Robert's Corner
The collected writings of Robert Phoenix on Pennsylvania German Powwow — charms and cures, history, herb-lore, and folk wisdom, gathered from 2011 to 2023.
Welcome to Robert’s Corner — the gathered writings of Robert Phoenix on Pennsylvania German Powwow, spanning 2011 to 2023. Charms and cures, history and herb-lore, faith and folk wisdom: a lifetime’s study, preserved here just as he wrote it.
New here? Start with Who is Robert? — his story in his own words.
Browse by year or by topic below.
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A world away. In memory of my grandparents, Arthur and June Whitley.
As is often the case when my mind is focused on research into powwowing, I find my thoughts drifting to my grandparents. Born of immigrants from both Austria...
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December 6th, Saint Nicholas Day
For those of us with European ancestry, which is many of us I imagine, Saint Nicholas need not be forgotten in December in favor of good old reliable Santa C...
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November 28th, Nelson Rehmeyer Day
As a powwow doctor in south central Pennsylvania, November turns my thoughts to Nelson Rehmeyer. In 1928, long before my time, a local Powwow Doctor was mur...
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Conception Billet: the power of the written word
One of the common identifying traits within Powwowing is the use of himmelsbriefs, or Letters from Heaven. Dating back hundreds of years, himmelsbriefs were...
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Hex Hollow Documentary - the story of Nelson Rehmeyer
In the Spring of 2013, I was asked to be one of many individuals interviewed for the Hex Hollow Documentary film, put together by filmmaker Shane Free. This...
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der Belsnickel
Before our much Americanized, and commercialized, version of St. Nick, kids growing up in Pennsylvania Dutch homes were taught the Belsnickel story, said Zac...
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Cold and flu season
It seems like every winter my body is just on the verge of being sick. It's like there is a constant shadow of a cold hanging over my head, and most morning...
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Long-Distance PowWow
One of the most common distance charms in the PowWow tradition is the recitation of Ezekiel 16:6 "Then I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own b...
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Magic (black) mirrors in Powwow.
This blog was originally posted April 19, 2013, but updated as of September 14, 2021...
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The SATOR square
The SATOR charm is one of the most popular magical talismans in western occultism, and is a favored within traditional PA Dutch PowWow. It's history is somet...
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Magic Wand: the tool of Christ?
Besides studying Powwow, one of my favorite areas of research is Christianity's history and early development; in particular it's history with magic.
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Ethics of hexing/cursing in Powwow
Some of the older Powwow charms seem to cross the line and step into the realm of cursing or, as it's known in PA Dutch culture, hexerei. Hexerei is malevol...
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Unusual Written Charms
Powwow has many different variations on paper talismans and charms. Most of these are not works of art, nor are they meant to be. A written charm is meant ...
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PowWow charms: spoken or whispered? To touch or not to touch?
When I was originally introduced to PowWow, my teacher taught that one must ALWAYS whisper the spoken parts of the charms; they must NEVER be spoken out loud...
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Cloth Braucher Charms
In other schools of magical thought, the cloth Braucher Charm (also seen referred to as a Brauche Bag) is sometimes called a gris gris bag, a mojo bag, a cha...
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Amulets of Protection
On the surface, we tend to view PA Dutch Pow-wow as a simple country system of folk healing. And that would be a correct view. However, another layer of th...
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Protection from Thieves
It's very sad that we even need charms like this, but this time of year especially we see and hear stories about families being robbed or houses being broken...
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Christmas Pow-wow Divination Wand
The use of a forked branch or stick to search for water is fairly well known. Finding hidden water or metals is what is refered to in Powwow as "divination"....
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Pow-wow First Aid
Pow-wow is great for minor aches and pains or the type of injuries and mishaps that might occur throughout the normal course of your day; such as scrapes, cu...