The Powwow Guy

In Pennsylvania Dutch culture, the awareness of the Full Moon is important for both agricultural and Powwowing purposes.

Today, Sunday February 5, 2023, the Full Moon is in the sign of Leo. Leo rules the heart and the spine.

The sun, however, is in the sign of Aquarius. This rules the lower parts of the legs, the shins, etc.

Together, they give us indication of which parts of the body to Powwow for. Remember that the Full Moon reflects the light of the Sun, so both signs should be considered.

Agriculturally, we take into account the element of each sign.

Leo is a FIRE sign, which means planting spices and other plants/herbs/veggies that do well in extreme heat and full sun.

Aquarius is an AIR sign, which means planting herbs that aid in decongestion as well as veggies that do well in cooler/dryer conditions.

In the middle of winter, which is where we are, we do not worry so much about the planting stuff, but we DO want to focus on our Powwowing work.

Powwow is a deeply astrological tradition that relies very much on the movement of the stars and planets. Please pay close attention to this important work.

May God bless you in all the you do!

The legend of Mountain Mary (Anna Marie Young) is one that is as much a tale of Pennsylvania history as it is a testament to the deep roots of spiritual healing that exist within the Pennsylvania German community.

Patrick Donmoyer has collected as much information as can be found about Anna Marie Young in the included article.

Searching for Mountain Mary: The Life and Legend of an Early Pennsylvania Saint

Written by Patrick Donmoyer in the Features category and the Winter 2022 issue

“There, underneath this mountain stone,

Lies Mary Young, who lived alone,

High on the lofty mountainside,

Beloved and honored till she died.”

—Ralph Bigony, 1846

Enshrined in works of art and immortalized in poetry, the life and deeds of Mountain Mary, or Anna Maria Jung (1744–1819), has become one of the preeminent legends of early southeastern Pennsylvania, embodying the spirit of the region’s folk culture even two centuries after her death.

Venerated as a saint and folk hero, Mountain Mary lived for more than 40 years in the forested hills at the perimeter of the Oley Valley in Berks County, where she established herself as a skilled healer, productive farmer, and leader in her community. Her story provides the opportunity for us to examine the role of a female pioneer who defined the character of her society in early Pennsylvania.

To establish a clear picture of Mountain Mary and her legacy, it is necessary to make a distinction between the historical German-speaking immigrant Anna Maria Jung (later anglicized to Young) and the romanticized fiction of her life that circulated after her death. Although rich in religious and patriotic overtones, these later narratives fail to accurately represent Mountain Mary’s multidimensional impact on the Pennsylvania Dutch community in which she is still remembered to this day.

From the ashes of the war-torn Rhine River Valley and subsequent mass emigration throughout the 18th century, Anna Maria Jung was born somewhere in southwestern Germany before coming with her family to Pennsylvania. Like so many early immigrants, there is no consensus on the precise origins of Mary’s family, what their religious affiliation may have been, or the specifics of their voyage to America. Pennsylvania folklorist John Joseph Stoudt identified no fewer than 15 immigrant families arriving in Philadelphia between 1764 and 1773 bearing the name of Jung.

The earliest evidence documenting Mary’s life is an enigmatic entry in the first federal census of the United States, assessed in 1790, where “Mary (the Abbess)” is listed living with two other women in Eastern District (now Pike) Township, in the hills on the perimeter of the Oley Valley. There is little doubt that this is Mountain Mary, whose reputation as a spiritual leader appears already firmly established in her community. Although the nature of Mary’s religious authority is unclear in this early document, the sentiment is in keeping with later accounts describing Mary as a holy woman and saint among her folk.

The epithet “Abbess” suggests a parallel to the traditional veneration of historical female saints throughout Europe, such as Benedictine abbess and polymath St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179), widely regarded as the “Sybil of the Rhine” for her prophetic visions of the cosmos. St. Mary Magdalene, who according to Roman Catholic legend spent her final years in ecstatic isolation as a hermit in Provence, was a classic precedent for the archetypal female eremite saint, endowed with visionary experience and separated from society.

This concept is echoed in the legend of St. Genevieve (or Genovefa) of Brabant, a pious countess banished to the wilderness with her baby after false accusations of infidelity from a rival — a story later immortalized in a popular chapbook emphasizing piety and virtue in early Pennsylvania. The Woman in the Wilderness inspired the establishment of the ascetic community of German Pietists of the same name, led by Johannes Kelpius (1667–1708) at Germantown along the Wissahickon Creek. We see here yet again the image of the sacred feminine as being inspirational to the spiritual lives of early Pennsylvanians. Folklife scholar Don Yoder suggested that Mountain Mary fit this role as “the principal Pennsylvania analogue to the European saint’s legend,” which developed from “the human need to have tangible, visible, human-scale patterns embodying the values central to one’s society.”

At the time of the 1790 census, Mountain Mary was not yet living alone in the hills of Oley as a hermit. The two women living with her were her widowed mother Elisabeth and sister Maria Catherine, who later married a man by the last name of Noll. Mary’s other sister, Anna Elizabeth, had married John George Schneider prior to the American Revolution and moved to New York state. They later returned to Germantown, where she died in 1768. Mary’s niece, Maria Elisabeth Schneider, later returned with her father to Albany, New York. Both of Mary’s sisters were later listed as “deceased” in her last will and testament dated 1813.

In a letter dated August 21, 1779, Hermann Schneider of Easton congratulated Mary’s mother for securing a property with her family “in the solitude” of the Oley Hills and promises a visit to the property. This is likely the Easton tanner Herman Schneider (1722–85), quite possibly a relative of John George Schneider, husband of Mary’s sister Anna Elizabeth. The letter and associated family papers were formerly in the possession of Edith White Birch, the granddaughter of Mary’s friend and estate executor, Daniel Yoder (1748–1820) of Oley. These papers include a financial receipt from 1814, which, like Mary’s will, was signed in her own hand “Anna Maria Jungin,” including the customary German feminine suffix “in.”

Mary’s signature confirms that she was never married. Contrary to popular speculation, Mary listed herself as a “single woman” in her will and appropriately signed her maiden name. Although many accounts suggest that Mary lived in solitude for 30 years until her death in 1819, the fact that her sisters were still there in 1790 suggests that this timeframe was perhaps a rough estimate.

Mary’s will, dated March 13, 1813, describes her property in Pike Township as consisting of 42 acres, adjoining the mill property of Mary’s brother-in-law, Matthias Motz, situated 1½ miles to the northwest. Hill Union Church stood nearly 2 miles south.

Mary’s farm is first described in a valuable contemporary account written by Philadelphia Quaker Benjamin M. Hollinshead (1794–1879) who visited Mountain Mary in the summer of 1819. Mary lived in a modest log house situated beside a milkhouse fed from a mountain spring. A cemetery enclosed by a rail fence stood along the forested perimeter where her mother and two sisters were buried.

Hollinshead’s account describes his journey with apothecary Dr. Jesse Thompson (1770–1848) to visit fellow Quaker Benjamin Wright (1774–1838), whose family was expecting the birth of a child in the coming months. It is possible that Thompson was attending to the medical needs of the pregnant mother, Ann Wright (1742–1802), who gave birth to a son on November 21, 1819, and named him Benjamin Hollinshead Wright (1819–96) in honor of their visiting friend. Although Hollinshead politely omits any of the family’s personal details, it is perhaps not a coincidence that he accompanied the family to visit Mountain Mary, who was a renowned healer, and, as Hollinshead alluded, “guided by more than human judgement.”

