Hollerbeier Haven Guild Gatherings

$35 members/ $45 non-members for each event

Guild Gatherings are held at

Indigo Natural Healing Center

15525 Kutztown Rd, Kutztown, PA 19530

Three Sisters Center for the Healing Arts teaches about PA German folk medicine and spirituality. For more information, please call Jesse at 484.336.4611 Note: Due to space restrictions, the Guild Gatherings are pre-registered events limited to 25, at this time.Download the registration form here!

  • May 30th, 2009: Of Plants and Sympathies This month Susan Hess and Rob Lusch will join together to bring us a coherent look at traditional Deitsch medicine. Susan has spent many years studying the folkloric use of Herbs in traditional medicine. In recent years she has pinpointed Deitsch use of Herbs in particular. Rob has spent his time in the study of prayers and sympathies as well as some of the "superstitions" of the Deitsch folk. In this guild meeting they will share both of these important elements of Deitsch folk medicine with us, demonstrating the integrated way in which many traditional cures were made.

  • June 27th, 2009: Blanzeschwetze - "Speaking with Plants" Held at Farm at Coventry in Pottstown, PA In June Jesse Tobin and Susan Hess will join together to discuss the Braucherei practice of "Blanzeschwetze" (speaking with plants). They will also discuss the ritual use of herbs in Braucherei. There are several medicinal herbs that are particularly important to the PA German healing tradition. Susan and Jesse will explain in depth about some of these plants: their character, cultural significance, and use in medicine and healing ceremony.

  • July 25th, 2009: Ceremonies in Life Transition The Braucherei tradition includes ceremonies for nearly every conceivable life transition. At this gathering we will focus on the various transitional ceremonies (ie: Birth, Coming of Age, Death, etc), as well as simple ceremonies of the day to day. We will discuss the traditional use of these ceremonies, and the variations we have found among the Braucherei community. We will explore the wholeness and harmony that the presence of ceremony can bring to our lives and how we can incorporate these traditional ways into our modern world.

  • August 29th, 2009: Wheel of the Year, Part 2 During our August gathering we will discuss the dark half of the year, from Alleliebeziel (Halloween) to Walpurgisnacht (May Eve). The information we will be sharing comes predominantly out of the Oley Braucherei Freindschaft (the Oley lineage of Braucherei). We will focus on the major and minor feasts acknowledged in the Braucherei tradition during this part of the year. In addition to this we will explore the significance of each of the six moons, of this half of the year. We will discuss the significance of each moon from the perspective of the Greek Zodiac and the Oley-Pikeville moon Calendar.

  • September 26th, 2009: Urglaawe August's gathering will focus on "Urglaawe" or "Original Faith". Urglaawe is a heathen faith based upon Continental Germanic and Pennsylvania German tradition. Rob Lusch will be sharing his knowledge of Urglaawe with us during this gathering. He has been working tirelessly to establish Urglaawe as a recognized faith, and to revive and educate others about its evolution, beliefs, and practices of Urglaawe. We will be discussing the long standing beliefs and traditions that are central to Urglaawe and their relevance in modern life.

  • October 31st, 2009: Psychic Self Defense Everyday we swim through a sea of energy, emotion, and thought. Waves of energy and emotion connect us all to each other often in healthy and beneficial ways, but not always. Despite this, most people of today’s world do not consider or concern themselves with thoughts of psychic self-defense. October’s gathering will focus on methods of spiritual self-defense from the Braucherei tradition. We will cover a variety of practices from charms and sympathies to the breaking of hexes, as well as the use of seasonal work in psychic self-defense.

  • November 14th, 2009: Traditional Archetecture of the PA Deitsch: Heirlooms of Green Building November’s gathering will discuss the unique architecture of the PA German people. We will look that the many traditional building techniques and designs, their specificity to Pennsylvania’s climate, and their applicability in Green Building.