Hex Signs

When we write of what we know, because we grew up with the knowledge, I encourage you to ask yourself, “How do I know what I know?” If you don’t do this sort of research, and verify that what you know is real, you might end up furthering misunderstandings. One of the best examples of this is what I refer to as the hex effect which is writing about supposition rather than documented facts. The Pennsylvania Dutch word for practicing witchcraft is hexe. Perhaps one or two people did say that some other people were attempting to do harm or repel evil. But that is not well documented.

Far too many people assume that Hex signs, or the round painted symbols decorating barns, for the most part, in in Pennsylvania are related to putting a Hex on someone, means inflicting bad fortune on someone as through an evil spirit. The Pennsylvania Dutch, a term which does not refer to a specific ethnic or religious group, but rather to the German language speakers from several different groups who came into the area between the late 1600s and the early 1800s who were drawn together by a common language that over time combined into Deitsch, or Pennsylvania Dutch, a distinctive American hybrid of various dialects of German, High German, Swiss, and English.

These Deutche speakers were largely agrarian people with barns. They enjoyed decorating their barns with circular patterns incorporating symbols of stars, birds, and other pleasing, simple fare, such as hearts and flowers. There are geographic patterns in the distribution of signs.

To read more about this topic, check out the newletter of the Glencairn Museum .

I have yet to find any convincing evidence of these signsbeing related to anything evil. Most of the people who have written simple books on this subject did not include a bibliography and were not original practitioners of the painting practice.

Language changes. Do your research before you attribute meaning other than to say, “So-and-so told me about this word.”

An example of Pennsylvania Dutch people adopting words and practices of the Lenape tribe was when the Pennsylvania Dutch learned some of the Lenape ways and added them to their healing ceremonies (Braucherei); these German healers became known as “Powwow Doctors.”

Document where you learned of something and what source you used to verify that thing.