“[We] were met by the hermitess at the threshold of her dwelling,” Hollinshead wrote. “She received us kindly, and after an interchange of inquiries on the part of her and our friends [the Wrights], she commenced speaking in a religious strain, informing us through a lady of our party who acted as an interpreter, that on serious subject, she was obliged to speak in her native tongue, the German. Her remarks breathed a strain of devotional feeling, which had a solemnizing effect upon the company, and the countenance of the speaker was one of the most benign I had ever beheld.”

After the party explored the farm, Mary served a farm-fresh meal consisting of “delicious bread, butter, cream, milk, and preserved fruits.” Hollinshead later met with neighboring fellow Quaker Isaac Lee, who regularly sold Mary’s butter, cheese and produce at the Philadelphia market. Mary also sent care packages along with him that were to be distributed to the poor in Philadelphia.

The visit with Mountain Mary must have profoundly impacted Hollinshead, who pursued additional stories relating to the hermit healer. From friends of Mary in Reading and Philadelphia, Hollinshead learned that she emigrated from Germany in 1765 and settled in Germantown before moving to Oley with her mother and sister, “that they might enjoy in seclusion the satisfaction of worshipping the Supreme Being in the manner most congenial to their feelings.”

It was not until 1902 that Converse Cleaves of Philadelphia compiled for The Pennsylvania German magazine Hollinshead’s accounts and correspondence with James Dewey, who traveled to the Oley Valley sometime around 1825.

According to Dewey, locals believed Mountain Mary had been born near Frankfurt and immigrated with her father, mother and two sisters to Pennsylvania, where they settled in Germantown and worked spinning cotton by hand. Mary’s father died before the Revolution, and the women fled their home after the Battle of Germantown and settled in the Oley hills. After the death of her mother and sisters, Mary allegedly lived for 30 years alone, when she acquired the title of “Mountain Mary.” The common Pennsylvania Dutch language iteration of her name was Barricke Marriche and was rendered two ways in Pennsylvania High German: die Maria auf den Berg (literally Mary of the Mountain) recorded in 1819 and die Berg-Maria in 1880.

Dewey further described Mary’s reputation as a skilled farmer. She managed a herd of four dairy cows, from which she produced significant amounts of butter. This she carried 3 miles down the mountain on her head to a neighbor who sold her products at market. Mary also kept hives of bees and sold honey. Dewey mentioned Mary’s large orchards surrounding her house and outbuildings, and beyond this a meadow, from which she cut and dried enough hay for her cows. Mary also established a productive garden surrounded by a stone wall.

As there were no direct wagon roads to reach Mary’s property but only winding mountain paths, Dewey reported that Mary set about straightening and grading the pathways by herself. To this day, the road leading up the mountain to her property and extending to the nearby St. John’s Hill Church is called Mountain Mary Road.

Dewey mentions that Mary cared for her neighbors with provisions and medicine. Then he refers to Mary practicing “vivisection,” which is puzzling. Given that elsewhere, Dewey describes Mary’s unwillingness to harm animals, “even of a noxious kind,” it is highly unlikely that Dewey was actually referring to vivisection, the experimental dissection of live animals, but rather to venesection, an old word describing phlebotomy or bloodletting used as a healing art. This was a common practice documented in German farmer’s almanacs throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in Pennsylvania for the treatment of illnesses among humans and animals. Along with dairy and honey, Dewey described this as one of her “occupations, which did not only enable her to live, but to make considerable money.” Medicine was therefore not simply an addendum to her neighborly activities but also her profession and livelihood.

Dewey may have been alluding to Mary’s role as a healer when he described her rapport with her community: “She was said to be a very intelligent and religious woman, and was visited by her neighbors to have her advice on their difficulties, which was often so judicious and far-seeing that she was thought by some to have a way of acquiring knowledge unknown to many.”

This enigmatic statement was perhaps a polite way to allude to her reputation among the Pennsylvania Dutch as a Braucherin, commonly called a powwow doctor, one who ritually applies prayers and procedures for physical ailments and spiritual concerns, as well as to uncover hidden information, assistance in times of need, and countermeasures against witchcraft.

Nowhere is this perception more overtly stated than in a sketch published by journalist and editor for the Reading Eagle newspaper, Frank B. Brown (b. 1876), who collected stories from his birthplace in the Oley Hills. Brown wrote: “[Mary] was a great believer in witchcraft. She frequently related that for a time an owl came and drank out of her milk pail every evening while she was milking. She could not prevent the bird from getting near the pail except by catching it, since it was so tame that it couldn’t be scared away. So one night she caught the owl and burned its feet by slightly holding it over her fire. The next morning a neighboring woman, whom she took to be the witch, couldn’t put on her shoes on account of burned feet. ‘Die Berg Maria’ was known not only in every corner of this county, but all over eastern Pennsylvania. She was sometimes called as far as Philadelphia to practice medicine in her novel way.”

Brown’s account is not the only supernatural occurrence attributed to Mountain Mary. Hollinshead described that a loyal friend attended Mary for two weeks before she passed away on November 16, 1819, at the age of 75. The friend was Susanna de Benneville Keim (1748–1837), daughter of the Universalist minister George de Benneville (1703–1793) of Oley. Susanna allegedly awoke from a vivid dream in which Mary appeared to her in “dire distress.” Despite inclement weather, Susanna traveled the mountain path with her grandson to find Mary gravely ill and her livestock unfed. Susanna remained with Mary until she died, later relating to her family that she “counted among her earthly blessings the privilege of being with this sainted woman in her last hour.”

Two days later, friends and neighbors throughout the Oley Valley assembled to pay their respects at her graveside, where she was interred alongside her mother and two sisters. Daniel Bertolet (1781–1868), a local preacher, hymnist, poet and farmer, recorded the event in his ledger, which reads in translation: “Today, Mary of the mountain was buried — Lord help us, for the saints have been decreased. The deceased looked quite lovely and beautiful, and without doubt she has entered into rest.” This inscription was accompanied by “Grab-Schrift vor Maria Jungin, die am 18ten November 1819 begraben” (“An epitaph to Mary Jung, buried on November 18, 1819”;), produced here in translation from the German verses: “Here under this stone softly rest the bones of pious Maria. Her heart and whole life were devoted to her God, as anyone could see from her way of life. Untiringly she lived in solitude until 30 years had passed. The lines of her face revealed God’s love, with which the Lord rewarded her. Yet even after her departure, one saw the sweet peace in her countenance, full of love and bliss, as always, directed toward the sun of grace. Now she is taken away. God call her unto thee, from this valley of tears, where in the meadows of heaven, she will behold Jesus amongst his chosen number.”

A cemetery wall was constructed under the direction of her executors Thomas Lee and Daniel Yoder. As directed by her will, all personal property was to be sold and the money divided among the husbands and children of her deceased sisters. Mary’s will also specified that her niece Maria Elizabeth Schneider was to inherit the largest portion of the proceeds of her estate, as well as her books and manuscripts. Perhaps she was Mary’s protégé?

The contents of the farm were inventoried and auctioned on December 14 and Martin Yoder purchased her 42-acre property for the sum of $950 on January 15, 1820. The inventory of Mary’s household and farm goods were typical of the era, including wheels for spinning flax and wool, garden and farm tools, culinary implements, clothing, furniture, beehives, vinegar barrels, two cows, a wheelbarrow, and storage produce, including apples, potatoes, cabbages, turnips, red beets and rye.

Mary’s estate records show that the heirs of Elizabeth Schneider from New York appeared to claim their shares of the inheritance in June 1820, and the Noll relatives received their shares in December. The whereabouts of Mary’s books and manuscripts are presently unknown. If the manuscripts had been penned in the hand of Mountain Mary, perhaps they would have documented her healing practice in the form of a ledger or book of recipes, such as those commonly attributed to doctors, midwives and lay practitioners throughout the region. These works would have provided significant insight into the healing traditions of early Pennsylvania.

