Hex and Spellwork

Discover the magic behind the enchanting Hex symbols with this illustrated guide to hex practices, including instructions on how to draw your own hex.

In Pennsylvania Dutch country, among the Old Order Amish and the strict Mennonite congregations, there remains the remnants of one of the oldest European magical practices found in America: Hex, or Hex und Speilwerk, or Pow Wow. In Hex and Spellwork, third-generation Hexenmeister Karl Herr teaches the actual practices and examines the history of the Swiss-German traditions from which Hex and Pow Wow are derived.

Hex work echoes the magical arts that reach back to the earliest beginnings of human civilization. Evoked to assist people in health and earthly prosperity and to achieve what they legitimately desire in life, or to counteract the negative spell of a witch, hex is positive magic, never used for evil. Hex work is firmly founded in the Christian religion, with a liberal dose of Swiss-German folk superstition. The Bible is a great influence on all Hex work, which originates in the Gospel of Matthew, where Christ insists that all people of good heart and a pure soul could perform miracles.

Determined not to let the oral tradition of hex vanish, Herr records many of the essential practices such as:

• Verbal charms for healing, considered by many to be folk prayers
• The magic of stones and other natural objects
• Folk remedies, such as using dried chickweed to stave off colds
• Himmelbriefs—heavenly letters written either to God, or to gain the assistance of someone who is in heaven.
• Hex signs that can be used to reduce anxiety and control spiritual forces.