Hollerbeer Haven

HOLLERBEER HAVEN
SUMMER 2014
Hollerbeer Haven
Journal of Urglaawe, Braucherei, Hexerei, and Deitsch Wisdom
Volume 7, Issue 2
Urglaawe Guilds
Providing a Path to Learn Braucherei and
Hexerei in the Urglaawe Context
One of the primary challenges that faces all
practitioners of Braucherei and Hexerei is the
transmission of knowledge about the practices
in our modern societal structure. The
traditional paradigm consisted of a masterapprentice relationship that lasted a lifetime.
Typically, the practitioners lived in a small
town and were able to interact on a regular
basis, sharing knowledge and information as
incidents arose. At least once annually, all of
the members of a given Freindschaft, or
lineage, would meet and share information that
would keep all members informed of new
methods of engaging in workings or new
challenges that the entire Freindschaft could
work on.
This paradigm still exists in some settings,
particular among the elder generations. The
younger generations, though, often live far from
one another and have limited free time due to
work, family, and other time constraints. Most
of us who are Brauchers continue to have
apprentices, approximating the original method
In This Issue
Urglaawe Guilds:
1
Providing a Path to Learn Braucherei and Hexerei
in the Urglaawe Context
Common Guild Topic 1
4
Common Guild Topic 2
4
Reconciliation of Braucherei and Hexerei
5
Upcoming Events
1
Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day 2014
2
News from Distelfink
7
of transmission as much as possible. However,
there are many interested and qualified people
out in the Diaspora who do not have access to
established Braucherei or Hexerei practitioners
anywhere near them. This situation is
particularly acute for those of us who work
within the Urglaawe context, so we are taking
steps to remedy the situation by creating online
guilds where one may learn the rudiments of
Continued on
3
Erntfescht
Zisasege
Deitschdaag
Urglaawe thanksgiving festival
of the harvest.
Zisa's feast day, Four Quarters
Inter-Faith Sanctuary
331 years since the first Deitsch
settlers arrived in the Colonies.
Cedar Brook, NJ
Artemas, PA
September 20, 2014
September 28, 2014
October 6, 2014
HOLLERBEER HAVEN
SUMMER 2014
Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day 2014 a Huge Success!
Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day took
place on Saturday, August 30, 2014 at Clark
Park in West Philadelphia.
In 2013, our estimated attendance was
500. This year surpassed our expectations!
We exceeded 1100 attendees! The Board of
Directors would like to extend a hearty
"thank you" to our vendors and entertainers
and to all of the folks who turned out to
support the event!
We have already begun the planning
and preparation for the 2015 event. The
scheduled date is Saturday, September 5,
2015, in Clark Park A at 4300 Baltimore
Avenue, Philadelphia. We believe Park A
suits us perfectly, and the presence of the
food trucks and the farmers' market attracts
more people to celebrate the harvest with
us.
Due to the growth of the event, we have
increased the number of members on the
Board of Directors to eleven. This will help
our committees to function more efficiently
and will also allow for more representation
of the various traditions in our diverse
community.
Additionally, Philadelphia Pagan Pride
and the Delaware Valley Pagan Network are
now combining resources in order to help to
maintain the momentum generated by
Philadelphia Pagan Pride Day. Each will
support and promote grassroots events like
Krampuslauf
Philadelphia
while
maintaining its own identity. Members of
the Pagan community are welcomed to join
the DVPN Meetup and Facebook groups to
promote their events of all sorts.
WEBSITES:
PPPD:
http://www.philadelphiapaganpride.org
http://www.meetup.com/PhiladelphiaPPD
http://www.facebook.com/groups/philadelphiapagapride
DVPN:
http://www.meetup.com/dvpn-org
http://www.facebook.com/groups/19305827704
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HOLLERBEER HAVEN
SUMMER 2014
Chart
updated on
10/8/14
Urglaawe Guilds
Providing a Path to Learn Braucherei and Hexerei in the Urglaawe Context
the practices from anywhere in the world. The
goal is to provide accurate information to folks
who are already engaged in similar functions
but who wish to apply Braucherei or Hexerei
principles to their work.
In order to proceed cautiously and carefully
with respect to the integrity of the traditions, we
are focusing on aspects of Braucherei and
Hexerei that do not contain many Verbots
(roughly taboos, typically on commending
something to the written word or on sharing
outside of an established Freindschaft) and that
do not require an apprenticeship. This means
we may write about sympathetic and energetic
healing, but we are not establishing an online
guild at this time for those aspects of the
practice.
We are beginning with two specialized
guilds:
the
Urglaawischi
Fasserkunscht
Freindschaft (the Urglaawe Fiber Arts Guild)
and the Urglaawischi Blanzeheilkunscht
Freindschaft (the Urglaawe Herbalism Guild).
The leaders of the guild studies at this time are
Orva Clubb, Martin Eckhart, and Rob LuschSchreiwer.