In the decades that followed, a series of poetic tributes to Mountain Mary appeared in local newspapers and other publications recounting the virtuous legend of the local saint. The first of these appeared in The Phantom Barge and Other Poems, published in Philadelphia in 1822 by an anonymous poet listed only as the author of “The Limner,” but later identified as Charles West Thomson (1798–1879). The poem describes Mary in the present tense and demonstrates an intimate knowledge of Mary’s property and the cemetery where her mother and sisters are buried:

There is a little spot, which she

Now holds within her cottage view –

There sleeps her line of ancestry,

And she will sleep there too.

And tho’ the name of Mary Yong [sic]

Be not, on earth, remembered long

There is a world where virtue lives

Beyond the limit memory gives,

And from its earthly frailties free,

Blooms on, in one eternity. –

Within about a decade or so, Mary Keene Evans (1769–1838) of Reading, penned a 36-stanza ode to Mountain Mary, which she dedicated to her friend Mary May Keim (1781–1854), daughter-in-law of Susanna de Benneville Keim who attended Mountain Mary in her final days. The poem describes in lofty imagery Mary’s life of quiet isolation in the Oley Hills and was only published for the first time in a Reading newspaper in 1874. In 1846 Henry Bigony, produced an adapted translation of Daniel Bertolet’s Grab-Schrift von Maria auf dem Berg, setting the English to metrical rhyme. The concluding stanza is featured at the opening of this article, which first appeared in the Berks-Schuylkill Journal in 1856.

In 1880 Palatine immigrant and newspaper editor Ludwig August Wollenweber (1807–88) published a romantic novella, Treu bis in den Tod: Die Berg-Maria (Faithful Unto Death: Mountain Mary). In the spirit of the American centennial celebration, Mountain Mary served as Wollenweber’s literary vehicle to recount the hardships of early German-speaking immigrants and celebrate their ardent participation in the Revolution.

In this work of historical fiction, Mary is portrayed as an immigrant girl, orphaned at sea, whose sweetheart Theodore Benz rides off to war mere moments after their wedding ceremony. Now a grief-stricken virgin war widow, Mary retreats to the Oley hills to escape the world, where finally “she resolved to cease bewailing her fate to become useful to mankind.” Not surprisingly, in a period of history dominated by the voices and writings of men, Mary’s saintly reputation and deeds as an herbal healer are relegated to mere paragraphs, while whole chapters are devoted to the patriotic deeds of her fictional husband.

Wollenweber tethers his fictional narrative to reality by interweaving names of celebrated historical figures such as Henry Melchior Muhlenberg (1711–87), organizer of the Lutheran Church in America, and Col. Joseph Hiester (1752–1832), later governor of Pennsylvania, 1820–23. The book concludes with four stanzas of verse from Daniel Bertolet’s epitaph.

No doubt inspired by Wollenweber’s melodrama, Mountain Mary was featured in “Saint of the Oley Valley,” part XV of the Romances of Pennsylvania series in the North American newspaper of Philadelphia, May 31, 1914. Although a striking illustration emphasizes Mary’s self-reliance and capability, she is also incorrectly identified as illiterate, an “unlettered woman living alone in her mountain clearing.”

Wollenweber’s text was later translated into English in 1974 by John Joseph Stoudt, who cast doubt on the historical “impact this story made on a culture then already growing weary of reading German.” Ironically, despite Stoudt’s criticism of Wollenweber’s novelette, his translation revived the 19th-century romance from obscurity, introducing the fictional story of Mountain Mary as a widow of the Revolution to popular belief, where it has become the predominant local narrative today.

This perception of Mary as a war widow was likely the impetus behind the placement of a Daughters of the American Revolution memorial plaque near Mountain Mary Road featuring a biblical verse likening her to Mary of Bethany: “She hath done what she could.”

Beginning in the 1930s a group of local community members, scholars and clergy established an annual pilgrimage to the gravesite of Mountain Mary, which began at Hill Church and followed Mountain Mary Road to her property. The events included prayers, readings, homilies, vocal music, poems and reflections, as well as original works of art inspired by the legend of Mountain Mary.

The most notable of these works was a triptych in the style of a modern altarpiece painted by the prolific artist Henry W. Sharadin (1872–1966), a professor of art at Kutztown State Teachers College (now Kutztown University). His painting consisted of a central portrait of Mountain Mary, flanked by 12 different vignettes of her life, caring for the sick, farming and expressing religious devotion. Sharadin later worked with playwright and artist Paul Wieand (1907–93) of Allentown to coordinate a series of hand-printed banners from woodcuts produced by public school teachers and their students that were displayed at the annual gatherings in Mary’s honor.

Although the pilgrimages ceased to be held annually sometime in the 1960s, groups still visit the gravesite today, which is on private property and guarded by two large bulls residing on the farm. Mary’s story continues to inspire artists, folk musicians and live portrayers at local cultural festivals. New generations of Pennsylvanians are eager to connect with Mary’s healing traditions and closeness to nature and the land as a means to explore new spiritual modalities and their cultural roots in the region.

Today the legend of Mountain Mary, with all of its colorful and contradictory iterations, continues to satisfy the need for a patron saint embodying the positive traditions and values of the region’s folk culture. The story of Anna Maria Jung, as immigrant, healer, farmer and spiritual leader, persisting in times of war, illness and adversity, is precisely the kind of mythical hero we need to remind us of the potential for kindness, mutual cooperation and generosity to sustain our American culture.

Further Reading

Author of “The Limner.” The Phantom Barge, and Other Poems. Philadelphia: E. Littell, 1822. / Donmoyer, Patrick J. Powwowing in Pennsylvania: Braucherei and the Ritual of Everyday Life. Kutztown, PA: Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, 2018. / Miller, Daniel. “The Saint’s Legend in the Pennsylvania German Folk Culture.” Transactions of the Historical Society of Berks County 3 (1912): 209–220. / Wollenweber, Ludwig August. Mountain Mary: An Historical Tale of Early Pennsylvania. Translation and introduction by John Joseph Stoudt. York, PA: Liberty Cap Books, 1974. / Yoder, Don. “The Saint’s Legend in the Pennsylvania German Folk Culture.” In: Discovering American Folklife: Essays on Folk Culture and the Pennsylvania Dutch. 1989; reprint, Kutztown, PA: Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center, 2015.

Mountain Mary: Contemporary Visions of the Sainted Healer, a new virtual exhibition at the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center’s Digital Folklife Portal, will explore the historical and legendary figure of Mountain Mary through contemporary works of art, highlighting her role as saint, healer and folk hero among the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Patrick J. Donmoyer is the director of the Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center at Kutztown University. He is the author of several books, including Powwowing in Pennsylvania: Braucherei and the Ritual of Everyday Life and Hex Signs: Myth and Meaning in Pennsylvania Dutch Barn Stars. His most recent articles for Pennsylvania Heritage are “More Than Decoration: Barn Stars Sustain the Spirit of Folk Tradition” (Spring 2021) and “The Easter Egg: A Flourishing Tradition in Pennsylvania” (Spring 2020).

http://paheritage.wpengine.com/article/searching-for-mountain-mary-the-life-and-legend-of-an-early-pennsylvania-saint/

This is a fantastic lecture by Dr. Tabitha Stanmore. This is the general understanding of magic that I've also pieced together over the years. Prior to the medieval period, magic was less "organized" and often attributed to the more "mysterious" places like India and Egypt. 

This video is well worth the watch!

As a Powwow, I am very much aware of what sign the Moon is traveling through, as this helps us to know the parts of the body that are highlighted. I mention the moon sign in all of my videos and I maintain that nothing is more important in our work than adherance to the sign the Moon is in.

