#distelfink

[wildlifegermany]

Thank you for visit my Blog >HERE<

[geopsych]

Goldfinch eating seeds from a spent echinacea flower. Two natives (ish—the echinacea would have grown further west but the goldfinches were here.)

[besidethepath]

The sunflowers in the garden are fading and prospective customers for the seed are coming

[podartists]

Stieglitz und Buchfink | Die Vögel (1913) | Alfred Edmund Brehm (1829-1884) | Biodiversity Heritage Library

[coffeenuts]

Stieglitz by Hobbyknipsel https://flic.kr/p/2omY42h

[legoff72]

Rough sketch to finished oil pastel

[bananagrin]

Trying to uh. Do what every other Gander Fander (TM) has been doing for the last ten years and figure out how Gladstone’s parents died if his mom was so lucky ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

What if his mom was just normal lucky from a single-distelfink hex sign done by that painter, and before Gladstone hatched his parents tried to copy that sign but they went like. Drastically Overboard with their research and ended up three distelfinks, two green rosettes, a star, a huge orange heart symbol, a shamrock, etc. etc. and also an inverted version of this sign which causes crazy bad luck if you mess with it, (and maybe they even tried to mix it with magic that has nothing to do with hex signs? Like a blessing for Lady Fortuna??), and then of course something went horribly wrong when the hex signs were activated

[sunrisedespair]

American Magic: Pennsylvania Dutch Hex Signs, Fraktur, Spells, and  Symbolism

My dad’s family is from PA, and we had a hex sign on our house: A large single star, for protection. 

But what are hex signs, in the context of Pennsylvania Dutch culture? 

Fraktur and Pennsylvania Folk Art

Fraktur originally referred to the stylised German and Dutch calligraphy styles, but as Dutch and German people developed local art forms distinct to their shared communities in Pennsylvania, the folk art style overall became known as Fraktur. 

The symbolism is extremely important in both Fraktur and Hex Signs, with each represented symbol, animal, or plant having a meaning. 

What are Hex Signs?

Hex Signs are placed on homes and barns, to protect the people, livestock, crops, and property from harm; These are usually stars, as the star represents protection, safety, and spiritual guidance/guardian angels (think like the North Star, which is a navigation tool). 

More complex painted signs are often made, usually in a large roundel and with many different motifs based on what the desired “hex” is. 

For example, oak leaves symbolises strength, tulips are faith or loyalty, and so on. 

You can check the chart here, which I can verify are correct based on the rural PA folklore I grew up with in West PA: 

Now, Fraktur applies to the illustration and craft methods and motifs, such as the famous Distelfink, which is a stylised bird and can be found alone, in pairs, and on everything from furniture to Hex Signs to wedding certificates and documents. This document is also written in the Fraktur calligraphy style: 

But Hex Signs and Fraktur overlap, in the spiritual use of the art and symbolism elements. 

For example, below is a classic SATOR square, in the Fraktur PA Dutch style: 

Fraktur and Hex Signs were not religiously prosecuted despite the fact that most people did believe in their power and employed charms like the above adaptation of a SATOR square commonly, in addition to Christian prayers and “old world” prayers that carefully utilised the combined ideas of Christian belief and folk magic practice.  

They were seen as something culturally significant that extended beyond the reach of any religious criticism from any of the various formal Christian churches or Quaker meetings that most attended, and it was not seen as malicious or recognised as witchcraft outright. 

Some did resist it, or feared it, but many would use folk magic solutions when praying alone didn’t seem to bring results. 

Ridding Warts with Potatoes: A Classic PA Dutch Spell 

A common PA Dutch folk magic thing some people still do, including my family, is to slice a potato and place it on a wart under a full moon. As the moon wanes, the wart will disappear, and on the new moon it should be gone. 

You might laugh, but I tried this on a verruca wart I had on my thumb. I don’t have the wart anymore! 

This is because potato roots can develop wart-like clusters: 

You can see how the potato warts resemble certain types of mosaic type warts on human skin.

The idea is that the potato you place on your skin “absorbs” your wart; A common theme in folk magic around the world is the concept of similarity and replacement. 

Find something that looks, feels, smells, etc. similar to what you want done or what you want removed, and use the similar object to “swap” for what you actually want or need done. 

Hexes, Charms, and Prayers

Interestingly, of course, the Hex Signs are called, well, Hex Signs. They knew they were casting hexes and spells, and did so frequently and with style.

Some documents here and there do mention directly that they are spells and charms; Charms especially were common, with Fraktur or Hex Sign illustrations containing prayers, notes, requests, etc. folded in a certain way and wrapped with a specific colour of string, then carried in the pocket regularly:

Healing charms were the most often employed; You can see a mix of Catholic saints and PA Dutch hex work combined into a healing charm here.

I hope this was educational, and if you’d like to try making a PA Dutch style hex, charm, or spell, please share it! 

I’d love to see my family’s local culture get a little revival, as not many people actively practice today; I’m probably one of the few young people that still do a lot of this stuff.