CHENANGO COUNTY — This year, the spring equinox landed on Tuesday, March 19, and to celebrate I decided to attend an event at C.S. Miller Books, located at 14 Adams Street in Norwich, which was held Friday evening.

The event featured a brief presentation on the history of tarot reading by Hedge Witch Botanicals Owner Kate Castle, followed by a presentation on the spring equinox and stories of local folklore and witchcraft by C.S. Miller Books Owner Jason Miller.

So, what is the spring equinox? Also known as the vernal equinox, the spring equinox marks the astronomical beginning of spring, and usually falls on March 19, 20, or 21 each year. Culturally and spiritually, it can also signal a reconnection to nature and the earth.

Throughout history, the Haudenosaunee tribe celebrated the equinox with their sugaring celebration, in which young men between the ages of 13 to 15 would be sent out into the forest for two weeks with only an amulet and the clothes they were wearing.

"During this period of time, these young men were meant to basically find their path in life through these ceremonies, and if they didn’t they couldn’t come back until they figured out what their path was," Miller explained. "So sometimes they would never return and they would perish, or they would move along and join some other tribes."

To pagans, and others practicing witchcraft or following nature-based religions, this time represents the reawakening of the earth after the stillness of winter. Due to its association of reseeding the earth and natural growth, the spring equinox also largely symbolic of fertility, so many pagan celebrations and traditions would include rituals relating to fertility.

There are many local plants that will begin growing again in the spring, and are used in folk practices and witchcraft for their various properties. For example, yarrow can be used for love and courage; mugwort, a weed that is considered invasive in New York State, can enable psychic dreams and connect you to your subconscious; burdock root can ward off negative energy; elderberry can aid with things like depression and trauma; and bee balm, or wild bergamot, is a common weed that can bring prosperity.

In addition to sharing information on the recent equinox, Miller's presentation also included some lighthearted stories relating to witchcraft in the Chenango County area.

"I tried to find funny anecdotes as best as I could, and I tried to come up with stories that show the power of paganism or Wicca in a more positive light," he said.

One story took place on Guilford Hill, which was a main thoroughfare through the area. In the early 1800s, a man by the name of Charlie Blinco had a woman in his family that was believed to be a witch. One day, he and a few other men set out to cut some wood to load onto a bobsled to drag home. On this particular day, however, every time the men tried to stack their sled with wood, the logs would roll back off.

Eventually the men gave up, blaming their plight on "Charlie Blinco's woman" who had "hoodooed" the logs. They went home to perform some exercises to rid themselves of the witch's magic, including prayers that were not to the Christian God, but to some other unknown entity.

"After the exercises, the men became convinced that if they would return to work that afternoon that the witch’s hoodoo would have no power. And they did go back in the afternoon and they had no trouble loading the logs and lifting them off of the hill," said Miller.

Another story from the early 1800s included a group of boys who decided to play a prank on a local farmer known as Mr. Brown. The boys went up to Brown's Farm on West Hill and stole his ox. But, when they went to return the ox, they found the barn was locked and they couldn't get in. Instead, they found a crack in the barn and were able to feed the ox's lead through the crack and tie him up for the night.

The next day, the boys returned to help Brown with the ox, but found it had somehow gotten inside the barn, yet remained tied to the same place they had left it the night before. It was determined that a witch must have entered the ox, transformed it into a snake and slithered through the crack in the barn, then transformed back into the ox.

As far as folklore in the area, Miller said when people first started to migrate and settle in the area, they encountered white apparitions, or "fox fires," for the first time. This phenomena was caused by the sun shining through the trees in the forest, creating a white glare that early settlers believed to be apparitions.

"There were several men on the path from Guilford to Norwich, and they ran down into town and they called on more fellas to come with them to basically fight these apparitions," Miller said. "When they had returned to where they originally found that apparition, the one person that they had left behind, they found that he was doing nothing more than fighting a tree because the sun had changed and so that apparition no longer existed."

In Rowes Corners, which is around the King Settlement Road area, area farmers would gather at the home of Mrs. Rowe in the late winter or early spring for spirituality meetings. In attendance would be a woman named Mrs. Thornton, who was believed to be a psychic medium that could communicate with Native American spirits. It was said at these meetings she would commune with Native American gods, and speak in a language that was not known to most of the people in attendance.

Attendees at Friday's event had the opportunity to share their own stories of local folklore, such as an alleged witch in historical Sherburne. Although the time period is not known, a house on Rexford Falls Road that is said to be the oldest house in Sherburne was once home to an alleged witch who used to gather herbs in the surrounding area, and possibly put hexes on other locals.

After the presentations, visitors received tarot readings and browsed the store's shelves. I had the chance to talk with other attendees about their own supernatural experiences in the area. One story that was shared with me was that of a possible cryptid living under the bridge on East River Road. I had seen a post about the creature on Facebook around three years ago, but was never able to find the post again or any other information about it.

It's said the creature is very tall, possibly around 7 or 8 feet, with extremely long arms that hang past its knees, grayish skin, and tufts of fur around its neck. This is the first I've heard about it in three years, but I'd be curious to know if there have been any additional sightings!

I also discussed the phenomenon of shadow people with others at Friday's event. Shadow people are humanoid beings that look like cast shadows come to life, often seen out of the corner of one's eye. Depending on religion or belief system, it could be believed that shadow people are evil spirits, aliens, inhabitants of another dimension, or many other possibilities.

From a scientific approach, the phenomenon could be explained as hallucinations caused by mental illness or episodes of sleep paralysis, drug use, or sleep deprivation. They could also just be a result of your mind playing tricks on you when you're already scared. Whatever the true explanation is, shadow people are downright spooky!

Miller said oftentimes folklore is not a written text, but rather stories shared among members of a community and passed down through the generations. To keep our local folklore alive and participate in community storytelling, I would love to hear more stories about witches, cryptids, ghosts, and any other unusual phenomena in the area. If you'd like to share your spooky stories, send me an email at sgenter@evesun.com.