These colorful folk art "pictures" painted on barns and hung in homes have special meanings. They are the unique art form of the Shamanic Pennsylvania Dutch.
Hexology
Drive into Pennsylvania Dutch Country and you will see beautiful decorations painted on barns. They are colorful stylized pictures within circles, beautiful folk art. Dine in a restaurant featuring Pennsylvania Dutch food and you are likely to see the folk art on the walls.
The Pennsylvania Dutch are the German and Swiss people from the Palatine region who immigrated to the New World during the late 1600s and early 1800s. Outsiders regard us as dull, ignorant and superstitious people. The Dutch have wisdom, humor and Shamanic knowledge. When outsiders ask about the art, the answer could be “chust for pretty” or to “keep witches away.”
When the Dutch arrived in the New World, they brought their customs like the Christmas tree, their “wonderful good” food, hospitality, holistic healing, folk art and their Shamanic beliefs and magick.
PowWow is the Shamanic or magickal system of the Dutch. The holistic healers are called PowWow Doctors. Those who design the hex signs and haus segens are Hexmeisters.
Hex signs are a magickal art form designed to bring the positive, including protection, abundance, love, strength, luck, spirituality and good fortune and protect from evil. They are not merely decorative or superstition. They are both amulets, meant to ward off the negative and to protect, and talismans, intended to attract the positive. Over the years, the symbols and colors have evolved. Colors and symbols have been added to the original ones of the Germanic/Nordic Pagan or Shamanic tradition.
When these art forms are painted or hung on barns, they are called hex signs. When hung in the homes, they are haus segens, however most people use the words “hex signs” to refer to both.
They are painted on barns to protect the animals, fertility, abundance, luck, and to bring rain in times of drought.
They are hung in the homes for protection, good fortune, love, luck, abundance, blessings, harmony, hope, life, vitality, strength, health, and spirituality. These may have words in them. Sometimes the Bird of Paradise is a welcome sign and bears the Dutch word, “Wilkom.” Other words can be “Good luck,” “Love and Happiness,” “God Bless this House,” and the names of a couple in a relationship within a heart to ensure a loving happy relationship.
Some haus segens are passed down from generation to generation, like family coats of arms are.
Meanings of the Stylized Art
Each picture is symbolic of what is desired.
Rosettes: harmony, success, wealth, happiness
Morning Star (eight pointed star): good fortune, love, fertility, harmony, life, hope, prosperity, happiness, love, pleasure
Star: protection
Heart: all forms of love
Waves: smooth interactions
Tulips: faith, hope, charity
Distelfink (Goldfinch): good luck and fortune
Bird of Paradise: mystery of life on God’s earth, beauty, wonder
Chevrons: projection of power
Raindrop: rain
Crescent moons: the four seasons
Oak leaves: strength
Unicorn: piety and virtue
Meanings of the colors:
Red: power, passion, strength, creativity, love, strong emotions, action
Orange: career, energy, strength, passion
Yellow: the Sun, fertility, health, connection with the Divine, truth revealed
Green: fertility, success, abundance, luck, prosperity, growth
Blue: connection to the Divine, truth, protection, healing, peace, spirituality
Purple: all things sacred, the highest spiritual level
Brown: friendship, strength, agriculture
White: purity, protection, joy, the Universe, purity of mind, the power of the Moon, water
Black: protection, absorbs and banishes evil
