Category: Resources & Recommendations

Blog Post 16 – An Introduction to Pow-wow, Part III

Hi folks!  Here is the final installment in my introductory Pow-wow series.  I hope you’re enjoying them!  Now, on to the magic!

Where can I find out more about Pow-wow?

There are many phenomenal resources on this subject.  Here are some of the books I like:

The Red Church, by Chris Bilardi
American Shamans, by Jack Montgomery
Signs, Cures, & Witchery, by Gerald C. Milne
Buying the Wind, by Richard M. Dorson (chapter on “Pennsylvania Dutchmen”)

And, of course, Pow-wows; or The Long Lost Friend, by John George Hohman (also available free at sacred-texts.com).

Additionally, I like this website and its accompanying newsletter:
Three Sisters Center for the Healing Arts

There are other books and resources which I’ve encountered either by proxy or by reputation which I’d also recommend seeking out, though I cannot give a strong opinion on their validity myself, yet:

Strange Experience: The Autobiography of a Hexenmeister, by Lee R. Gandee
Hex and Spellwork, by Karl Herr
The Pennsylvania German Broadside, by Don Yoder
The Pennsylvania German Society

Some Pow-wow Charms & Proverbs

Finally, as promised, here are some Pow-wow charms you can try out yourself.  I’d love to hear how they work for you, so please feel free to leave comments or email us about your results!  Please also note that I provide these for cultural, spiritual, and magical value.  They do not replace conventional medical or legal advice; please see a professional if you have needs in those areas.

First, a few from Hohman’s book:

HOW TO BANISH THE FEVER.

Write the following words upon a paper and wrap it up in knot-grass, and then tie it upon the body of the person who has the fever:

Potmat sineat,
Potmat sineat,
Potmat sineat.

TO STOP BLEEDING.

I walk through a green forest;
There I find three wells, cool and cold;
The first is called courage,
The second is called good,
And the third is called stop the blood

TO REMOVE BRUISES AND PAINS.

Bruise, thou shalt not heat;
Bruise, thou shalt not sweat;
Bruise, thou shalt not run,
No-more than Virgin Mary shall bring forth another son. + + +

(The three “+” signs at the end indicate making three crosses in the air over the patient or afflicted area, also sometimes saying the three High Names of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost)

ANOTHER WAY TO STILL-BIND THIEVES.

Ye thieves, I conjure you, to be obedient like Jesus Christ, who obeyed his Heavenly Father unto the cross, and to stand without moving out of my sight, in the name of the Trinity. I command you by the power of God and the incarnation of Jesus Christ, not to move out of my sight, + + + like Jesus Christ was standing on Jordan’s stormy banks to be baptized by John. And furthermore, I conjure you, horse and rider, to stand still and not to move out of my sight, like Jesus Christ did stand when he was about to be nailed to the cross to release the fathers of the church from the bonds of hell.. Ye thieves, I bind you with the same bonds with which Jesus our Lord has bound hell; and thus ye shall be bound; + + + and the same words that bind you shall also release you.

(The conventional wisdom on releasing the thief is that the entire spell must be read backwards.  It’s nice to hold all the cards sometimes.  This charm is almost entirely lifted from entry #22 of the Romanus Buchlein, or Little Book of the Roma, a late 18th century grimoire and prayer book).

Here is a pair of charms which I am citing from Jack Montgomery’s American Shamans, but which he cites from an article entitled “Magical Medical Practice in South Carolina,” from Popular Science Monthly, 1907:

TO HEAL A SPRAIN

Christian Version

“Our Lord rode, his foal’s foot slade [slid],
Down he lighted, his foal’s foot righted,
Bone to bone,
Sinew to sinew,
Flesh to flesh,
Heal, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Amen”

Pagan Version

“Phol and Woden went to the wood, there was Balder’s colt his foot wrenched,
Then Sinthgunt charmed it and Sunna her sister,
Then Frua charmed it and Volla her sister, then Woden charmed it as he well could,
As well the bone-wrench,
As the blood-wrench,
Bone to bone,
Blood to blood,
Joint to joint,
As if they were glued together.”

(Montgomery, American Shamans, p. 102)

A classic Pow-wow blood-stopping charm, also from Jack Montgomery (and derived from a passage in Ezekiel, I believe):

And when I passed by thee and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. (p. 253)

Here’s a more modern charm for protection during automobile travel:

“This is a written prayer that is used for protecting cars and other vehicles.  It can be simply folded and placed in the glovebox.

