Braucherei orBrauche (Pennsylvania Dutch language), in English sometimes calledpowwow orpow-wow, is a system ofChristianfolk practice originating in the culture of thePennsylvania Dutch in the 1700s. Braucherei includes a range of healing rituals used primarily for treating ailments in humans, livestock, and crops, as well as securing physical and spiritual protection, and other boons. Along with folkplant medicine, braucherei forms one of two traditional healing practices among the Pennsylvania Dutch, although some researchers consider them to be the one and the same.[1]
Although the termpowwow is a Native Americanloanword into English, these non-Nativefolk practices by European immigrant settlers are of European origin and were brought to colonial Pennsylvania in the transatlantic migrations of German-speaking people from Central Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Braucherei draws from earlier material in German-speaking Europe, including Europeangrimoires,folk belief, and a variety of Christian texts. Like most folk traditions, braucherei practices changed and evolved over the years.[citation needed]
The practice has been influential in American folk culture, with scholars[citation needed] noting that it seems to have been influential especially inAppalachia and the rural South and theOzarks. Braucherei was highly visible in population centers in the region until the 1920s. In more recent times it has inspirednew religious movements. It remains a subject of study among scholars and a point of public interest.
Powwowing is the most commonly usedEnglish language term to refer to the ritual traditions of the Pennsylvania Germans.[2] The wordpowwow is aborrowing into English fromNarragansett andMassachusett languages, where it meant 'Indigenous priest, shaman, healer' and ultimately derives fromProto-Algonquian *pawe·wa, meaning 'he (who) dreams'. The word has been in use in English in the region since the 1600s.[3] The use of the wordpowwow in this context in Pennsylvania may originate from perceived similarities among Pennsylvania Dutch healing practices and those of Native Americans.[2] The termpowwow appears in an English language edition from around 1900 of Hohman'sDer lange verborgene Freund (Pow-Wows; or, Long Lost Friend).[4] Hohman's book was influential in regions likeAppalachia in the early 20th century and in theOzarks and the use of the wordpower doctor there (comparepowwow doctor) may be a result of the influence of Pennsylvania German powwow.[5][6]
Claimed Native American connections, however spurious, were a key element of the 19th century development ofAmerican Spiritualism.[7] Although some powwowers of Native American descent have practiced powwow and some powwowers have claimed that Native Americanspirit guides have assisted them in healing rituals, the tradition is distinct from the Native American practice ofpowwow.[8] The "powwow doctor" (in theOzarks, known as a "power doctor") was also a common role across the country at this era'smedicine shows.
In thePennsylvania Dutch language, these practices are known asBrauche orBraucherei and in the folk tradition they are contrasted withHexerei ('black magic') performed byHexer ('witches' or 'sorcerers'). For example, thebraucher is typically called upon to remove a hex placed by a Hexer on someone but the division between the two can be ambiguous.[9] The Pennsylvania German wordsBrauche andBraucherei are often translated as "trying" but other proposals include "blessing" (from an iteration on the Hebrewbracha), "needing or wanting" (from theHigh German verbbrauchen), or "using" (from theOld High German verbgebrauchen).[10]
Usage and perception of these words do not align among speakers of English and Pennsylvania German. For example, according to Donmoyer:
Practitioners are variously referred to aspowwowers,powwows,powwow doctors,brau doctors,brauchers,brauch doctors,hex doctors, or less commonly, in Pennsylvania Dutch,hexenmeisters. Individuals who oppose braucher practices may use the wordwitch orsorcerer or the Pennsylvania Dutch wordhex. In Pennsylvania German, the infinitive form of 'to powwow' isBrauchen.[12]
Traditionally,brauchers use a variety of gestures, body movements, and incantations along with material objects and substances. Incantations are typically performed subvocally (moving lips without making an audible sound), so that the patient can see the act performed but hear nothing. In a publication from 2015, Kriebel says that the incantations were now typically memorized but in the past had been dependent on a variety of texts (see below).[13] The practice flourished until the 1920s, when the practice went underground. Before that,brauchers could be found advertising their services in Pennsylvania German cultural regions.[14]
