John George Hohman

Pow-Wows, or Long Lost Friend John George Hohman

2017 Reprint of 1855 Edition. Written by a Pennsylvania Dutch healer in 1820 in German, this book is a rambling collection of rural home remedies and folk invocations. Pow-wow is a unique creole of Christian theology and a shamanistic belief system. It is still practiced in some rural areas of Pennsylvania. In spite of the name, it is not of Native American derivation. It is believed to have been brought over to America by German immigrants who practiced folk-magic. It was not translated into English until 1855. This edition is based on the English translation of 1855.

This little book includes healing spells, binding spells, protective spells, talismans, wards and benedictions. The text is also of historical interest, as it paints a vivid picture of the miseries of rural American life in the early nineteenth century. The original is very rare.