Wizard of South Mountain

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An artistic depiction of an open book titled 'A Friend in Need: Secret Science,' surrounded by illustrations of herbs, a bottle labeled 'Curative Oyl,' a gravestone, and a hand reaching toward a silhouette of a girl, with a mysterious creature lurking in the background.

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Michael Zittle Jr. (1798–1877), widely known as the Wizard of South Mountain or the Wizard of Zittlestown, was a renowned 19th-century folk healer and occultist whose life and practices are central to the folklore of Western Maryland. Based in the foothills of South Mountain, Zittle operated within the tradition of Braucherei, a German-American system of ritual healing often referred to as “pow-wowing”.

Identity and Background

Origins: Zittle was born into a family of German immigrants who founded the community of Zittlestown near Boonsboro in 1811.
Role in Society: While officially recorded as a mountaineer and “day laborer” in census records, his neighbors viewed him as a “high priest” and powerful mediator between the physical and spiritual worlds.
Philosophy: His practice was rooted in a Christian worldview, often opening his rituals with biblical passages like Psalm 50, though contemporary critics like Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren viewed his use of “holy names” as impious or evil.

Healing and Occult Practices

Zittle was sought out by hundreds of people from across the region for his ability to cure ailments that conventional medicine could not.

The “Go-Backs”: One of his most famous rituals involved curing “the go-backs” (a condition where children failed to thrive) by measuring the child with strings in the shape of a cross and performing specific grease manipulations.
Curative Services: His repertoire included providing “sure cures” for fevers, stopping the bleeding from gunshot wounds, and healing the bites of “mad dogs”.
Defensive Magic: He also performed rituals to compel thieves to return stolen property (such as horses) and provided spells to dispel the “fear of the darkness of night”.

“A Friend in Need”: The Published Handbook

For most of his life, Zittle used a handwritten German “black book” or “conjuring book” containing inherited secrets.

Publication: In 1845, he authorized the publication of his formulas in English under the title A Friend in Need; Or, Secret Science.
Contents: The book contained pragmatic spells, the first four of which were dedicated specifically to recovering lost or stolen property through commands to “O thief” and the use of symbolic objects like pitchforks.

The Legend and Legacy

The Price of Power: Local legend asserts that Zittle traditionally provided his services for free. However, as he grew old and poor, he was allegedly persuaded to charge a fee and publish his book for profit, an act that supposedly caused him to lose his supernatural powers.
Death: He died in 1877, reportedly in “great agony of soul”. He is buried under a simple headstone in Boonsboro Cemetery that makes no mention of his wizardry.
Modern Preservation: Today, Zittle’s original German conjuring book and a rare copy of his published English grimoire are preserved at the Boonsborough Museum of History. Sightings of his “ghostly” presence and connections to the Snarly Yow continue to attract interest from paranormal researchers and hikers on the Appalachian Trail.

Sources

Preservation Maryland: Offers a detailed history of Michael Zittle, Jr., his published grimoire, and the folklore documented by Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren.

https://preservationmaryland.org/haunted-history-the-wizard-of-south-mountain-michael-zittle/

Boonsboro Historical Society: Provides biographical details on the Zittle family, the founding of Zittlestown, and the preservation of Zittle’s artifacts at the Boonsborough Museum of History.

https://boonsborohistoricalsociety.org/boonsboro-reflections-the-wizard-of-zittlestown/

Wikipedia (Michael Zittle Jr. & Braucherei): Summarizes Zittle’s career as an occultist and provides cultural context for the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition of Braucherei (pow-wowing).

Glencairn Museum: Explains the religious and symbolic mechanics of the pow-wowing tradition, including specific rituals for healing and protection.

https://www.glencairnmuseum.org/newsletter/2017/3/2/powwowing-in-pennsylvania

Infinite Rabbit Hole (Podcast): Discusses the intersection of Zittle’s history with regional mountain monsters like the Snallygaster and the Snarly Yow.

https://anchor.fm/s/2be66100/podcast/rss

Haunted Ohio Books: Explores the “portal” hypothesis of South Mountain and the historical connection between Zittle and the Washington Monument.

http://hauntedohiobooks.com/news/black-dogs-and-dynamite-south-mountains-washington-monument/

PSU Press & PubMed: Academic sources detailing the immigration history of Germanic faith healers from the Palatine valley to the American frontier.

FamilySearch: Genealogical records confirming Zittle’s birth, parentage, marriage, and 1870 census data as a “day laborer.”

https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/9JH8-F4P/johann-michael-zittle%2C-jr.-1798-1877

Friend in Need: Sympathetic Knowledge Contains excerpts from the original 1882 book by Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren, including Zittle’s specific “thief-compelling” spells.