Our Heavenly Father, we ask this day a particular blessing.  As we take the wheel of our car, grant us safe passage through all the perils of trouble.  Shelter those who accompany us and provide us from harm by Thy mercy.  Steady our hands and quicken our eyes that we may never take another’s life.  Guide us to our destination safely, confident in the knowledge that Thy blessing be with us through darkness and light, sunshine and showers, forever and ever.  Amen.” (Bilardi, The Red Church, p. 284)

And I’ll conclude with a few proverbs from the Pennsylvania Dutch, as recorded in Buying the Wind, by Richard M. Dorson (pp.138-141).  Note that “German” here connotes the Pennsylvania-German dialect, not necessarily European German.

-German:  D’r hammer wert aus faerm ambos.
-English:  The anvil outlasts the hammer.

-German:  Waers erscht in di mil kummt grikt’s erscht gimale.
-English:  He that cometh first to the mill, grindeth first.

-German:  En blini sau finnt a alsemol en echel.
-English:  Even a blind pig will sometimes find an acorn.

I hope this series has been informative to you!  This won’t be the last time Pow-wow comes up here, of course, but I think it may be enough to get your feet wet on the subject.  If you try out any of these charms and have results to report or have any thoughts on the different folklore and opinions recorded here, I hope you will leave a comment or send an email and share them with us.

Thanks for reading!

-Cory

Blog Post 12 – Podcast Recommendations

Hi everyone,

This is a just a little post to recommend a couple of new(ish) podcasts out there in the magical podosphere.  I have a fairly long commute to and from my day job, plus I spend a lot of time searching for new blogs and podcasts that I think have good magical information in them.  Sometimes I get lucky and find great sites/shows like these:

1)       Media Astra ac Terra – This podcast is hosted by Oraia the Sphinx, and it is designed as a three-part-show.  The first part focuses on astrology and astronomy (the “Astra” part), the second is all about gemology and mineralogy (the “Terra” part), and the third is a “main topic,” usually related to something magical.

Now, normally, I’m not big on astrology or gemology.  I think astrology has some interesting points (and we’ll get into that whenever we get around to the lore surrounding “planting by the signs”), but I definitely don’t make a major point of studying it.  And I’ve never had a strong connection to gem-or-crystal magic, though I believe Laine has some proficiency in that area.  Yet Oraia’s fantastic show is presented so well that I find myself learning about both in spite of myself.  And her third section has yet to disappoint me.  Her evaluation of magic and its place in the world is incredibly well thought out, and often presented with painstaking research to back it up.  Even though I sometimes interpret things differently than she does or don’t come to the same conclusions, I still am riveted by her show.  I cannot recommend it highly enough.

2)       Standing Stone and Garden Gate – This incredibly informative podcast is hosted by Dr. Brendan Myers and his partner, Juniper (a frequent commenter here at New World Witchery).   The show is divided into several parts:  an introduction featuring an incense and beverage of the week; a Bardic Arts section with poetry or music; a Standing Stone section in which Dr. Myers discusses philosophy from a Pagan perspective; a Rants, Raves, and Reviews section in which the two charming hosts give their opinions on books, culture, events, etc.; the Garden Gate section in which Juniper discusses practical aspects of witchcraft and hedgewitchery; and an Ask Dr. Expert segment in which a question or topic is discussed at length, usually citing sources or with a guest lecturer.

The show is definitely a long one (with that much material, it has to be—and after our recent hour-plus podcasts I certainly can’t throw stones), but it’s always interesting, and the hosts keep the pace up throughout the entire podcast.  My favorite segments tend to be the Garden Gate and Rants/Raves sections, but I find that I listen with great attention to the other sections, too.  I even find myself talking back to the iPod sometimes, because so much of the show feels like a conversation with wise, jovial teachers.

In the interest of fair disclosure, I should probably mention that Laine and I have been interviewed for an upcoming episode of this show, and that Juniper and Dr. Myers will be guest on one of our future episodes as well.  They are great to talk to and we were honored to be invited on their show (though I’m fairly sure I rambled a good bit more than I do when I have a script and notes in front of me).  It was a fantastic conversation, so be on the lookout for it sometime soon.

Well, that’s about all for today.  Kveldrida, I promise I’ll be listening to your podcast soon, too, so don’t feel left out since I didn’t mention you today!

Thanks for reading!

