Pow-Wows: Long Lost Friend, a Collection of Mysteries and Invaluable Arts and Remedies

Rating:
Summary: Uniquely American Magical Beliefs
Review: Despite the title, this book has nothing to do with Native American beliefs and traditions. Its actually the folk beliefs of the Pensylvannia Dutch folk doctors, hex-crafters, magicians and healers. A unique blend of Christianity and German folklore, this book was a major influence on American folk magic (from Hoodoo to Appalachian study-witches) for many years, and was mentioned several times in the fictional works of Manly Wade Wellman. Its still practiced in some remote areas. It includes a number of charms, hexes and spells. Amongst these are numerous cures for bleeding, warts, colic, epilepsy, headaches, scurvy, tapeworms and many livestock ailments, as well as charms for a safe journey, catching lots of fish, legal success, protection against bullets, driving away vermin, bringing back lost animals and so forth. More esoteric/mystical things include spells against witchcraft, evil spirits and the like, as well as binding a theif or releasing someone from bindings. Theres also certain lore such as advice for pregnant women, unlucky days and hunting talismans.

This is quite an encyclopedic work, covering just about every element of rural folk magic in the United States. This is quite a wonderful book for anyone interested in magic, mysticism and the occult (especially in a historical, folk or Christian context), and a uniquely American book. Definately worth checking out.

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Summary: a CHRISTIAN magical/healing tradition
Review: Despite what the Wiccan historical revisionists would have you believe, this book is rooted in a long tradition of Christian folk magic. Hohman was a Catholic from PA wherein we have a great and complex history of magical/mystical Christian groups. Powwowing, as this practice was called, was common here not with people working "under the guise of Christianity," but with Christian men and women. Read the book- it is replete with references to Christ. Hohman drew from "Egyptian Secrets," folk magic, and I suspect some of the writings/beliefs of the Wissahickon hermits, but it was "The Long Lost Friend" that became the major book in every powwow "doctor's" library. It sat beside the Bible, not in place of it. It is a wonderful local tradition that was strong until the late 1920's when the infamous "hex murder" and subsequent media frenzy drove it underground. The local practitioners were shamed and ridiculed by the media in the 1920's, and now their tradition is being misrepresented as a neopagan new age tradition, which it simply is not. Oh yeah, Hildegard von Bingen and St. Francis of Assisi were Christians too (I've had other wiccans suggest to me that Hildegard and Francis were "actually pagans" which is as laughable as representing the Powwow/Hex tradition as being a pagan tradition.) ...and I'd like to say I have absolutely nothing against wiccans/pagans. I do have a problem with revisionist history though.

Rating:
Summary: Indispensible for the practitioner of folk magic
Review: Filled with charms, incantations, prayers, and herbal remedies, (half of which seem genuinely useful and half of which look lethal!) the _Long Lost Friend_ or _Pow~wows_ has been in use in rural pennsylvania since 1820 or so, first published in german and later in english. This book became a staple of the folk magicians and faith healers of pennsylvania known as "pow-wows" or "hexenmeisters" or simply "hexes" along with _The Egyptian Secrets of Albertus Magnus_ and remains popular to this day, not only among pow-wows but also in Hoodoo and other american folk traditions. For a look at "magic" as it was really being practiced in this country for over a century, this book is invaluable. I would also recommend _Strange Experience; Autobiography of a Hexenmeister" by Lee R. Gandee. The one drawback of my copy of the _Long Lost Friend_ is that it was published unedited and without commentary, and some of the language is a little archaic or assumes one is already familiar with common pow-wowing practices. (such as making the 3 crosses with your right thumb + fist) Not to mention it is poorly printed and bound together, so make sure you compare variouss editions of this work before purchasing it.

Rating:
Summary: More than pleased
Review: I bought this book with having any prior knowledge of its contents except whay i saw on an old 80's film. I can say how plweased i am. If you are looking for a time tested tride and true book on folk healing then this is certainly the one your looking for. I would deffintly reccomend this one to anyone. Peace,prayers, and good luck.

Rating:
Summary: A classic book of traditional american folk medicine
Review: This small book, first published around 1820, contains a wealth of information and insight into traditional healing, spell-casting, and folk remedies from a rather historically elusive character named John George Hohman. Many of the incantations are tracable back to the Rhine area of Germany during the late Middle ages and many have Cabbalistic and pre-christian roots as well. Hohman was, in reality, a compiler of information adding local German, Scots-Irish and American Indian remedies to his work.

The interesting thing about Pow-Wows is that its contens and concepts were easily recognized by those who purchased it and became an essential tool for what became known as "pow-wowing," "using" and in some cases, "hexerei." This mixture of sympathetic magic, spiritualism and herbalism was widely practiced in rural areas and is still employed, in certain circles, to this day. The practice of "powwowing" is usually passed from generation to generation within families or to someone with an appitude. An excellent, non-scholarly, but accurate description of this practice can be found in Silver Ravenwolf's "Hexcraft" which can be found in this database though it may be called "American Folk Medicine" or something like that.

The "Long Lost Friend" has been a valuable resourse for me for the past 25 years. I first discovered it while doing field research on folk religion in rural South Carolina in the early 1970's. If you have an interest in folk religion, folk medicine or spiritual healing, you will enjoy this little classic.