Brauche Doctors and Witchcraft of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country
When you think of Pennsylvania Dutch Country, certain things may spring to your mind: horse and buggies, the amish, and really good candy. But one thing that might not come to the forefront of your mind is powwow doctors. However, pow-wow (brauche, in Pennsylvania Dutch dialect) doctors’ and witch folklore has been alive and well in this part of America since the early eighteenth century, when the first German-speaking settlements were created.
Considered a “magico-religious” practice, the chief purpose of Hex Doctors and this type of magic is focused specifically on healing people. In particular, it is often used to hear ailments in people, animals, and bring luck and protection to farms and families alike. It is largely grounded in older, German esoteric traditions but has developed and become wholly unique in the two centuries since.
Although, as I mentioned, its practice is as old as the German immigration to Pennsylvania, it started to gain prominence in the 1820s. Johann George Hohmann, an infamous figure, published a book of incantations and prayers that he titled ‘Long Lost Friend.’ The purpose of this book and its contents were meant to be used in times of sickness and peril when people needed extra help. In it, it is written: “Whoever carries this book with him, is safe from all his enemies, visible or invisible; and whoever has this book with him, cannot die without the holy corpse of Jesus Christ, nor be drowned in any water, burn up in any fire, nor can any unjust sentence be passed upon him. So Help Me.
Hohmann considered himself a pow-wow doctor, however, BerksHistory.org acknowledges: “Why Hohmann used the word “Pow-Wow” is not known. The name might have been in use at the time to refer to religious ceremonies of the local Indians or the name could have had a distinct meaning to the author. “Long Lost Friend” opens with an unusual claim”
Here are two examples from the book:
A GOOD REMEDY FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT KEEP THEIR WATER – Burn a hog’s bladder to powder and take it inwardly.
A GOOD REMEDY TO STOP BLEEDING – This is the day on which the injury happened. Blood, thou must stop, until the Virgin Mary bring forth another son. Repeat these words three times.
Dr. David Kriebel conducted an exhaustive investigative study of pow-wow magic and noted, “Powwowing rituals involve the use of one of more acts which I have classified as verbal (incantations), somatic (gestures and body position), and material (manipulation of physical objects) components. Every living powwower I have interviewed has his or her recipes committed to memory and none of them uses any of the charm books described above or other written sources historically employed by powwowers. It can be speculated that the decline in the use of such books is a result of the 1929 York “Witch Trial” and the subsequent calls for “superstition” to be eradicated by the introduction of scientific education”
Today, it is believed that the folk magic elements of Pennsylvania Dutch prayers, like those from Long Lost Friend, can co-exist with contemporary western medicine. Erenow.net states, “There was a realization that modern medicine and folk medicine could coexist; an either/or situation was not necessary. This is a view now accepted widely in popular culture and partially by the medical establishment. So the Amish, for instance, have no problem with certain aspects of institutional medicine, going to hospital and consulting physicians, but they retain a strong reliance on aspects of pow-wow, such as herbalism and faith healing, for certain ailments.''
Thanks to Ryan from West Lawn for this blogstonishing suggestion!