Below is a chart from the Farmer's Almanac about the qualities of each moon sign. Following that is a video I made some time ago about the moon in the signs.

The Man of Many Signs

Astrologers associate the signs of the zodiac with specific parts of the body, believing that these signs have an effect on those parts. The dates listed on both sides are the Sun’s place in each astrological sign.

The following is a brief description of the quality and rulership of the Zodiacal Signs, their nature and character, whether fruitful (productive) or barren; dry or moist; masculine or feminine; fixed, movable or flexible; earthly, airy, fiery or watery.

CAPRICORN (December 22–31 and January 1–19). Earthly, feminine, movable, somewhat productive. Related to the knees, spleen, skin, hair, teeth, and bones. Planetary ruler is Saturn.

AQUARIUS (January 20–February 18). Airy, masculine, fixed; inclined to be barren. Related to the calves, ankles, blood, nervous system. Planetary ruler is Uranus.

PISCES (February 19–March 20). Watery, feminine, flexible, fruitful. Related to the feet. Planetary ruler is Neptune.

ARIES (March 21–April 19) Fiery, masculine, movable. Tends toward dryness and barrenness. Related to the head, brain, and face. Planetary ruler is Pluto (Mars).

TAURUS (April 20–May 20). Earthly, feminine, fixed. Is moist and productive. Related to the throat, nasal passages and neck. Planetary ruler is Venus.

GEMINI (May 21–June 21). Airy, masculine, flexible, barren. Related to hands, arms, shoulders, collar-bone, lungs, and nervous system. Planetary ruler is Mercury.

CANCER (June 22–July 22). Watery, feminine, movable, very fruitful. Related to the breasts, stomach, and mouth. Ruler is the moon.

LEO (July 23–August 22). Fiery, masculine, fixed, barren. Related to the heart, sides and upper part of the back. Ruler is the Sun.

VIRGO (August 23–September 22). Earthly, feminine, flexible, barren. Related to the intestines bowels and solar-plexus. Planetary ruler is Mercury.

LIBRA (September 23–October 22). Airy, masculine, movable, semi-fruitful. Related to the kidneys, veins, loins, ovaries, and lower part of the back. Planetary ruler is Venus.

SCORPIO (October 23–November 21). Watery, feminine, fixed, fruitful. Related to sex organs and bladder. Planetary ruler is Mars (Pluto).

SAGITTARIUS (November 22–December 21). Fiery, masculine, flexible; considered barren. Related to the liver, hips, and thighs. Planetary ruler is Jupiter.

Impurity can mean many things when it comes to a space you are occupying. It can mean the air is stale. It can mean there is something toxic in the air. It can be a foul scent or even the aftermath of a negative situation (a "feeling"). 

In Powwow, we do have a means of fumigating an area. To find this, we go to Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus, a pre-cursor to the American Grimoire, The Long Lost Friend.

For Impure Air.

Take three shrubs of rue, three of hazelnut, and three of junipers. Fumigate with these.

All three plants are fairly common and so therefore the collection of the three branches shouldn't be too difficult. The tome also does not offer any recommended words or prayers to use in conjunction with the fumigation process. And it's probably not necessary that there be any words spoken. 

Being the type of person that I am, I like to stick as close to tradition with my Powwowing as possible, and so therefore I respect this prescription and use it as it is written. I trust that it does what I need it to do and, indeed, I have no complaints! But try it for yourself and see how it works for you!

What does it feel like to be Powwowed? Years ago, when I first began learning how to Powwow, I wondered what it would "feel" like to actually BE Powwowed. Like, would I feel some sort of "tingle" or "energy"? Would I feel things inside my body realigning themselves into a healthier state? Would I feel the evil influence draining somehow from me until I felt whole and cleaned of the influence?

The answer is that I felt none of those things.

Powwow is NOT an instantaneous revelation of being made whole.

When you receive the work of a Powwow, this is just the initial work that causes you to feel at least a sense of peace that your issue is now in God's hands, but most often there is no physical sensation associated with the work. However, as time passes and God does His work on you, you will begin to experience the effects of this healing within your life.

As with anything, there are always exceptions. I've noted over the years that folks who have been Powwowed by me report one or more changes in their lives following the Powwow work. These include:

Strange/psychic dreams

Improved breathing

Regularity of bowels

Improved sleep

Reduced feelings of anxiety

Reduction of pain

Ability to cry

Weight loss (in a good way)

When a client expresses to me that they are feeling one of the above, or something similar, I know that the Powwowing was succesful and that God has taken over and is actively working in this individual's life.

Some say that the key to being Powwowed succesfully is to "believe" in the Powwower's ability. I believe this as well, but I also think it's more important to believe in the power of God to positively change your life for the better, and welcoming Him to do so.

May God bless you in all that you do.

In the Pennsylvania Dutch culture, a House Blessing is a hand-written letter which offers protection to the bearer of the letter. These are sometimes carried in a wallet or tucked away in a family Bible. But in other instances, they can be beautiful works of art and are framed and hung prominently within the home. The letter promises both blessing and protection on the home and its inhabitants.

I have an original printing of a Johann Ritter himmelsbrief (Heaven's Letter) made in Reading, Pennsylvania, sometime in the 1800's (I'm not sure about the exact date).

My print is framed, but the folds and wear and tear show that it was folded for a very long time, likely placed inside the family Bible.

A Heaven's Letter was designed to free the house of harmful negative spiritual entities while calling on the blessing of God upon all those who live within the home. 

I know it's only mid-January, but here in Southcentral PA we have to begin preparing for Spring!

Today, Josani and I spent several hours cleaning up our property, removing the muck and leaves from the flower beds, etc. Normally, it would be advisable to keep the leaf cover as a protector for the winter that is probably going to come our way between now and March 31, but our property has a water drainage issue, which means water pools and collects in various areas, making swamp-like conditions. In an effort to reduce the collection of water (from snow and/or rain) we clear away as much ground mess as possible in January. This allows the water to drain and also flow through a few homemade trenches further away from our property.

In addition to this cleaning work, I've also begun the process of mapping out our vegetable and herb gardens!

This coming Spring, I'm converting a flower bed into the new herb garden. The vegetable garden this year will only be above-ground veggies, as we never have a good yield of below-ground things such as potatoes, onions, etc. In preparation for this, the compost that is in the garden now will be raked into the soil within the next few weeks so the nutrition gets a little deeper, allowing our future veggies to have a strong and healthy foundation on which to grow.

Winter in my area doesn't fully hit us until February and March. By then, it's important to have our ground prepped for work once the Spring comes. Once things are cleaned up and raked thoroughly, fertilizer will be put down. Once we start to get our winter rains and snows (not much, but we do get some) in February and March, that fertilizer will get to work on making things nice and healthy for planting to begin in late April/early May!

As a Powwow, it's important to know when the best times are to work with your land. Every area and region is different. What works for my land may not work for yours, and that's OK. A Powwow knows his/her land and seeks to work in harmony with it to gain the most benefit from your mutual relationship.

May God bless you in all that you do!

In the Powwow tradition, items made of silver are generally talismanic or amuletic in origin. For example, nails made of silver (not lead) are believed to have both healing and protective powers. Silver can heal those afflicted by witchery and protect from further shenanigans of the local witch, much in the same way as iron.

Astrological talismans made of Silver are believed to have the powers of the Moon within them, therefore making them especially powerful against malevolence and witchery. 

Silver is believed to be protective against evil spirits, mischevious nature spirits, and spells cast by jealous or angry witches.

Powwow is a tradition that has historical grimoires as our "source material". A large part of our work involves the combating of negative/evil witchery. This is evident by the number of rituals and charms that our source materials have. Keep in mind that many of these are presented as a matter of historical interest. It is very unlikely that you will ever need to utilize most, if not all, of these rituals.