Pennsylvania Dutchbraucherei appears to have spread into other regions as Pennsylvania Germans migrated and brought their folk traditions with them, especially but not limited toAppalachia and theOzarks, influencing or developing into localized traditions.[15]
Braucherei as a distinct tradition developed in the 1700s as primarily German-speaking migrants (along with migrants from the British Island) settled in Pennsylvania. This folk culture developed from a variety of Christian traditions in Europe. Although the population was primarilyprotestant, elements of Catholic tradition are reflected inbraucherei, such as the invocation of Catholic saints for healing.[16]
Historically,braucherei utilized a corpus of literature, some of which prescribed rituals and incantations. These include the use of Bible verses,John George Hohman'sDer lang verborgene Schatz und Haus Freund (typically rendered in English as 'The Long Lost Friend' but directly 'The Long Hidden Friend'),Albertus Magnus'sEgyptian Secrets, or less commonly theSixth and Seventh Books of Moses. The latter was at times considered a "hex book", a work of the devil (see terminology section above).[17]Brauchers often also produce their own compilations of material and pass them down to others.[18]
Hohman's book was particularly influential amongbrauchers. For example, scholar Don Yoder references to it as "a standard printed corpus of magical charms for the Pennsylvania Germans".Der lang verborgene Schatz und Haus Freund has seen multiple German and English editions. Hohman, a German migrant who arrived in Philadelphia in 1802 and authored a variety of publications before disappearing from the historic record after 1846, remains a mysterious figure. As Yoder summarizes, Hohman was "intentionally or unintentionally, a mystery man, one of the most influential and yet most elusive figures in Pennsylvania German history".[19]
Der lang verborgene Schatz und Haus Freund functioned as a standardized repertory for manybrauchers, but it was preceded by and used in parallel with an independent manuscript tradition, which somebrauchers preferred.Brauchers also used variations on material found in Hohman's book.[20]
Over time, the use of these texts significantly declined among traditionalbrauchers. During fieldwork performed in the 2000s, Kriebel found only a single individual who used any manual or spellbook beyond the Bible. According to Kleiber, "It can be speculated that the decline in the use of such books is a result ofthe 1929 York 'Witch Trial' and the subsequent calls for 'superstition' to be eradicated by the introduction of scientific education."[17] Scholar Gerald Milnes summarizes the situation as follows:
After this,brauchers became less visible and moved underground, leaving population centers.Braucherei also changed, using fewer texts and objects, and "underwent a shift toward religious healing".[22]
In a paper published in 2006, scholar David W. Kriebel records that his field research indicated a common perception in the region that the practice had died out and "in fact, fewer than half the people I spoke with had even heard of it". Among thebraucherei patients and practitioners he encountered, some expressed a fear that "others [would] label them crazy, or at a minimum, old-fashioned and 'dutchy.'" Kriebel also witnessed an "opposition to the practice by certain religious individuals who believe either thatbraucherei's efficacy derives from the devil or that spiritual healing should be the province of organized churches, as well as by those who believebraucherei is inconsistent with a modern, scientific worldview". Kriebel was eventually able to identify eight living individuals who continued the practice of Pennsylvania Germanbraucherei.[23]
Writing in 2017, Kriebel notes that a perception existed in the cultural area that powwowing was a thing of the past. However, since the 2000s:
Beginning in the 1990s, some elements ofbraucherei have been embraced bynew religious movements, particularly strains ofneopaganism. In 1997,Wiccan and Pennsylvania German descendent Jenine E. Trayer authoredHexCraft: Dutch Country Magick under the pen name Silver RavenWolf. Trayer studied under Preston Zerbe, a traditional powwower who worked in Adams and York counties and reinterpreted the material as a pagan practice "diguised" as folk Christianity. Urglaawe (Pennsylvania German meaning 'original faith') is another new religious movement that reinterpretsbraucherei traditions in the context of Heathenry and "represents an attempt to connect with and recreatea pre-Christian past" and notably utilizes the Pennsylvania German language. Urglaawe typically avoids the common English termpowwow in favor ofBraucherei.[25]