The Powwow Guy

This is a new question that I was asked today. Are Powwows Psychic?

The immediate answer is No. A Powwow is not a psychic, nor should we be expected to function as one might expect a "psychic" to function.

That being said, we do hear the voice of God. We follow our Faith and the guidance of God, and this might sometimes seem like "psychic" ability, but really it's just the voice of God guiding us and providing us the information we need to pass on to those who come to us for help.

Psychic ability is not a rare gift. In fact, I believe that all of us are psychic in some way, shape, or form. Indeed, I believe I have a "useless" psychic ability. Allow me to explain. I have this ridiculously pointless psychic talent that causes me to think of a person that I haven't seen in ages or a song I haven't heard in decades, only to later see that person or hear that song on the radio shortly thereafter. It has not proven useful to me and has largely been a source of frustration over the years, but there you go. Why this happens, I have no idea. But it's of absolutely no use in my Powwowing practice.

However, God does speak to me; most especially when I'm doing a reading for a client. God speaks through me and I've never had a client tell me my readings were wrong. But all praise, honor, and glory go to God.

It is also known that a Powwower can run his hands over a client to determine where that individual has an imbalance, of sorts, that might need trying for. I've found this to be true, as well. This gift was given to me when I became a Powwower and God has allowed me to use this with success for well over two decades.

The bottom line is that while Powwowers may or may not be "psychic", we are guided by God in the powers that He has given to us.

May God bless you in all that you do.

Apple Butter is a Pennsylvania Dutch table staple! Growing up, my grandmother always had fresh Apple Butter on the table with warm, fresh-baked bread. It was offered at every single meal and even though I'm half a century old now, I still love the taste of homemade Apple Butter!

This recipe is easy, although it does take a few hours. But don't worry, it's not a lot of work!

10 large tart apples

2 cups of apple cider

3 to 5 cups of sugar

3/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp Allspice

3 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Wash, core, peel, and quarter apples. In a large pot, cook apples slowly in cider until tender. Blend in a food processor. Add sugar. Add cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook in a crockpot on high for 6 to 8 hours, stirring often. Butter is thick enough when a spoonful placed on a cold plate has no liquid forming at the edges. Ladle into sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch at the top. Seal immediately with two-piece lids.

Apple Butter goes best with warm, fresh-baked, crusty bread! But it's also great on toast, with cottage cheese, or just by itself!

Excerpts from “Powwowing: Folk Medicine or White Magic?”

Written by Forrest Moyer on May 16, 2018

In February 1979, the MHEP Newsletter published notes from a talk by Mennonite pastor Gerald Studer on the topic of “powwowing”—In German, Braucherei—a combination of faith healing and folk medicine. This ancient practice brought by Pennsylvania Germans from Europe has been preserved in pockets of the American countryside to the present day. Opinions have varied in the Pa. German community about the effectiveness and propriety of powwowing. Individuals from all religious groups—Lutheran, Reformed, Mennonite, Brethren, Evangelical, etc.—made use of powwow doctors, while others from the same groups were strongly opposed to the practice. See below for examples of local Mennonite powwowing.

If you’d like to read more on this topic, I recommend two books:

-Powwowing among the Pennsylvania Dutch: a traditional practice in the modern world by David W. Kriebel (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007)

-Powwowing in Pennsylvania: Braucherei & the ritual of everyday life by Patrick J. Donmoyer (Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, Kutztown University, 2017)

-also, Gerald Studer published an article under the title “Powwowing: Folk Medicine or White Magic?” in the July 1980 issue of Pennsylvania Mennonite Heritage (available at the MHC). Studer’s papers, including research on powwowing, are archived at the Mennonite Heritage Center (Hist. Mss. 415).

The following bits and pieces come from the talk given by Gerald Studer on the subject of powwowing at Perkasie Mennonite Church on January 14, 1979. While not claiming to be comprehensive, Gerald provided new information documented through a wide number of sources. Some of this information, and some of Gerald’s opinions are represented below.

