Tagged: PA Dutch Culture
The world Powwow grows from: the dialect, the food, the farm, the church year.
Easy Homemade Candles
There is so much satisfaction in crafting your own things, like home remedies or candles — here is the quick and easy way to make lovely beeswax candles.
Family History
I've been piecing together my family history for over twenty years and am very proud of what I've managed to find — including Brauchers in my Pennsylvania German lineage.
The Three Crosses
Powwow charms are all spoken in the name of the Holy Trinity as found within Christian tradition.
Where is PA Dutch Country?
When the waves of immigration began in the 1600's from the German-speaking lands to the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, a majority of those first brave souls settled in the Philadelphia area.
Making Apple Butter!!!
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…
The Powwow Guy
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…
PA Dutch breakfast!
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…
The Full Moon
The February 2023 Full Moon in Leo, and the parts of the body that Leo and Aquarius rule — a short note on reading the signs for healing work.
The Full Moon
In Pennsylvania Dutch culture, the Full Moon is an important lunar phase for agricultural and weather prediction. It is also a time for Powwow for various…
Mountain Mary: Saint of Berks County
The legend of Mountain Mary — Anna Marie Young of Berks County, healer and hermit.
PA Dutch House Blessings
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…
Anxiety home remedies
The Powwow tradition has little to offer in the way of relieving symptoms of anxiety disorders. However, that does not mean we are without resources! Home…
The almanac and its place in PA German culture
The almanac in Pennsylvania German life — planting by the signs, the Man of Signs, and why the Alte Bauernkalender mattered.
April Fool's Day, the day of Eileschpiggel!
April Fool's Day is a day of trickery, traditionally devoted to "trickster spirits" like Loki in Scandinavian folklore, for example. An entire day filled…
Rocks used in braucherei, by John Ramsey
John Ramsey is a fellow powwower and author of Pennsylvania German Powwow (I'm having trouble putting a link here but it is available on amazon) He sent…
Playing Card divination
Reading fortunes with an ordinary deck — the Pennsylvania German approach to playing-card divination, and what each suit carries.
How to research folk magic traditions
How to research a folk magic tradition honestly: where the sources are, which ones mislead, and how to tell a living practice from a reconstruction.
Weather Lore
Reading the weather the old way: the signs the Pennsylvania Dutch watched, and the sayings that carried them.
Red things, 77 things, and other oddities within PowWow
Red thread, the number 77, and the other small oddities that keep recurring in Powwow charms — and why they are not arbitrary.