Paganism/Wicca

» Elizabeth Yetter - Pow Wows

I just wanted to drop a note to say that while I enjoyed the article on Pow Wows, it wasn't entirely accurate. My great-grandmother was a Pennsylvania Pow Wow in the York area. She had a gift for stopping the flow of blood and many people went to her first, to stop wounds from bleeding, before traveling on to the hospital to get stitched (if they didn't do it themselves).

While I may be a lifelong Pagan, my great-grandmother was not. She did not hold any ancient Pagan beliefs in regards to the old deities. In fact, there is a story in my family about how her husband brought home some books on the occult and she made him get rid of them at once. It was too much of a risk to have that sort of material in the home and wanted nothing to do with it.

Another thing I've read while studying folklore is that PA Pow Wows pass down their knowledge. This is not necessarily true. In fact, of all the local Pow Wows I know about, none of them actually passed down their knowledge or gift. What usually happens is once the Pow Wow dies, a new family member comes along with an interest in the tradition, studies it, and gains personal experience as a Pow Wow. The Pow Wow tradition is in the blood, but hasn't been orally passed down from practitioner to student.