– Joyce Munro, MHEP Newsletter editor, 1979

Example of a remedy and incantation for sty on the eye

Sty, depart from here

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost (Three X’S in a row often designate this phrase.)

I blow upon you three times.

(Said three times and blown three times.)

If the eyes are bad, one must make a little bag and must keep it on nine days, and then someone must drop it into running water.

Take the bag and stand with your back towards the water and throw the bag over your shoulder into the water. After it has fallen into the water, depart for your home and don’t look back.

The bag must be made of tow or flax unwashed. Into the bag put three pieces of celendine root and three pieces of the cheese mallow and three of some tophgen (earthen pots?) of ground salt. Mix all three together.

When you have made the bag, take three threads of yarn that were never wet. Make them long enough to tie the bag shut with enough left over to put the yarn three times around the neck.

Local powwowers

Some local powwowers were a man from Phoenixville; Oscar Long, Lutheran powwower from Earlington who died just a few years ago; Wallace Nice of Upper Salford Township and later of Wyncote, a powwower for animals only; Isaiah Kulp, a carpenter from Lansdale and a member of Towamencin Mennonite congregation; Mrs. Wallace Fuss, a member of Plains Mennonite congregation; Mrs. Harry Heckler, a member of Salford Mennonite congregation; and possibly Mrs. Henry Specht of Red Hill.

Certain descriptions used to explain powwowing

From Smithville, Ohio: “divine healing … ’tis love for your neighbor. There is no witching about it, but a skinny person cannot do it. You never accept money for powwowing; then it would not help.”

From David Luthy, a member of Pathway Publishing House: “Some of the Amish believe that some people have more electricity in their bodies than others do and can pull sickness from a person.”

Some powwowers combine powwowing with chiropractic, counseling, or vitamin therapy.

The extent of powwowing today (1979) and yesterday

Dean Hostetler of Nappanee, Indiana, told Gerald that “ninety percent of the Amish are under occult bondage. I know six powwowers within a two-mile area of Nappanee — three are lay persons, three are ministers, all are Amish. One is professional (having powwowing as a vocation), and five are of the family type (doing powwowing only as the need arises and often for only a few specific types of ailments).”

Isaac Clarence Kulp of Harleysville, Pennsylvania, told Gerald that “the Brethren practiced powwowing less than the Mennonites of this area, but the Brethren anointed with oil more than the Mennonites did. Also, the Brethren have never condemned powwowing while the Mennonites have strongly condemned it.”

Claims powwowers make

Powwowers treat a wide variety of diseases as divergent as arthritis, asthma, bleeding, bone felony, cataracts, cysts, erysipelas, gall stones, insomnia, lumbago, sinus, sore mouth, and warts — to name a few.

Certain beliefs held by powwowers

Powwowers deny any association with hexerei or witchery (black magic).

Powwowers insist that the recipient of their powers must express a faith in God. Among “Church” Pennsylvania Dutch (Lutheran and Reformed), powwowing was done for only baptized persons. Among “Plain” Dutch (Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren), unbaptized children were also treated, because the individual bringing the child supplied the element of faith.

Powwowers use incantations that frequently refer to the perpetual virginity of Mary or that appeal especially to her — Roman Catholic beliefs gone underground since the Reformation?

Powwowers traditionally passed on this knowledge in a particular way; namely, only a man could teach a woman and only a woman could teach a man.

Gerald Studer’s position on powwowing

“Our forefathers used powwowing for pragmatic and utilitarian reasons — it worked, was frequently as effective as medical cures today … I see powwowing as an expression of demonic power in the sense that we are all subject to being deceived as by an ‘angel of light’ seeking whom he may deceive and, if possible, devour. And the fact that powwowing works proves nothing at all. Many things work that are wrong.”

“Powwowing is not gentle amusement or antiquated comedy. It cannot be cooly described. The real essence of powwowing can never be reproduced or discussed in a book. It remains a secret. We should give it our attention only in order to rise above it in every respect.”