-Cory

Blog Post 5 – Podcast Recommendation

I’d like to take just a minute to heartily recommend a new podcast which has just put forth its first episode.  Hedgefolk Tales is the latest endeavor by the very busy and very informative Sarah, the Witch of Forest Grove.  In her show, Sarah will be presenting stories and tales from history, mythology, and folklore, and then sharing some witchcraft-related exegeses with us.  From listening to the first show alone I can already tell this is going to be one of my new favorite podcasts.

Some out there may know Sarah from her appearances on The Wigglian Way as The Pagan Bookworm.  She has a great sense of style and a fantastic voice for this kind of work, so please do go check out Hedgefolk Tales.

Oh, and in the interest of fair disclosure, I should say that we’re planning to have Sarah as a guest on an upcoming episode of New World Witchery, too.  How we lucked out lining her up as a guest, I’ll never know.  Maybe a candle or two was burned just to help things along…but I’ll never tell.

Be well!

-Cory

Blog Post 02 – Book Review

Cory review’s Chas S. Clifton’s Her Hidden Children: The Rise of Wicca & Paganism in America.

Her Hidden Children, by Chas S. Clifton

I’ve just finished reading Chas S. Clifton’s Her Hidden Children:  The Rise of Wicca & Paganism in America this morning, and I thought that as his topics and my own intersect somewhat I might offer my take on his work.  First of all, I only recently learned who Mr. Clifton was through another podcast, T. Thorne Coyle’s Elemental Castings.  She was part of a panel discussion at the Florida Pagan Gathering in 2009, and Mr. Clifton was on that panel as well (other guests included Gavin and Yvonne Frost and Margot Adler).  The entire discussion can be heard at Ms. Coyle’s website, here.  What convinced me to read Clifton’s book was that in the panel, he spoke as an academic, but also a participant, and he did both with great skill.

After reading his book, I am inclined to think that his personality on the podcast is very much the same personality he puts forth in his writing—albeit a bit homier and less formal when he is speaking than writing.  He manages to provide a good, simple survey of the modern Pagan and Neo-Pagan movement in America, without resorting to overbold brush-strokes when he does so.  He doesn’t take the Gardnerian history at purely face value, but he also doesn’t simply dismiss it out of hand.  Rather, he takes the scholarly approach of examining the texts available and presenting the most reasonable conclusions he can based on those texts (or in some cases, media or personal correspondences).  Like Ronald Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon (which I feel Clifton’s book is greatly informed by), this book is not trying to make any fanciful claims about Paganism’s place in America (he makes the point repeatedly that there’s not a census of religion in America which can present a reliable number of “earth-based religious practitioners” in the US—he instead cites an independent survey which ranges from the upper hundreds of thousands to the low millions).  His examination of the various branches of Paganism in America is particularly noteworthy, as he gives short histories of each segment sourced not only from the branches themselves but from external documentation as well.

I enjoyed learning about the various areas of American Paganism with which I was only marginally familiar:  Feraferia and the Church of All Worlds (CAW), for example.  I also learned a lot about branches I was completely ignorant of, such as the Church of Aphrodite (the first Pagan religious group recognized in America) and the Psychedelic Venus Church.  Some of the better information in the book is about the interaction between various groups which may not always have been apparent.  The Church of Aphrodite, for example, had a great deal of influence on Feraferia because of a shared member, and the influence of Robert Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land on not only the CAW, but groups like the Psychedelic Venus Church.

The book did leave me a little disappointed in some areas:  Clifton relies heavily on certain sources, such as Margot Adler, and on some information which is not particularly accessible (such as the aforementioned personal correspondences).  The largest drawback is that the work really only looks at the mid-to-late twentieth century in America with any great detail, other than to draw a few parallels between Transcendentalism and the modern Neo-Pagan movement.  I would have been greatly interested in finding out what influence movements like Spiritualism and Theosophy had on the Occult revival in America, and what effect in turn that revival had on Wicca and Paganism later on.  But I can also understand that the point of this book may not have been to dig back so far.  The bibliography and footnotes alone make the book worth purchasing or borrowing from the library, and the work certainly doesn’t disappoint in its stated purpose of chronicling the rise of modern Paganism in America.

In the end, while I wanted more, perhaps that is the best recommendation I can give.  This book is great for whetting an appetite for more information on American witchcraft and Paganism, and it certainly can provide a springboard into other areas of discovery.

-Cory