Blessingway healing ritual inside a Navajo hogan while family members observe respectfully.

Navajo (Diné) Blessingway Healing Ceremony

February 19, 2026

American Folk Magic & Healing·American Traditions & Beliefs

The first light of morning spread gently across the wide desert lands of the Navajo Nation. The sky shifted from deep indigo to warm gold as the sun rose behind distant mesas. The air was cool and still, carrying the scent of sage and red earth. In a small clearing

The Yard Dog standing guard on a mountain ridge overlooking a Kentucky coal mining community

The Yard Dog of Kentucky’s Old Coal Trails

February 19, 2026

American Hero Myths·American Myths

The coal camps of eastern Kentucky lay tucked between steep Appalachian ridges, where narrow dirt trails twisted through dense forest and wooden houses clung stubbornly to the hillsides. By day, the mountains echoed with the clang of pickaxes and the rumble of coal carts rolling along iron tracks. By night,

The Echo Canyon Marksman standing on a canyon ridge watching over settlers traveling below

The Echo Canyon Marksman of the Southwest

February 19, 2026

American Hero Myths·American Myths

Echo Canyon stretched like a stone corridor through the red heart of the Southwest, its towering sandstone walls rising high above the desert floor. Wind did not merely pass through the canyon; it twisted, circled, and returned upon itself, carrying with it sounds that most travelers ignored. To the untrained

The Firewalker of the Sierra Mines stepping through molten ore while fellow miners look on in awe in a Gold Rush camp

The Firewalker of California Sierra Mines

February 19, 2026

American Hero Myths·American Myths

The air in the Sierra Nevada gold camps was thick with smoke and the metallic scent of molten ore. Miners labored day and night, chipping rock, shoveling dirt, and tending to the blazing furnaces that separated gold from stone. Among them, a figure loomed larger than life in stories told

The Great Basin Guide leading lost travelers across the desert, pointing toward hidden water while they follow cautiously

The Great Basin Guide of the Desert Trails

February 18, 2026

American Hero Myths·American Myths

The sun blazed relentlessly over the endless expanse of the Great Basin, casting long shadows across the cracked desert floor. Heat shimmered in the distance, and the wind carried only the dry scent of sagebrush and sand. Travelers, weary from the relentless march across barren washes, often found themselves disoriented