Our targeted population consists of those
who are already adept at fiber artwork or aware
of herbalism to some degree and those who are
interested in those areas. There is no minimum
requirement to participate. The current plan is
that, as time goes on, the active participants will
become masters of the particular specialty of the
respective guild. If they wish to continue to
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HOLLERBEER HAVEN
apprenticeship
in
the
remaining aspects of the
practices, we will devise a
method for them to achieve
that goal.
Once someone achieves
mastery of a specialty, they
will have the ability to train
others within the guild.
Common Guild Topic 1:
1. We are sharing
information here freely in
order
to
increase
the
comprehension of -- and the
accessibility to -- Braucherei
and Hexerei. In past venues,
we had discovered that the
information we shared was
taken without our knowledge
and
published
without
citation and with not even a
reference to the discussion
group.
If anyone wishes to write
something
based
on
information drawn from here
(the Guild groups), please
make it known that doing so
is a goal and purpose and
consult with Rob Schreiwer
regarding fair and proper
citation of any intellectual
material. Much of what is
presented here is the result of
years of research and work
on the part of the Oley
Freindschaft,
Distelfink
Sippschaft,
Farm
at
Coventry,
Three
Sisters
Center,
Urglaawe
organizations, and dedicated
individuals. We would be
happy to aid those who wish
SUMMER 2014
to create more scholarly or
experiential
materials
regarding these practices,
and we will help to ensure
that authors can
give
appropriate credit when and
where it is due.
2.
Normal
etiquette
applies here (to the groups'
online discussion forums).
There will be no "flame
wars" or ad hominem
attacks, etc. We do not
expect this to be an issue, but
we do reserve the right to
remove disruptions from the
group (and the Guild).
Should a need arise for more
detailed etiquette rules, they
will be added to this section.
3. This is an Urglaawe
guild. That does not mean
that information from other
sources may not be remarked
upon for comparison or
contrast. In fact, such
remarks can serve as a frame
of reference regarding the
Deitsch culture, language,
and religious identity within
the
Teutonic
family.
However, the primary focus
is on learning and exploring
the legacies, traditions, and
evolution that are unique to
Braucherei (and Hexerei) in
the Deitsch culture.
4. One need not identify
as an Urglaawe or possess a
Deitsch identity or ancestry
to participate fully in this
group.
5. There is no minimum
requirement of experience to
join this Guild.
6. There are some
aspects to Hexerei and
Braucherei,
particularly
certain
prayers
and
incantations, upon which
there is a "Verbot" (sort of
like a taboo) in place. The
Verbot typically applies to
having the oral expression
committed to writing or
having certain utterances or
gestures shared outside of
master
Brauchers
and
apprentices.
There
are
reasons for the Verbots that
involve requiring a level of
commitment and resolve on
the part of the learner; plus,
as a dynamic practice, the
writing of some of these
expressions would remove
that dynamism. Fortunately,
there are far fewer Verbots
than in the Christian context,
though we are oathed to
respecting the integrity of the
practice regardless of the
religious context.
7. The texts of the
discussions will be numbered
and posted in the Files
section of the Guild's group
on Facebook.
Common Guild Topic 2:
Several years ago, those
of
us
who
practice
Braucherei or Hexerei (or
Continued on page 5
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HOLLERBEER HAVEN
SUMMER 2014
Urglaawe Guilds (continued from page 4)
individual traditions within each) began to see a
need to increase the accessibility to information
on the heirloom traditions. The creation of
these Urglaawe guilds is the first step in the
process.
The end goal is to establish a responsible
method of disseminating information while
respecting the values that have maintained
these practices over the centuries. We are
beginning this process on Facebook because it
is a great place to lay the foundation for ideas
and plans that we (Orva and Rob) had
developed in earlier discussions.
The current vision of the guild arrangement
appears on page 3 of this issue. This will likely
evolve as we see what works and what might be
tweaked to improve.
Reconciliation of Braucherei and Hexerei
Perhaps the most divisive debate within the
culture of the practice relates to the merits of,
the differences between, and the similarities of
Braucherei and Hexerei. This debate fans out
into the wider culture and results in a skewed
interpretation of Braucherei as being "good"
and
Hexerei
being
"evil."
Similar
misconceptions are that Braucherei is "white
magic" while Hexerei is "black magic." Perhaps
the worst misconception is that Hexerei is of
the Left Hand Path and Braucherei is of the
Right Hand Path. Those of us who practice in
the Urglaawe context reject all of these
statements as oversimplifications, and one of
the functions of the Guilds is to bring the
knowledge from Braucherei and Hexerei
practitioners together into one cohesive
practice.