Jacob Mensch (1835-1912) was a minister at Upper Skippack Mennonite Church. His papers at the Mennonite Heritage Center (Hist. Mss. include two German letters received from Samuel Musselman (1835-1902), an Evangelical preacher and powwow doctor of Center Valley, Lehigh County. Musselman attempted to heal Mensch or his wife through Braucherei — powwowing — remotely, without actually meeting in person.

The two letters are reproduced here, translated by John Ruth:

February 18, 1895

Peace be with you.

Beloved friends Jacob and Maria Mensch, with these few lines I let you know that I, God be praised, am still in usual health, and I hope these few lines will find you the same. Your letter dated February 14 came to hand, in which I read of the condition of your injuries. I have carefully Brauched, and I think it must have helped. May the Lord grant his blessing thereto. It is he who can help, and no human. We can only do our duty. Now I will brauch over, or yet another time. Sometimes that has to be. But I can not now brauch again until the first Friday in the new moon—that is the first of March, and I won’t be finished with Brauchen until the 24th of May, and after May 24 write me again how it is, and if it isn’t good, then I will brauch the 3rd time, which I nevertheless hope will not be necessary.

Now I must hasten to close my writing, since time does not allow me to write more today. I would have, indeed, much more to write, and would much rather speak with you by mouth, of the pilgrimage to the land of eternity, which is my element, and my heart’s joy, and I fully believe that if we could converse orally with each other we would have a pleasant time. But we will seek to meet each other there where peace endures forever.

In closing, yet another greeting of love:

Herewith I want to close my page,

And greet you again from my heart,

And counsel you to fight on,

And strive under Jesus’ banner,

Strive nobly, then follows the reward,

And after the battle the crown of victory.

So much from your friend and well-wisher

Samuel M. Musselman

June 11, 1895

Much loved friends J. and M. Mensch,

Peace be with you.

May the Spirit of the Lord rest upon us here in time and there eternally through Jesus Ch. Amen.

With these few lines I let you know that I, God be praised, am still in normal health and hope these few lines find you also in health.

Further, I let you know that yesterday I received your letter dated the 7th of June, and with regret saw that you have not been healed from your injuries. What the reason is I do not know. Now I will brauch yet again. But send me your names again. As you write, let no letter be missing in the name. Perhaps there is somehow a mistake in the name as I have it; and write for me exactly as you can where your hernia is. Write your wife’s birth [maiden] name; then I will brauch once again. That is all I can do, but it is God who can help. May the Lord grant his blessing thereto. I will brauch again on the 28th of June, and will finish with brauchen on the 26th of August. Then write me again, and if it should still not be good, which I certainly hope, but has nevertheless become significantly better, then I will brauch once again, if the Lord grants me life and health. In closing, another greeting of love. So much from your well-wisher

Samuel M. Musselman

My YouTube channel ( along with this website ) is my public face of Powwowing. I've spent countless hours working on videos and instructional information to help spread information about our tradition to those who are looking for proper teaching. 

"The Powwow Guy" was a title given to me by someone back in 2011 when I was staying with a friend in Baltimore, Maryland. I had already begun to develop a reputation for myself as the authority on PA Dutch Powwow and someone said something along the lines of "Hey, you're the Powwow Guy, can you help me?" and I loved the reference and have kept it ever since!

I identify with the title "The Powwow Guy" because truly that is who and what I am. I live my life completely immersed within the tradition of Pennsylvania Dutch Powwow.

If you are looking for proper information about our tradition, I feel that I am qualified to help you. If you wish to learn how to become a Powwow, I can point you in the right direction. If you simply wish to separate fact from fiction about our tradition, then certainly I am very well-versed on this subject. Please feel free to contact me!

May God bless you in all that you do!

My grandmother liked to have a lot of choices at meal times. Breakfast was always my favorite because there were cereals and hot chocolate and toast and egg bread and donuts...

