Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaye Loveday.
Hi Kaye, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I started Black Cat Folk Magic out of necessity. Financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical demands all converged in a way that could no longer be ignored. I was in my early forties, limited by physical disability, financial hardship, and a growing concern that I was handing my most vital years over to survival mode. I was struggling to afford cat food. My days were unstructured and, while I am always productive, I was unfocused. I was surrounded by people who were not in alignment with my unfolding path of growth. I knew something had to change. I didn’t know what direction to choose, and so I simply started from where I was.
I live in the house that I grew up in, my grandparents’ house in Southeast Knox County. It’s a wooded four-acre lot with ancient trees and moss-covered hills and its magic has never been lost on me. I’m a seventh generation (at least) Appalachian and I have an incredibly strong sense of place. I have an almost obsessive nature when it comes to the quality of my surroundings. I take comfort in the sound of the cicadas on a summer morning, the sight of fox kits playfully wrestling in my backyard, the pulse of the fireflies on a balmy June evening. These are the things that fire up my brain and I have always been incredibly unhappy when I tried to live without them. I have resided in other places, but I never truly lived there. I have a bond, a covenant, with this small piece of property and I give it everything I have. In return, she gives me medicinal plants, peace of mind, and a deep connection with my ancestors and their folk practices.
My ancestors would have never called themselves folk magicians or witches. They would have denied that they knew magic, but they practiced it every day. My maternal grandmother wouldn’t leave the house without a buckeye and a rabbit’s foot in her purse. And bright pink lipstick, of course. These charms made her feel safe, lucky, and empowered. If that’s not magic, I don’t know what is. When she cooked, she imbued every biscuit, every piece of fried okra, every slice of chocolate pie with her love for her family. Simply put, that’s kitchen witchery. The paternal side of my family was no less magic. My father was born in Gatlinburg. My paternal grandparents are buried in Middle Creek Cemetery, just steps from Dollywood. We have roots in Wears Valley and Walland. My aunts would tell stories of using knot magic to get rid of warts, of healing salves made of roots and herbs, of old women who could miraculously cure a baby’s thrush by blowing into its mouth. These are all examples of the application of feminine power within the confines of patriarchy. I recognized that and wanted to celebrate it and bring awareness to it. I wanted to reclaim it for myself.
So, I took my birthright knowledge, decades of reading everything I could on the subject, and my own very powerful intuition and decided to make folk magic my way of life. It is truly the only way that I can live in alignment with my purpose. I began making salves, spells, and nature crafts to share with others. An incredible thing happens when you begin to strive for alignment: doors of opportunity begin to fly open for you. I didn’t set out to create a business. The business is a byproduct of living in alignment with my purpose. I started meeting people who were on the same growth journey. Those contacts turned into opportunities. Fast forward to a mushroom cloud of success and fulfillment. I am now the house reader at Amulet Parlor in the Old City, which is a dream come true. My Appalachian Spell Salts are sold exclusively at New Moon Rising Gifts and Goods. And you can find other wares for purchase when I do markets, specifically Moon Market, every third Saturday of the month at 1520 N Central, 12-4 pm.
I have read tarot cards for thirty years. I consider it an essential feature of my spiritual gifts, but I don’t know that it’s particularly linked to the Appalachian folk magic side of myself. It definitely taps into the same feminine power source, so maybe it is. I got my first tarot deck as a teenager. It was overwhelming and I wasn’t immediately good at reading the cards. It took a decades of emotional and spiritual growth before I could read with the precision and depth that I do now. Most importantly, it required me to relinquish my ego. I liked being thought of as a logical person. I liked being thought of as a smart person. And I was afraid if people knew that I read tarot, they would classify me as some sort of silly woo-woo girl. Eventually it occurred to me in my aged wisdom that people only try to humiliate you when they want to disempower you. As soon as I realized that people want me to feel bad about my gifts because they’re afraid of my power, I decided that I would never give into the temptation to ignore my gifts again.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My life path has most definitely been difficult. I was born with a rare skeletal dysplasia that hindered my physical growth and severely impacts my mobility. It causes me to be in a lot of physical pain. I live in a world that was not built for me. It’s hard to imagine until you experience it for yourself, but it is incredibly difficult to navigate a world in which everything is too high, too tall, too big. I spend so much energy just trying to do basic tasks. I can’t help imagining how much I could accomplish if I could reclaim all that energy for myself and my business. I also suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, OCD, and PTSD. I have a particularly unusual physical appearance that elicits more bullying and exclusion than you would expect from adult people. I’m a queer, witchy, justice-minded woman who lives in a place that is sometimes not welcoming of such things. However, it scares me to think of who I would be without those struggles. Would I be shallow? Lazy? Afraid of things that are outside the realm of my experience? I can’t imagine that I would be the same person if I had remained relatively unchallenged. My wisdom is hard-won.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m just a folk magic practitioner and a tarot card reader, but I like to think that I help people. I like to say that my readings are “solution oriented.” I’m never going to tell you about any challenges without giving you some insight on how to overcome them. To me, that’s the point of tarot. It’s a flashlight into the dark corners of your brain and your heart. It explores the places that you consciously or unconsciously ignore. We can’t grow without confronting our shadows. If clients leave my readings without feeling reassured, empowered, and without a better understanding of themselves, then I haven’t done my job. I’m not here to scare anyone. I’m here to help.
What were you like growing up?
I was an only child for the first ten and half years of my life. I was lonely, but enterprising. I remember when I was around 5, I was feeling particularly sad about having no one to play with. I grabbed some construction paper and a crayon and made a sign: If your child would like to play with me, please call 933-0004. I hung it on the telephone pole by the street. Fortunately, I lived in the country and not many people saw it. It wasn’t a great way to avoid getting kidnapped. But looking back, I find it fascinating how I was willing to solve my own problems at such an early age.
I spent most of my time around adults, so I mostly behaved like a little adult. I didn’t understand how to play with dolls. I hated sports. But I loved to create. I was always painting, drawing, writing plays and songs, creating dance routines. One summer, my friend and I used her Fashion Plates toy and created an entire clothing catalog, with descriptions, prices, and everything! It had it all. I was never particularly interested in what other kids were doing or what was trendy. I just created the world that I wanted to live in.
I loved to read. I loved history. I loved visiting the mountains. I loved black cats. I’m pretty much the same.
Pricing:
- $30 for a half hour reading at Amulet
- Group events have a minimum of $150 and depend on location and crowd size
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Instagram.com/blackcatfolkmagic and Instagram.com/kayelovedaytarot
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@blackcatfolkmagic