A similar meme is that Braucherei
empowers the client or the community while
Hexerei empowers the practitioner. There may
be some truth to the latter statement, but all of
the aforementioned statements do not consider
the totality of either practice, nor do they
consider the realities of the variants of the
Deitsch language. In some areas, the two terms
are indeed defined by the beneficiary of the
work. However, in many other areas, the two
terms are interchangeable, and in yet other
areas, only one term or the other exists.
Urglaawer have been going by the term that the
practitioner uses to describe his or her own
work. For example, Rob uses "Braucherei" and
Orva uses "Hexerei," though the work each is
doing is the same. We reject the dichotomy and
the
appropriation
of other traditions'
terminologies to define us and our work.
Continued on page 6
Current Urglaawe Guilds on Facebook
Urglaawischi Fasserkunscht Freindschaft - Urglaawe Fiber Arts Guild
http://www.facebook.com/groups/597072713743729
Urglaawischi Blanzeheilkunscht Freindschaft - Urglaawe Herbalism Guild
http://www.facebook.com/groups/552874814839224
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HOLLERBEER HAVEN
SUMMER 2014
Urglaawe Guilds (continued from page 5)
So where do
dichotomy come
moral dualism of
place everything
profane.
these misconceptions and this
from? Their origins are in the
the monotheistic religions that
into a category of sacred or
This is a view of existence that is
incompatible with the Heathen mindset, which
instead focuses on the results of our intentions,
words, and actions. This is not a simple topic, so
I will refer interested people to read some of the
writings about multiple forms of dualism and the
contrasting Heathen beliefs. Two analyses I
would recommend are the following:
Bil Linzie's Investigating the Afterlife Concepts of
the Norse Heathen: A Reconstructionist's Approach.
December 20, 2005.
http://www.tinyurl.com/4x2766
Hrafknell's Past, Present, and Future, Part 6. A
Heathen's Day, 2006.
http://www.tinyurl.com/ovv7p5v
defuse the
practitioners
mindset.
needless division among
who share the Heathen
Of course, this integration does not
resolve potential conflicts with a minority of
those who practice in the Christian context.
However, we must keep in mind that there is
a great number of Brauchers in the Urglaawe
and the Christian contexts who are able to
share ideas and work together on common
goals from different perspectives. Rather
than focusing on what separates us, we
prefer to engage in what we have in
common.
So the first guilds are now underway
with some fascinating conversations about
the application of Braucherei and Hexerei
energies to the work of the participants. This
is the beginning of a long evolutionary
process. The next guilds that will be formed
will be the Artisans, Customs, and
Musicians guilds. Hail!
Although these works focus on the topic
from the Scandinavian point of view, the
understandings in Urglaawe are very similar. We
must shed the presumption that works that
benefit the practitioner are automatically evil
and instead focus on the intentions and the
results of the works performed. Braucherei and
Hexerei in the Urglaawe context must be
assessed on their own merits rather than by the
polarizing measuring stick of religious
viewpoints that are foreign to the roots of both
practices.
Integration brings about the gain of a great
body of oral and written knowledge and can
approach all of our work holistically. This
integration will allow for learners in the Guilds
to understand the need to act responsibly and
respectfully in their practice, and it will help to
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HOLLERBEER HAVEN
SUMMER 2014
Neiichkeede vum Distelfink
News from Distelfink
First Book of Urglaawe Myths
Here is a long overdue publication of some Deitsch
myths in the Urglaawe context. Read about the
cleverness of some beavers, the mysterious Holle's
Mill, and the lore of the Allemaengel and the Eternal
Hunter's heroic rescue of the Deitsch settlers.
This book is the first in a series of myths and saga
publications that will provide insight into the
Urglaawe understanding of life.
You may find the book on Amazon or Createspace.
Schreiwer Re-Elected to High Rede of The Troth
At Trothmoot 2014 in Osage Hills State Park in Oklahoma, Rob Lusch-Schreiwer was
re-elected to the High Rede of the Troth and continues his role as the Assistant Steer
(Vice-President) of the organization. Thank you all for the support!
Trothmoot 2015 will be held at Camp Netimus in Milford, PA. Distelfink will play a
significant role in pulling off the event!
Lusch-Musselman Graabhof
The date for the legal procurement of the Urglaawe cemetery is in late September. We
hope that all goes well in the process and that Distelfink will soon have another Hof
grounds to serve as a final resting place for Heathens and also to serve as grounds for a
future Saal. We hope to have good news for the Fall 2014 issue.
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HOLLERBEER HAVEN
SUMMER 2014
Distelfink Sippschaft
Distelfink Sippschaft is an Urglaawe
kindred and 501(c)(3) not-for-profit
religious organization registered in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The
Sippschaft's public events take place
primarily in Fleetwood, Berks County,
PA ad Cedar Brook, NJ. Distelfink also
maintains
the
Lüsch-Müsselman
Graabhof cemetery in Mahoning
Township, Carbon County, PA.
Distelfink Sippschaft
P.O. Box 2131
Bristol, PA 19007
http://www.distelfink.org