Here I have collected every charm from the three most influential grimoires for the tradition of Powwow: The Long Lost Friend, The Romanusbuchlein, and Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus.

If a Human Being or Beast is attacked by Evil Spirits, how to restore him and make him well again.

Thou arch-sorcerer, thou has attacked (name of person); let that witchcraft recede from him into thy marrow and into thy bone, let it be returned unto thee. I exorcise thee for the sake of the five wounds of Jesus, thou evil spirit, and conjure thee for the five wounds of Jesus of this flesh, marrow and bone; I exorcise thee for the sake of the five wounds of Jesus, at this very hour restore to health again (name of person)., in the name of God the Father, God the Son, and of God the Holy Spirit. Three times. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

If a Man or Beast is attacked by Wicked People, and how to banish them forever from the House so that they may never be able to do any Harm.

Bedgoblin and all ye evil spirits, I forbid you my bedstead, my couch; I forbid you, in the name of God, my house and home; I forbid you, in the name of the Holy Trinity, my blood and flesh, my body and soul; I forbid you all the nail holes in my house and home, till you have traveled over every hillock, waded through every water, have counted all the leaflets of the trees, and counted all the starlets in the sky, until that beloved day arrives when the mother of God will bring forth her second Son. † † †

This formula, three times spoken in the house of the person whom we seek to aid, always adding, in the right place, both his baptismal and other names, has been found excellent in many hundred cases. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To know when Cattle are Plagued by Witches.

The hair stand on end, or bristles on the head, and they generally sweat by night or near dawn of day. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

When Cattle is Bewitched.

Take witchcraft balsam, glow worm oil, black juniper berry, oil of rue, oil of turpentine, two cents worth of each. Give this mixture to the cattle; also, some balsam of sulphur. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

When the Udder of a Cow is Bewitched.

Take blue bottle flowers, of which make a wreath; milk every stroke back of the legs three times upon the wreath; after this let the cow eat that wreath, and speak the following words: cow, I here give you bottle flowers that thou wouldst give me milk at once, that will not sour. Furthermore, whenever the cattle is driven out for the first time, in early spring, give to every piece of cattle a piece of beef meat about a half a finger long. This push down their throat after sprinkling it with a little salt. This will free them from becoming putrid and contracting erysipelas. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

When a Man or Cattle is Plagued by Goblins, or Ill-disposed People.

Go on Good Friday, or Golden Sunday, ere the sun rise in the East, to a hazelnut bush, cut a stick therefrom with a sympathetic weapon, by making three cuts above the hand toward the rise of the sun, in the name of the † † † Carry the stick noiselessly into the house, conceal it so that no one can get hold of it. When a man or beast is plagued by evil disposed people, walk three times around such a haunted person, while pronouncing the three holiest names; after this proceeding, take off thy hat and hit it with the stick and thus you smite the wicked being. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

For Haunted Horses or Cattle.

Take the left-hand glove of a woman afflicted with rheumatism in the right arm, steep it in fresh water, and allow the animals to drink thereof. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

A Secret and curious Piece of Marvel, to Discern in a Mirror what an Enemy designs at the Distance of Three Miles or more.

Obtain a good plain looking glass, as large as you please, and have it framed on three sides only; upon the left side it should be left open. Such a glass must be held toward the direction where the enemy is existing and you will be able to discern all his markings, manœuverings, his doings and workings. Was effectually used during the thirty years' war. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To prevent Fire Arms from being Bewitched.

Take nine blades of straw from under a sow while she is nursing young pigs, therefrom put nine knots into the shaft and insert them between the two barrel loops, and such a gun cannot be bewitched. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To manufacture a Golden Ring, by which not only House and Home, but also Man and Beast are secured against all Misfortunes, Pestilential Epidemics and Diseases, and are secured against the Arts and Wiles of the Powers of the Devil.

May God direct and rule, that this hour, day and year and all the time may be as good and blessed as our dear Lord Jesus Christ; that grant God, the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

May God, the Father, make a golden ring around this house, around this stable, around all men and beasts that belongeth thereto and goeth in and out of it; also around my fields and forests, yea, this very ring encircles our beloved Mary with her dear infant, Jesus Christ they protect, watch over, maintain, shelter, cover and defend all mankind, both male and female, small and large, young and old, as likewise, all cattle, oxen, steers, cows and calves, horses and foals, sheep, goats, beef-cattle, and swine, geese, ducks, chickens, pigeons, large and small, whatever is contained in this house and these stables and all that cometh in and goeth out; for all misfortunes, evil, colic wild fire, losses, epidemics, and other diseases; for all bad and heated blood; for all bad and malicious enemies and storms; for all evil hours, day and night; for all magic power of witchcraft, and the designs and powers of the devil and his infernal hosts, to be visible or invisible, or for all wicked people who contemplate to rob me, that they may not be able to carry or spoil aught, anything that these people and animals, young and old, large and small, nothing excepted, whatsoever belongeth to these premises and their surroundings, and goeth out and cometh in, from whence and hence that no loss may occur, nor any evil be done at home or abroad, in the field or in the woods, in the meadows and on the plains, in grass, wood or heath, whether it works or rests, sits, lays, runs, or stands, they shall all now for all time to come be included in this ring, and be secure and protected from bullet and sword, by the very holy blood-drops of the dear beloved infant, Jesus Christ, which he hath suffered and shed for us by his circumcision and upon the cross and thereby vouchsafed and sealed his love everlasting, for such, they, the magicians will find no herb which may open, break or move or pervert, because our dear Lord Jesus Christ, protects and defendeth such with his ever holy hands, and his supremely sacred five wounds, at all times, by day and by night, and at all hours, forever and ever eternally. In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Three Fridays in succession, in the morning, this should be repeated three times over house and all the estates, and all that lives and dwells therein will be protected from all evil and harm. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

That Nobody may hurt you and how to be Secured against all Assailants.

Now I will Walk over the threshold I met three men, not yet very old. The first was God the Father; the other was God the Son; the third was God the Holy Spirit. They protect my body and soul, blood and flesh, that in no well I fall, that water may not swell me at all, that a rabid dog may never bite me, that shot and stone may never smite me, that spear and knife may never cut me; that never a thief may steal the least from me. Then it shall become like our dear Saviour's sweat. Whoever is stronger and mightier than these three men, he may come hither, assail me if he can, or forever keep his peace with me. † † † Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

Powerful Prayer, whereby one may Protect Himself against Bullet and Sword, against Visible and Invisible Enemies, or all Possible Evil and Dangers.

Count Philip of Flanders had a subject who had forfeited his life; and as the Count wanted to have the delinquent executed, no executioner was able to perform the act. No sword would cut his head off. This astonished the count, and he spoke thus: How shall I divine this? Tell me how this comes to pass, and I will pardon thee. Whereupon the poor sinner showed him the letter, and he copied the same, as did all his servants. If you have to go to obtain advice, or to a court of justice, take this letter upon your right side, and you will not be subdued or conquered by any one. When you do not have the favor of your husband or of your wife, take this letter to your aid, and the favor will soon be regained. When a woman is in her trouble hang this letter on her neck and she will bear with much patience. If one's nose is bleeding, and will not cease, put this letter upon such person's head — the blood will soon be stopped. Wherever this letter is put under the roof of a house, such property is secure from storm and lightning.

