11/16/2025
Lately I've been reading about Pennsylvania Dutch and the Hexerei / Braucherei culture... I know my dad's side of the family probably wasn't so much "Fancy Dutch" and more likely "Plain Dutch" and I don't know if any Harners practiced such "superstitions" like the hex signs. But I made my own anyway.
This one has the distelfinks, or "thislefinch" which is like a lovebird symbol. The love hex is below them. The yellow star above is to protect the house from fire. The oak leaves are for strength. The flowers are tulips, which are maybe also a Netherlands thing but PA "Dutch" is actually German. The other flowers are state flowers, IL and IN for where my partner and I came from.
Something about the formulaic way these hex signs are designed made it easy to decide to make one. There's less pressure sometimes when there's a codified recipe.
The "spells" of the Fancy Dutch Hexerei have been a big comfort for when my brain loses its grip on logic every so often. It's gotten me outside, it's given me a task to complete, and reminded me that soup is a spell too! It protects against hunger. Who knew.
Once it's time, I'll hang this above my door as prescribed.
