Folk Religion of the Pennsylvania Dutch: Witchcraft, Faith Healing and Related Practices

For almost three centuries, the “Pennsylvania Dutch”–descended from German immigrants–have practiced white magic, known in their dialect as Braucherei (from the German “brauchen,” to use) or Powwowing. The tradition was brought by immigrants from the Rhineland and Switzerland in the 17th and 18th centuries, when they settled in Pennsylvania and in other areas of what is now the eastern United States and Canada. Practitioners draw on folklore and tradition dating to the turn of the 19th century, when healers like Mountain Mary–canonized as a saint for her powers–arrived in the New World. The author, a member of the Pennsylvania Dutch community, describes in detail the practices, culture and history of faith healers and witches.