"The blood of Jesus Christ, who was God and man in one person, protect me, N. N., from all sorts of weapons and arms, projectiles and guns, long and short swords, knives, daggers, carbines, hellebardes, and all share, cutting and pointed weapons; from lancets and spears, short or long rifles, muskets, etc., wrought and forged since the birth of Christ, of all kinds of metal, be they of steel or iron, brass or lead, metal or wood. Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God, save me, N. N., from all kinds of shot guns and projectiles, by maintaining the covenant, like the Holy Mary, before and after the miraculous birth, render their weapons to become as soft as the drops of blood shed by our Saviour upon Mount Olivet. Jesus Christ, protect me, N. N., from all evil reports behind my back; from apoplexy, sudden death, witchcraft, drying and stopping of well water; from all kinds of enemies, visible and invisible. Lord Jesus Christ, let me, N. N., not be lost but wander with me, and be with me, until my last moments, and leave me not, that I may not die here. That vouchsafe me, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Holy Trinity be with me and by me. It protect me, N. N., the one Godhead. Jesus Christ, be with me upon the water and upon the land; in the forest, mountains or valley; in village, town and city; wheresoever I stand or walk, sit or lay, or whither I roam. Lord Jesus Christ, save me, N. N., from all enemies, be they visible or invisible, secret or open. It protect me, N. N., the one God, through his bitter sufferings and death, and by his rose-colored blood, which the Lord Jesus Christ shed upon the Cross. Jesus Christ was conceived in Nazareth, born in Bethlehem. These are valuable and dear words, written down in this letter. Therefore all must succumb to me, N. N., that is, vanish until I recall them; and must loose all their arms and armor, defence and weapon, that they may give way and yield and vanish, until I call them again, and lose all their strength and power, like Pharaoh lost his might. Blood and strength retain your powers, like Christ retained his, when he was tortured, and with his Holy five wounds ye shall be nailed down and bound. The armament must vanish, like those men vanished who tied the hands of Lord Jesus upon the cross, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus crossed the Red Sea, looked into the Holy Land, and said: Torn shall be all ropes and bands; all arms and weapons shall be broken; all eyes must be blinded, those that are sinful; no hero or any weapon shall overpower me. That water shall not cut — be it iron or steel, brass or lead, nor whatever it may be — must not hurt me, ah! God. May it be blessed, like the cup and the bread, like the real bread of life, which the Lord gave to His twelve disciples, in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. The blessing of the Divine Being, how He blessed Lot, when he sent to make peace, may come over me; the blessing of the Lord when he blessed Joseph, it come over me, N. N.; the blessing of thy Lord over the archangel Gabriel, when he carried the joyful message to the Virgin Mary, it may come over me, N. N. In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

In the beginning was the Word, and the word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehendeth it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world, He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the Sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth, visibly and openly protect me, N. N., the eternal Godhead, by the bitter sufferings and death, and through his rose-colored blood, which he shed from the Holy Cross. Jesus was begotten at Nazareth.

These are truthful words, as very stone is written down in this letter, that I will not be captured by any murderer, nor bound in fetters; all shots, arms and weapons will vanish before me, N. N., and lose all their power. Keep all thy armor and weapons, by the Almighty, in the name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus walked over the Red Sea. He looked into the Holy Land. All cords and bands must break and bend; the eyes of my foes shall become blinded. Protect me, N. N., that no stone shall fall, nor iron, nor steel, metal or lead that I may be well blessed, like the very heavenly bread which the Saviour gave to the twelve disciples, in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The blessing God bestowed upon the first created being may be inherited by me, N. N. Further: love my right hand, when I come into a strange land, that neither foe nor sorcerer may bewitch nor stun me. † † † Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To Secure One's Self against Wicked People whilst Traveling, and being in Danger of being Attacked.

Speak three times: Two wicked eyes have overshadowed me, but three other eyes are overshadowing me too, the one of God, the Father, the other of God the Son, the third of God the Holy Spirit, they watch my blood and flesh, my marrow and bone, and all other large and small limbs, they shall be protected in the name of God. † † † Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To prevent Persons doing Evil unto you, whom you suspect of bearing Malice, or designing Evil against you.

Welcome, in the name of God, ye brethren true and God, we all have drank of the Saviour's blood. God the Father be with me; God the Son be with you; God the Holy Spirit be with us all. Let us meet in union and part from each other in peace. † † † Three times spoken. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

When Milk is Stolen by Witchcraft.

Wash the outside of the milk pails which you use for milking with essence of Tonquin bean. Repeat this several times while milking the cows, and the witches' butter and cheese will have a bad odor, such as is frequently observed. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To Vanquish a Man.

I, N. N., will breathe on thee, three drops of blood I draw from thee. The first from thy heart, the other from thy liver, the third from thy vigorous life. By this I take all thy strength, and thou losest the strife. † † † Three times. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To Banish all Robbers, Murderers, and Foes.

God be with you, brethren. Desist you, thieves, robbers, murderers, waylayers, and warriors in meekness, because we all have partaken of the rose-colored blood of Jesus Christ. Your rifles, guns, and cannons be spiked, with the holy drops of our Redeemer's blood. All sabres and deadly weapons be closed, with the five wounds of our dear Master, Jesus Christ. Three roses are blooming on Jesus' heart. The first is kind, the other is mighty, the third represents God's strong will. Under these, ye thieves and murderers are become still, as long as I will, and ye are banished, and your foul deeds have vanished. † † † Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To Cut a Stick wherewith to Punish a Witch that has Attacked the Cattle.

Mark well, and observe when the new moon shines on a Tuesday before sunrise, or, perhaps, on a Golden Sunday, which will occur whenever a Friday and Sunday come together, or, perhaps, on Good Friday, also before the rising of the sun, hie thee to a hazelnut bush, which you may have selected beforehand. Stand before the stick toward the rising of the sun,, take hold thereof, in the name of God, with both hands, and speak: Stick, I grasp thee, in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, that thou shalt be obedient to me, that I may surely hit him whom I design to whip. Whereupon take thy knife, and cut the stick in three cuts, while pronouncing the three highest names, and carry it quietly to thy home, and guard it well, that no person steals it. If you intend to whip a witch which hath assaulted a beast or human being, go into the resp. house, and pray, before proceeding thence, three times, with great devotion, the article dedicated to the Bedgoblin, (which is the second article in this book), so that she may be destroyed by fire, and no evil spirit may enter into house or stable; otherwise the cats would get madam to scratch the eyes out of your head. Then move round the man or beast so bewitched three times, backward. Now take off the hat, put it upon the floor, and batter so long upon the hat as thou may chose. It will certainly hit the witch; and even if you should hammer holes into your hat, even the witch will then receive holes in his (or her) head. If thou desirest to flog one who is living at a distance from you, who deserves a beating, then place your coat upon a witch's ladder or shears, or upon a threshold, and call the name of him (or her) you design to whip, and you will hit him (or her) just as well as if he (or she) be present. But upon the stick thou must inscribe: Abiam, Dabiam, Fabiam. Probatum est! Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

For the Goblins and Puppets who deprive the Cows of their Milk.

The appended formula, written upon a scrap of paper, and nailed in a secluded spot in a stable.

† Janna † Sarult † Dutter † Jer † or

† Janna † Sarult † Dutter † Jer † or

† Janna † Sarult † Dutter † Jer † or

Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To make a Salve when a Man apparently becomes Crooked and causes the Belief that he is Bewitched.

Take parsnip roots and carrots, and make an ointment thereof, and grease the limbs crosswise against the grain of the skin with this mixture. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

When a Cow's Usefulness is taken, to find out the Person, and mark the same, who caused the Trouble.

