Magical objects in the Pennsylvania Dutch Appalachian folk tradition are everyday objects: spoons, fabric, bottles, nails, butter dishes, horseshoes, tools, buttons. They are the building blocks of home, heart, and household.  As we emerge from the vulnerable stasis of winter, many of our utility objects support the same objects prepared for magical uses, like a nail in wood, a red string over a fire, or a folded piece of wool sewn into a shirt, but can also be domestic in nature. Absolve yourself of the dark rest time, and prepare for a reemergence of work, progress, and resourcefulness.  This lecture encourages listeners to calibrate your ‘objects of power’ utilizing the namesake days, moon lore and moon cycles, and bioregional plants and spoken ritual.
 
Kim Schwenk is a rare book librarian and an antiquarian bookseller with Lux Mentis, Booksellers.  She has a subject specialization in North American, Latin American, and European witchcraft history, early printed occult texts, and cunning folk magic using plants and objects.  As a master herbalist, studying bioregional flora of the Pennsylvania Dutch and their magical uses, she guides Of Oak and Ash Apothecary which is small batch quality magical wares, ritual objects, and instruments in the tradition of Appalachian folk magic, root work, and plant medicine.
 
** This recording includes full audio, powerpoint, and additonal references by the speaker. Please note there is no video.