Pow-wow is a system of American
folk religionFolk religion consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices...
and
magicMagic, sometimes known as sorcery, is the practice of consciousness manipulation and/or autosuggestion to achieve a desired result, usually by techniques described in various conceptual systems...
associated with the
Pennsylvania DutchThe Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of Germanic peoples who emigrated to the U.S. , from Germany and The Low Countries prior to 1800. The Dutch are generally regarded as one of several Germanic peoples...
. Its name comes from the book
Pow-wows, or, The Long Lost FriendPow-Wows; or, Long Lost Friend is a book by John George Hoffman published in 1820. Hoffman was a Pennsylvania Dutch healer; the book is a collection of home- and folk-remedies, as well as spells and talismans.- External links :*...
, written by
John George HohmanJohn George Hohman , who was active between 1802 and 1846, was a German-American printer, book seller and compiler of collections of herbal remedies, magical healings, and charms...
and first published in German as
Der Lange Verborgene Freund in 1820. Despite the
Native nameA pow-wow is a gathering of North America's Native people. The word derives from the Narragansett word powwaw, meaning "spiritual leader"....
, taken from an Algonquian word for a gathering of
medicine men"Medicine man" or "Medicine woman" are English terms used to describe Native American healers and spiritual figures. Anthropologists tend to prefer the term "shaman."- Role in native society :...
, the collection is actually a very traditional collection of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
an magic spells, recipes, and folk remedies, of a type familiar to students of
folkloreFolklore is the body of expressive culture, including stories, music, dance, legends, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, customs, and so forth within a particular population comprising the traditions of that culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which...
. They mix prayers, magic words, and simple rituals to cure simple domestic ailments and rural troubles.
The tradition is also called
hex or
hex work, or
Speilwerk in
Pennsylvania DutchThe Pennsylvania Dutch are the descendants of Germanic peoples who emigrated to the U.S. , from Germany and The Low Countries prior to 1800. The Dutch are generally regarded as one of several Germanic peoples...
; its adepts are
hexenmeisters. The tradition of
Hex signHex signs are a form of Pennsylvania Dutch folk art, related to Fraktur, found in the Fancy Dutch tradition in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.Today some non-Pennsylvania Dutch people use the signs in a talismanic nature, although others see it as purely decorative, or "Chust for nice" in the local...
s painted on
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
barns in some areas originally relates to this tradition, as the symbols were
pentagramA pentagram is the shape of a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes...
s thought to have
talismanAn amulet , a close cousin of the talisman consists of any object...
ic properties; though many current hex signs are made simply for decoration.
Also important to the pow-wow practitioner were the
Sixth and Seventh Books of MosesThe Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses is an 18th or 19th century magical text allegedly written by Moses, and passed down as hidden books of the Five Books of Moses or Pentateuch. A grimoire, a text of magical incantations and seals, it purports to instruct the reader in the spells used to create...
, books brought to the United States from
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, containing
cabalisticKabbalah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that is meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator with the finite and mortal universe of His creation...
magic, claiming to be the magical arts by which Moses obtained his powers and commanded spirits. Actually, the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses were apparently compiled by Johann Scheible in nineteenth century Germany.
Another characteristic practice of pow-wow magic is the
HimmelsbriefHimmelsbrief in Pennsylvania Dutch, Himmelsbriefe in Standard German is a name for religious documents said to have being written by God or a divine agent....
or "heaven's letter" and
Teufelsbrief, a "devil's letter," which presumably is meant to bestow a
curseA curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or unhappiness will befall another person or persons. In particular, a wish that harm or hurt will be inflicted by any supernatural power, such as a spell, a prayer, an imprecation, an execration, magic, witchcraft, a god, a natural force,...
. Significantly, the
Long Lost Friend assures its owner that:
- 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 drowned in any water, nor burn up in any fire, nor can any unjust sentence be passed upon him. So help me.
This 1988 film "Apprentice to Murder" stars
Donald SutherlandDonald McNicol Sutherland, OC is a Canadian character actor with a film career spanning over 50 years. He is currently working in the American television series, Dirty Sexy Money. Some of Sutherland's more notable movie roles included offbeat warriors in such war movies as The Dirty Dozen, in...
as "Pow-Wow" doctor John Reese, and
Chad LoweCharles “Chad” Lowe is an American television actor. He is the younger brother of actor Rob Lowe. He won an Emmy Award for his starring role in Life Goes On as a man suffering with HIV. He has also had recurring roles on ER, Melrose Place, and Now and Again...
as his young apprentice Lucas Haas. Reese practices the folk magic rituals in a small Pennsylvanian town which the residents believe has fallen under a curse. The film makes use of the "Pow Wows or the Long Lost Friend" book cited above.
Cure For The Headache
- Tame thou flesh and bone, like Christ in Paradise; and you who will assist thee, this I tell thee (name) for your repentance sake. + + + This you must say three times, each time lasting for three minutes, and your headache will soon cease. But if your headache is caused by strong drink, or otherwise will not leave you soon, then you must repeat these words every minute. This, however, is not necessary in regard to headache.
To Remove Bruises and Pains
- Bruise, thou shalt not heat;
- Bruise, thou shalt not sweat;
- Bruise, thou shalt not run,
- No more than Virgin Mary shall bring forth another son. + + +
External links