On the day of the patron Demetrius, enter a grocery store, buy a steel, purchase and pay for the same without bartering, and have it forged on this very day. The steel must be square, about a span in length, as thick as a foot measure, and, whatever the blacksmith may ask, you must pay. Early in the morning take milk from the cow in the name of God before the witch milks. After this make a fire upon the hearth, put the steel into the fire till it grows red, then take a pair of wooden tongs and draw the steel from the fire, and put the steel into the dish wherein the milk is and keep it there so long till the milk is all evaporated. If the milk is entirely dried out, the witch who caused the mischief must die; but in case the milk is not entirely dried out, the witch will contract blisters upon hands and face, so that she will not be able, for a long period to expose herself before the people. Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus

To cite a Witch.

Take an earthen pot, not glazed, yarn spun by a girl not yet seven years old. Put the water of the bewitched animal into the pot, then take the egg of a black hen and some of the yarn and move the latter three times round the egg, and ejaculate in the three devils' name; after this put the egg into, the water of the pot, seal the lid of the vessel tightly that no fumes may ooze therefrom, but observe that the head of the lid is below. While setting the pot upon the fire, pronounce the following: Lucifer, devil summon the sorcerer before the witch or me, in the three devils' name. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

NOTE: The above charm is one of those very very rare charms that calls upon the devil, rather than God. This is a very old example of a hexerei charm. I personally would not work such a charm, but leave it here for its historical value.

That no Witch may leave a Church.

Purchase a pair of new shoes, grease them on Saturday with grease on the outer sole, then put them on and walk to the church, and no witch can find the way out of the church without you proceed before her. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

Of Witches and Sorcery.

Fasten a squill (sea onion) over the principal door of the house, and no person will come to trouble you in the dwelling. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

To Beat Witches.

Let the sweepings, which are swept together in a house for three days remain in a heap, and on the third day cover it with a black cloth made of drilling, then take a stick of an elm tree and flog the dirt heap bravely, and the sorceress must assist, or you will batter her to death. Probatum. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

For Sorcery.

Take elm wood on a Good-Friday, cut the same while calling the holiest names. Cut chips of this wood from one to two inches in length. Cut upon them, in the three holiest names, three crosses, † † † Wherever such a slip is placed, all sorcery will be banished. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

To Cause a Witch to Die within One Minute

First, try to obtain a piece of the heart of the cattle which had been attacked, then take a little butter and fry the piece therein, as if prepared for eating, then take three nails from the coffin of a corpse, and pierce with them the heart through and through. Piercing the heart and killing the witch, are facts of the same moment. All will be correct at once. Good and approved. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

To Burn a Witch so that she receives Pock Marks over her entire Body.

Take butter from the household larder, render it down in an iron pan until it broils, then take ivy or wintergreen, and fry it; take three nails of a coffin and stick them in that sauce; carry the mass to a place where neither sun nor moon shines into, and the witch will be sick for half of a year. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

A Banishment.

Three trees are standing on Jesus' heart — the first is called humility, the other forbearing, the third is called, if it pleases, God. Rider, horse, or walker on foot, ye shalt not stand still, and not move from hence until I grant permission.

While pronouncing this, the hat must be placed on the back of the head, and the right hand put three times thereto. When designing to release them, grasp the hat with the left hand, and put the hat as it was before, keep the hat in the left hand and beat with the hat in the direction where they are wanted to move to or remove from hence.

The sufferings of Christ I hear upon me. Oh! trouble leave me, I hold thee fast for Christ's sake and blood, that removes all ill from me, by his sweat and death, by his holy five wounds so red, through his resurrection and ascension to heaven may give that God will protect me as long as I live. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

To Lay Spirits by an Anathema.

Ye persons look upon me for a moment till I draw three blood drops from you, which ye have forfeited. The first I draw from your teeth, the other from your lung, the third I draw from your heart's own main; with this I take your hosts away and ye shall stand till I remove from ye the iron band. † † † Three times spoken. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

To Fasten a Person that he may not Escape.

Take a needle wherewith the gown from a corpse had been sewed and put this needle into the foot prints of the person you seek to fasten. And never will that person, so treated, be able to get away. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

An Excellent way to Prove whether a Person is a Witch or not.

First. Try to obtain St. John's roots and one ounce of herb of the same plant called moto. Write the following letters upon a scrap of paper and put to the root and herbs:

S A T O R †

Cross of Jesus Christ mild epos

A R E P O †

Cross of Jesus Christ Mesopos

T E N E T †

Cross of Jesus Christ Habenepos

O P E R A

R O T A S.*

* EE: SATOR + Cross of Christ mildepos / AREPO + Cross of Christ mesepos / TENET + Cross of Christ Habenepos / OPERA / ROTAS.

This must be sewed up in a piece of leather, and if you wish to see the witch, only carry the paper with you, but it must be taken in the hour when the first quarter of the moon occurs.

You will then perceive that no witch can remain in the same room with you. [79] Egyptian Secrets Volume Two.

When a Child is Bewitched.

Stand with the child toward the morning sun, and speak: Be welcome in God's name and sunshine, from whence didst brightly beam, aid me and my dear child and feign my songs serenely stream. To God the Father sound my praise, help praise the Holy Ghost that he restore my child to health, I praise the heavenly host. † † † Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

A Blessing for Enemies.

This grant God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Now I will rise in the name of the Lord, and will wander in his path by his word and will beseech our Saviour Christ that he may lend me, upon this very day, three of his angels, for this I pray; the first he may protect me, the other keep me without weapon or arms, the third may keep my body from all harm and keep my soul, my blood and flesh, and keep my courage ever fresh. Whoever is stronger as Jesus Christ, he may approach and assail my flesh and blood. In the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. I praise thee heavenly host.

This may grant God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, † † † Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

When a Rifle or Shot Gun is Bewitched.

Take five cents' worth of liquid amber, asafetida, river water, and mix well together. With the mixture clean well, and the rag, with which the scouring was done, hang up in the smoke, or put in a new-made grave. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

For all sorts of Sorcery of Man and Beast.

The appended formula suspend upon man or beast, which may have been bewitched, during an uneven hour.

† I N † R I †

S A T O R

A R E P O

T E N E T

O P E R A

R O T A S

C † M † B †

And then proceed at once up into your house, cut or file on the spars so that it becomes like flour, and take three pinches of wheat flour and of salt. Give all of these articles mixed, to the person or cattle in the three highest name. The bad man will appear! Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

To Prevent Witches from entering a Stable.

Take white elfencoop wood, make plugs therefrom, and drive them into all the doors and thresholds of the stable, and no witch can enter. If a witch is already in the house, it cannot leave. Egyptian Secrets Volume Two

When a Cow Loses her Use, how to Mark the Witch.

Milk such a cow on a Friday morning before sunrise. Take the milk-pail, turn it over, and milk over the bottom of the pail two, three or four times, until you obtain a few pots of milk. Then you will also have to procure nine small pieces of wood, which you must either steal or beg for God's sake, but you may return them afterward. Then make a fire, take an iron pan, wherein boil the milk, in which put three tufts of hair of the cow, one from between the horns, one from the shoulder-bone, one from the loins. Thereafter take a handful of salt and a half handful of chimney soot. Now take three, spades or three scythes, heat them in fire and temper them off in the milk, turn them crosswise therein. Then take a hog's bladder, put the milk therein, and hang in the smoke.

If this does not help, write the characters upon spade or scythes as follows:—B. D.

Another for the Witches.

Give to a human being or dumb animal, on St. Martin's Eve (tenth November, c. a.), three garlic bulbs to eat. Egyptian Secrets Volume Three

A Preventive, which must lie carried upon the Body, for the Arts and Wiles of Gypsies.

Just the same as the prophet Jonah, the prototype of Christ had been provided for during three days and three nights in a body of the whale, so may the Almighty God protect me against all danger with his fatherly kindness. J. J. J. Egyptian Secrets Volume Three

An Extraordinary quick Banishment.

