Healing rites
Pennsylvania German powwow
Braucherei, the Pennsylvania German folk healing of prayers, signs and written charms. It is unrelated to Native American powwows.
Presented by ClearTrust Customs described as customs, free to read.
Braucherei, or powwow, is a folk tradition of the Pennsylvania Dutch, descendants of German-speaking settlers. A braucher says Christian prayers and verses and uses gestures and written charms for sickness, fear, theft and animals. The English name powwow was taken from the Algonquian word for a gathering, and has nothing to do with Native American ceremonies.
This is an outline of a custom, said as belief and practice. It is not instruction, it does not say that the rite works, and it is not medical advice.
What goes into it
- Bible verses and prayersWordThe base of the charm.
- Written charmObjectCarried or kept in the home.
- The practitioner's handsGesturePassed over the body or the animal.
- Three-times repetitionWordSacred numbers are used.
- Home or barnSpaceWhere it is done.
- Word
- Object
- Gesture
- Space
Each part has an equal wedge. The ring shows what goes into the rite, not how much. Colour is the part's role.
The steps, drawn
Each drawing shows the kind of act in that step. Details differ from place to place, family to family and practitioner to practitioner.
Step 1: Gather The patient or family asks a braucher for help. Step 2: Speak The braucher listens and says a prayer in German or English. Step 3: Gather Hands are passed over the person and a verse is said three times. Step 4: Bind A written charm may be handed over to be carried. Step 5: Close The braucher gives thanks to God and takes no fee beyond a gift.
Texts
Charms circulate in books such as the Long Lost Friend of 1820, by John George Hohman, and in manuscripts. Words from the Bible are mixed with names of God, and the practitioner is expected to keep faith. Some Lutheran and Mennonite leaders opposed it, and others kept it quiet.
A murder and a name
A trial in 1928 of the York murder of a suspected witch, Nelson Rehmeyer, put the tradition in newspapers as a rural superstition. Since then braucherei has been studied by folklorists and by its own people with more care.
Today
A few practitioners remain and scholars note a revival of interest. The tradition is treated as faith and custom, and no practitioner worth the name replaces medical care.
What it is for
- Comfort in illness
- Protection of the farm
- Easing fear
Who does it
Related entries
Also part of it, and being written: Pennsylvania Dutch (The community.), Braucherei (Braucherei.), The Long Lost Friend (The charm book.).
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryJaadu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Closed or sacred detail is left out. If we have something wrong, tell us.