Today I want to share with you my favorite recipe for PA Dutch Egg Bread, also known as Hootsla! This is NOT exactly my grandmother's recipe. I remember her egg bread not having any sweetness to it, and she served it with molasses to put on top. My recipe is sweeter and I recommend covering it in maple syrup!

Let's get started!

You will need:

5 or 6 large slices of bread (more or less depending on how many you are feeding..this recipe feeds about 3)

1/2 stick butter

5 eggs

1/4 to 1/2 cup milk

tbs cinnamon sugar

tsp vanilla

To begin, you need some bread cut up roughly into squares or just random bits. It's commonly known that if bread is a little bit stale, it's better. I agree with this! If you know a day in advance that you will be making this, you can put a few slices of bread in the refrigerator the night before. That will get them a little stale.

Cut up the bread and set aside.

Mix the eggs, milk, and vanilla in a dish.

Heat up a deep skillet until the butter starts to melt, then add the bread. Cook until the bread is coated and frying up nicely.

Now add the egg mixture and stir well!

Add the cinnamon sugar and continue cooking (and stirring) until all is cooked well!

Serve with maple syrup for a sweet and hardy PA Dutch breakfast!

I know Spring isn't officially here yet, and it won't be for some time, but it's a good time to start your planning for the end of winter!

For starters, February is a good time to plan your veggie and herb gardens. What will you grow this year? Do you do crop rotation? What does your family need the most? 

Purchase your lawn treatments now before the price goes up! Get some fertilizer and weed-killer (organic or chemical, whatever you use). Keep it handy because once the ground is thawed, you'll want to put this stuff down. Then about six weeks later, do it again. This will give you a healthier lawn.

Price the good mulch! You'll want the hardwood mulch, rather than the bagged and dyed stuff that Lowe's sells for $4 a bag! Allow yourself to buy the good stuff for your flower beds. The color will last longer and it will be healthier for your property.

Clean up the leaves and dead stuff that is still littering up your property. Rake it all up, use a leaf blower, bag it up and toss it out. Now is a great time to clean it all up!

Cut away the dead branches from your trees and shrubs.

Don't worry about planting grass seed, if your lawn has bare spots. Save the planting for the fall.

Once you are past the harshness of winter, it's ok to till up the soil in your gardens. Get your veggie garden tilled. Add nutrients to your soil, if needed. Add some fresh soil and nutrition to your herb garden. 

Now is also the time to start your seedlings indoor.

Keeping some of these things in mind can give you a good head start to your Spring work. Even though it is still Winter, you can get started now and be prepared for your planting season!

Tonight I am making burgers for dinner and so I needed to bake some rolls.

Sure, it's easy to go out and buy the store-brand rolls, but they are dry and tasteless and cost about 2 dollars. I'd rather make them at home so they are fresh, warm, delicious, and cost only a few cents!

To make these, you need the following:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp quick-rise yeast

1 tsp sugar

1 1/4 cup hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients. I like to sift my flour so it doesn't clump, but it's not really necessary.

Now add the hot water and mix until you have a very sticky dough.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap in a warm area for between 2 and 3 hours. It may or may not rise, and that's OK!

Put dough onto a flour-covered surface and fold about 12 times. Then roll into a log shape and cut into six pieces.

Tuck/roll each piece and place it onto a parchment paper-covered pan. 

Cover dough rolls with a towel while you pre-heat over to 450. When oven is ready, put pan of rolls in for about 30 minutes.

Delicious!

One of my favorite aspects of Powwow is herbal medicine. I love using herbs and plants to make medicine. There is something extremely fulfilling about making your own remedies right in your kitchen; especially when I use herbs that I've grown myself.

Some herbs and plants are good for quick, first-aid remedies. Here are just a few:

Colds, coughs. Echinacea can be added to a disposable tea bag and added to a cup of regular tea. This helps clear the lungs and fight off the germs that cause colds. You can add honey to soothe your throat. You can add dandelion to give you a rich boost of nutrients and vitamins. You can also make a chest plaster of mustard powder, a little flour, and some warm water. Mix until it's a nice thick consistency, spread it on a bit of gauze, then lay it on your chest.