Thou rider and footman ye come from thence, under your hat you are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and by his holy five wounds your rifle, gun and pistol be bound. Sword, dagger and knife are banished and bound, in the name of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This must be spoken three times. Egyptian Secrets Volume Three

To be given to Cattle against Witchcraft and Diabolical Mischief.

S A T O R

A R E P O

T E N E T

O P E R A

R O T A S

Egyptian Secrets Volume Three

An Amulet to carry on your Person.

Carry these words with you, and no one will he able to assail you: Agania, Azaria, and Misael, praise ye the Lord, for He has redeemed us from hell and rescued us from death, and preserved us in the fire. Therefore may the Lord prevent the fire against us.

I.

N. I. R

I.

Egyptian Secrets Volume Three

To prevent Witches from bewitching Cattle, to be written and placed in the stable; and against Bad Men and Evil Spirits, which nightly torment old and young people, to be written and placed on the bedstead.

"Trotter Head, I forbid thee my house and premises, I forbid thee my horse and cow stable, I forbid thee my bedstead, that thou mayest not breathe upon me: breathe into some other house, until thou hast ascended every hill, until thou hast counted every fence post, and until thou hast crossed every water.—And thus dear day may come again into my house, in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen."

This will certainly protect and free all persons and animals from witchcraft.

Romanus-Buchlein

How to relieve persons or animals after being bewitched.

Three false tongues have bound thee, three holy tongues have spoken for thee. The first is God, the Father, the second is God, the Son, and the third is God, the Holy Ghost. They will give you blood and flesh, peace and comfort. Flesh and blood are grown upon thee, born on thee, and lost on thee. If any man trample on thee with his horse, God will bless thee, and the holy Cyprian; has any woman trampled on thee, God and the body of Mary shall bless thee; if any servant has given you trouble, I bless thee through God and the laws of heaven; if any servant maid or woman has led you astray, God and the heavenly constellations shall bless thee. Heaven is above thee, the earth is beneath thee, and thou art between. I bless thee against all tramplings by horses. Our dear Lord Jesus Christ walked about in his bitter afflictions and death; and all the false Jews that had spoken and promised, trembled in their mockery. Look, now trembleth the Son of God, as if he had the itch, said the Jews. And then spake Jesus: I have not the itch, and no one shall have it. Whoever will assist me to carry the cross, him will I free from the itch, in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Romanus-Buchlein

Against Evil Spirits and all manner of Witchcraft.

I.

N. I. R.

I.

Sanctus. Spiritus.

I.

N. I. R.

I.

All this be guarded, here in time, and there in eternity. Amen.

You must write all the above on a piece of white paper, and carry it about you.—The characters or letters above, signify: "God bless me here in time, and there eternally."

Romanus-Buchlein

To Release Spell-bound Persons.

You horseman and footman, whom I here conjured at this time, you may pass on in the name of Jesus Christ, through the word of God and the will of Christ; ride ye on now and pass.

Romanus-Buchlein

Benediction for all purposes.

Jesus, I will arise; Jesus, do thou accompany me; Jesus, do thou lock my heart into thine, and let my body and my soul be commended unto thee. The Lord is crucified. May God guard my senses that evil spirits may not overcome me, in the name of God the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Romanus-Buchlein

Protection of one's House and Hearth.

Beneath thy guardianship, I am safe against all tempests and all enemies, J. J. J. These three J's signify Jesus three times.

Romnus-Buchlein

A Charm—to be carried about the person.

Carry these words about you, and nothing can hit you: Annania, Azaria, and Misael, blessed be the Lord; for he has redeemed us from hell, and has saved us from death, and he has redeemed us out of the fiery furnace, and has preserved us even in the midst of the fire; in the same manner may it please him, the Lord that there be no fire:

I.

N. I. R.

I.

Romanus-Buchlein

To prevent being Cheated, Charmed, or Bewitched, and to be at all times blessed.

Like unto the cup, and the wine, and the holy supper, which our dear Lord Jesus Christ gave unto his dear disciples on Maundy Thursday, may the Lord Jesus guard me in day time, and at night, that no dog may bite me, no wild beast tear me to pieces, no tree fall on me, no water rise against me, no firearms injure me, no weapons, no steel, no iron cut me, no fire burn me, no false sentence fall upon me, no false tongue injure me, no rogue enrage me, and that no fiends, no witchcraft and enchantment can harm me. Amen.

Romanus-Buchlein

To cut a stick wherewith one can flog someone however distant.

Take note when the moon becomes new on a Tuesday, then go before sunrise, step up to a stick,2 which you have selected beforehand, stand facing the sunrise, and speak these words: Stick, I grasp you in the name † † †. Take your knife in your hand and speak again: Stick, I cut you in the names † † † that you be obedient to me, and flog whom I wish to flog, when I begin a name. Afterwards place cuts in two places on the stick, putting them somewhat apart, so that you can write, stick, or cut these words on it: Abia obie, tabia.3 Put a coat on a shear-heap (?),4 strike the coat5 with your stick, and call the person's name whom you wish to flog, and smack boldly, and your blows will be felt by the person, as if he or she were under the coat, though they may actually be many miles away. Besides a shear-heap you can also use the threshold under a door. This (charm) has been proven by a shepherd from Birneck (Switzerland) against the same nobleman.

Romanus-Buchlein

A Benediction for and against all Enemies.

The cross of Christ be with me; the cross of Christ overcomes all water and every fire; the cross of Christ overcomes all weapons; the cross of Christ is a perfect sign and blessing to my soul. May Christ be with me and my body during all my life, at day and at night. Now I pray, I, (name), pray God the Father for the soul's sake, and I pray God the Son for the Father's sake, and I pray God the Holy Ghost for the Father's and the Son's sake, that the holy corpse of God may bless me against all evil things, words, and works. The cross of Christ open unto me future bliss; the cross of Christ be with me, above me, before me, behind me, beneath me, aside of me, and everywhere, and before all my enemies, visible and invisible; these all flee from me as soon as they but know or hear. Enoch and Elias, the two prophets, were never imprisoned, nor bound, nor beaten, and came never out of their power: thus no one of my enemies must be able to injure or attack me in my body or my life, in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Romanus-Buchlein

A Benediction against Enemies, Sickness and Misfortune.

The blessing which came from heaven, from God the Father, when the true living Son was born, be with me at all times; the blessing which God spoke over the whole human race, be with me always. The holy cross of God, as long and as broad, as the one upon which God suffered his blessed, bitter tortures, bless me to-day and forever. The three holy nails which were driven through, the holy hands and feet of Jesus Christ, shall bless me to-day and forever. The bitter crown of thorns which was forced upon the holy head of Christ, shall bless me to-day and for ever. The spear by which the holy side of Jesus was opened, shall bless me to-day and for ever. The rosy blood protect me from all my enemies, and from every thing which might be injurious to my body or soul, or my worldly goods. Bless me, oh ye five holy wounds, in order that all my enemies may be driven away and bound, while God has encompassed all Christendom. In this shall assist me God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, Amen,—Thus must I, (N.) be blessed as well and as valid as the cup and the wine, and the true, living bread which Jesus gave his 12 disciples on the evening of Maundy Thursday. All those that hate you, must be silent before me; their harts are dead in regard to me; and their tongues are mute, so that they are not at all able to inflict the least injury upon me, or my house, or my premises: And likewise, all those who intend attacking and wounding me with their arms and weapons, shall be defenseless, weak and conquered before me. In this shall assist me the holy power of God, which can make all arms or weapons of no avail. All this in the name of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Romanus-Buchlein

TO PREVENT WICKED OR MALICIOUS PERSONS FROM DOING YOU AN INJURY--AGAINST WHOM IT IS OF GREAT POWER.