#powwowing

“But Mimi, this is all so BORING. Where’s the big rituals, or firey brands?”

Yup, it sure is. Powwowers were magic-workers yes, but they were also pharmacists, herbalists, and general sources of everyday, useful knowledge. How can you be a magic-worker, if you don’t know where your ingredients come from? The advice is actually pretty good advice, and things I think people ought to know. So along those lines...

To make good soap:

Good soap may be cheaply made with two pounds of boiled fat, one half a cup of caustic soda powder, and one and quarter cup of well water. Melt the fat, and keep it warm. Pour the lye into the water, and wait for it to cool to the same as the fat. Once cooled, pour the lye-water into the melted fat while stirring. Continue stirring until it is very thick and cooling.

 Pour into a shallow wooden tray lined with oiled cloth or paper, and let dry in a cool area for a month. Cut into slices, and let dry for one more week. Now you have soap which can be used on the skin, in the hair, or in laundry or to wash all manner of things.

***Mimi edit: Yes, this recipe works! USE GLOVES TO MAKE THIS. To explain in more modern terms:

1. Take two pounds of rendered tallow or lard, one half a cup of pure lye crystals, and one and a quarter cups of water. Melt the rendered lard over low heat, until it is about 110f. While it is melting, pour the water into a steel or glass pot/bowl. Carefully, pour the lye crystals into the water. It will instantly boil and foam, and if it splashes on your hand, will horribly burn you. So be careful.

Once the lye-water is calmed, and is reduced to about 110f as well, take the lard off the heat. Pour the lye-water SLOWLY into the melted lard, stirring constantly. Once it’s all poured in, continue stirring quickly until it is very, very thick and almost cool (this is a bit of an arm workout). I’d suggest adding something for scent here. Now, follow the rest of the directions above.

Once done, clean all your tools in a mixture of water, soap, and white vinegar to neutralize the leftover lye. 

A test to see if the soap is done after drying, cutting, and drying more: touch a bit to your tongue. If it just tastes soapy, its done. If it zaps like a battery, it needs to dry more.

A good recipe for balm, for red or crusted skin:

one half-cup rendered fat

two tablespoons of sweet (***sweet almond) oil

Melt together, and store in the cellar between uses.

***note: I swear to god, I see this recipe EVERYWHERE in modern times. I think they’re all copying it from each other, or hearing it from a family member.

To make healthful water, for those who are wounded or sick

All things in a house which a sick person eats from or touches, including clothes, should be washed with strong soap and hot water.

The person should avoid drinking any water that is not fresh from a well, or boiled and cooled. 

Their washwater should also be boiled, with three pinches of salt added. As you boil their washwater, say over it, 

“Santus itorius res, call the rest. Here the mother of God came to his assistance, reaching out her snow white hand against the hot and cold brand”

Then make three crosses over it with your thumb.

For white spots, or broken spots (***pimples!)

Mix four parts sweet oil, and one part wax (beeswax works well), and assorted herbs good for healing. Put a hot plaster on the afflicted area every night, then treat individual spots with the ointment.

In modern times, anyone can ‘become’ a Powwower, as in, regularly practice Powwow traditions and magic. However...This is a commitment. If it’s to be a hobby, it will be one of your few hobbies (simply for lack of time or energy). It is better as a career, or a constant spiritual practice. This is a LIFETIME of learning. 

You can always use Powwow charms in your day-to-day practice. It’s not a closed belief system. But they won’t hold they same power as a practicing Powwowers’ would.

I can’t promise that this is how ‘everyone’ does it. But this was my families practice and beliefs. So without further ado...

Becoming a Powwower in the ‘Historical’ Sense

1. Are you a Christian?

2. Do you believe in Jesus? Do you know your prayers and scripture?

3. Do you believe that the Holy Spirit gave to humanity the ability to cause direct change in the world, through ‘powers’ given to select people by the Holy Spirit?

4. Will you care for your neighbor, whether they are man, beast, or land?

If you answered yes to all of these....then you can Powwow. It’s that simple.

There’s an argument to be made that Powwow doctors could be other religions besides Christian, but I’m not going to go into that here, as that isn’t historically accurate. Remember, Powwowers protect and defend. After that, everything else is subject to the individual.

Learning to Powwow Traditionally

For the easiest start: have a strong background in secular Witchcraft. I don’t mean the ‘cursing people and wearing black kind’. Learn magical signs and plants, the terminology used. in various cultures Learn ritual and associations, moon magic and theories of magic. It will help you start to build an internal repertoire. 

Read read read! Read online, read at the library. Read about traditional witchcraft, read about modern witchcraft. Read the myths of the world, read the origins of religions. Read! Learn! Learn all you can about various types of magic/magical practices and religions, or at least be familiar with them. This isn’t a week or twos worth of work: it’s DECADES. Read! 

Now, if you already have a strong background in witchcraft/magical knowledge...

***I would suggest getting a GOOD copy of the King James bible, and two different copies of ‘Long Lost Friend’: the one by Daniel Harms (blue cover), and the one released by Forgotten Books. Consider these your starters. 

1.) First: learn about the history of Powwow/the Braucherei. Listen to someone speak Deitsch: the rhythm and flow is exactly the rhythm and flow you want to have in your spells. There is a good history in the front of Daniel Harm’s Long Lost Friend: learn it well.

2.) Read the Bible critically. It is not an exact history, it is a collection of stories and biographies that come together to tell the tale of Christianity. Find the parts that you can use in your practice: the imagery that stands out, sentences that sound powerful. Read the Psalms; they’re beautiful. Notice that, when calling on God, you alternate praises and supplications. Notice that when calling on Jesus, you call to him like a friend. And when you call to the Holy Spirit, you do so with such reverence that the air goes still.

3.) Read both copies of “Long Lost Friend”. The one by Daniel Harms explains the history of Powwow, and how to do the spells. But it is very clinical: there’s no magic or ‘artes’ in it. The one released by Forgotten Books is very accurate to the original. The spells are not explained, but they feel magical. 

4.) Get comfortable with the hand motions: the crosses, the brushes, the switching and the circling. Memorize the holy prayers in Christianity: The Apostles Creed, the Beatitudes, Our Father, Hail Mary (Powwow has some Catholic flavor in it), etc. Memorize the important psalms for magic workers: 23, 121, 51, whatever you feel connected to. Get used to the layout of the spells and talismans. Start making them, and practicing them on plants. Powwow can be done on all that lives.

5.) Get a basic knowledge of gardening/farming. Learn the cycles of the land: work on a farm if you can, or at least grow some things if not. Learn death, learn birth. Learn animals and plants: if you’re afraid of dogs, cat, hogs, or horses, or other such animals, then it’s time to get over it and deal with that fear. Powwow is HEAVY on companion-animal imagery: confront your fear with the help of a professional, and deal with it.

6.) Initiation. Some believe it’s necessary, others don’t. Personally, I do (unless you come from a family line, in which case, you should at the very least self initiate). 

So here in southcentral PA, we had a real bad storm this evening. It took down trees all over the place. Including in my late-grandparents backyard. Our huge old maple had FIVE limbs, each one about 25 feet long, 14 feet wide, and at least a foot in diameter of the main branch, ripped off. 

From where they were, they should’ve fallen on the house and garage roof. The wind SHOULD have carried them there like it did everyone else’s all around us.