Bleeding. Powdered turmeric can be sprinkled onto a cut to stop the bleeding quickly. In a pinch, soak a paper towel in ice cold water and place on the cut to stop the bleeding. 

Burns. Aloe can be placed directly onto the burned skin to soothe it, cool it, and keep the skin soft and moist so that it heals faster. You can also run a burn under cool water or place a cold, wet cloth on top of the burned area.

Itchy/dry skin. Witch Hazel is an amazing extract that can be applied directly to your skin. Or you can mix a little Bentonite Clay with Witch Hazel extract to make a paste that will soothe itchy skin rashes. For dry skin, you can use coconut oil (either the solid or the fractionated). 

Not every first aid treatment requires store-bought and chemical-heavy medications. With just a few herbs and other products on hand, you can address everyday cuts, bumps, scrapes, cuts, etc. with what nature provides for us!

When I was a kid, along with my brother and sister, we were practically raised by our grandparents. They were Pennsylvania German through and through. My grandfather mixed German words with English. He literally built the house he lived in. My grandmother had her own vegetable garden and spent most of her day in the kitchen. They were both hard workers and had acres and acres of land that we kids played in for our entire childhood.

As we got older, so did our grandparents, and eventually they passed from this world. This was devastating for us on so many levels. As if these losses weren't enough, our father immediately sold the land and house that my grandparents had worked so hard on for so many years. Our childhood home and land were ripped from our hands and our lives, along with our grandparents themselves. It was (and remains) a trauma that I still have not recovered from.

When I first discovered what Powwow was, it reminded me so much of the lifestyle of my grandparents. NO, they were NOT Powwowers. However, their lifestyle was so much of what I feel Powwow embodies. They believed in God. They lived in tune with their land. They worked hard. They loved their family. And it was a great childhood.

Powwow, for me, is like connecting with that life again. It touches on that piece of my soul that I thought was lost when my grandparents passed. 

I have studied the academia and history of Powwow probably more than is healthy for me, and that's how I know what Powwow really is and what it really is not.

Do I take it too far? Oh, absolutely. I recognize this zealous protection of this tradition within myself. And yet, I don't apologize for this. 

I think the things that are precious to us, and to our culture and history, are worth preserving. And to that end, I will always speak out against those who see to twist our history, add lies to our culture, and make this beautiful tradition something other than what it really is.

I honestly do not care if someone wants to pick up Powwow and twist it to their own neopagan uses. The thing that bothers me is the lies they tell about out history. 

Powwow means more to me than anything else I've ever learned about in my life. I love this tradition and will always do my best to adhere to it's historical and cultural truth. It's true that there are some things that I do that aren't historical, but I will ALWAYS state that such things are either a modern invention or something that I have personally added that didn't exist historically. Our culture deserves this much.

I adhere to tradition as best I can. This has caused many ruffled feathers over the years, but that's OK. This has become my life's passion and my life's work. I have literally devoted the last two decades to sharing every scrap of information I've learned with the public so that our culture's tradition can survive into the future.

May God bless you in all that you do.

Today we made a batch of Bread and Butter Pickles that I know you will love!

1 1/2 pounds pickling cucumbers, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 1/2 tbsp salt

1 cup thin sliced onion

1 cup sugar

1 cup white vinegar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsps mustard seed

1/2 tsps celery seed

1/8 tsps ground turmeric

Combine cucumbers and salt in a large bowl. Cover. Refrigerate 1 1/2 hours.

Put cooled cucumbers in a collander, rinse with cold water and drain.

Add cucumbers back into bowl. Put in onion. Blend.

On stove in a sauce pan, blend sugar, white vinegar, apple venigar, brown sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, and turmeric. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Put cucumbers and onions into quart jar. Pour hot liquid into jar to cover completely.

Leave out for about an hour to cool to room temperature. Put tight lid on and refrigerate for 24 hours.