June 26, 2022 • 42 mins
In Williams Township PA there exists a place in the woods called Hexenkopf Rock - it means Witch’s Head. However, Williams Township is not the only place in which these strange tales persist. In Stewartstown, PA there is a place called Rehmeyer's Hollow where tales of hexerie, curses, witches, murders and hauntings are still told today.
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LINK to EVERYTHING: https://solo.to/etpia
[MUSIC USED IN THIS EPISODE]
Music from https://filmmusic.io "In Your Arms" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
[THANKS & MENTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE]
Stephanie Kemmerer, researcher & writer for Even the Podcast is Afraid, conducted all the writing and research for this series on Rehmeyer's Hollow.
Created, produced, & hosted by Jared Ordis
Co-hosted by Nick Porchetta & Samantha Vazquez
Even the Podcast is Afraid is an original Ordis Studios Production
Copyright © 2022 by Ordis Studios
solo.to/ordisstudios
[SOCIAL MEDIA, OUR TV SHOW, PATREON, & MORE]
LINK to EVERYTHING: https://solo.to/etpia
[MUSIC USED IN THIS EPISODE]
Music from https://filmmusic.io "In Your Arms" by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
[THANKS & MENTIONS FOR THIS EPISODE]
Stephanie Kemmerer, researcher & writer for Even the Podcast is Afraid, conducted all the writing and research for this series on Rehmeyer's Hollow.
Created, produced, & hosted by Jared Ordis
Co-hosted by Nick Porchetta & Samantha Vazquez
Even the Podcast is Afraid is an original Ordis Studios Production
Copyright © 2022 by Ordis Studios
solo.to/ordisstudios
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
We ain't gonna stand Even the Podcastis Afraid. Welcome to Even the Podcast
(00:21):
Is Afraid. I'm here with Nickand Sam as we start our series on
John Blamore or blin Meyer, Witches, curses, and Rhymer's Hollow Rhyme Rhymo's
Hollow, Rymer Raamer. It soundsspooky, yeah like Rhymer's hollow, sounds
(00:44):
like a porn It sounds like afucking a Mario Kart level. Well,
the Leafs used to have a goalienamed James Rhymer. Nice. Of course,
Rhymer's follow also sounds like a telenovelait does does or a soap it
does Yeah yeah. But obviously beforewe get into Rhymer's Hollow, we have
(01:07):
to mention the Crime and Conspiracy Network. If you want to see brand new
episodes of our TV show, godownload it on iOS, Android, Google
Play, Roku, Visio TV's andthe Amazon app store. It's completely free.
You just have to watch some adswhen you watch it, or you
can go watch old episodes on ourYouTube channel. The one that has currently
(01:30):
been uploaded is sidecrimell Well Was aWhale Tale Side Crime Well Tales. That
is the newest episode on YouTube.But it's actually a old episode, So
if you want to go watch someof the old ones, you can watch
them there, or you can watcheven the old ones on the Crime and
Conspiracy Network because it's on demand.So there you go, like Netflix,
(01:55):
just like Netflix. Now, Iknow neither one of you have ever heard
of the story that we're going todiscuss us in the stupid Nope. It
has to deal with murder, curses, witchcraft, satan. Oh yeah,
so it's alreadys the time Friday Night. It is. This literally covers just
(02:15):
about everything we talk about. Nice, it really does. Yeah. Also,
and since Stephanie researched and wrote this, just like she has on most
of our series, it's actually outof Pennsylvania, her home state. Oh,
I'll look at that. In thesecond part. You'll see she even
(02:37):
has a story that she's dealt inthis area. There happened in this area.
So nice. I've driven through Pennsylvania, but I've never actually been.
I'd like to go and visit,you know, I'm afraid of Pennsylvania.
Gritty lives there. Oh, noFlyer's mascot. I love how I knew
(02:59):
exactly you were talking about. No, thank you. I will not be
visiting. Now, all right,are y'all ready to go into the series
on Rhymer or I hope I'm sayingthe name of this thing, ray Meyer,
Rhymers. I'm just gonna say Rhymer'shollow. Yeah. Pennsylvania has a
(03:23):
strange and rich history of bizarre,occultic or semi occultic beliefs. The settling
of Pennsylvania by a large number ofDutch, which your German immigrants, plays
a big role in this. Ifyou have ever seen a heck sign,
you may not realize that these werepart of the hex ory or Powwell medicine.
I have a Dutch action, isn'tthat feared? I love gold?
(03:47):
So what you're saying, is Nick, that they probably all love gold and
to eat their own skin. Yes, yes, absolutely, I lost my
genitalia in an unfortunate smelting accident.All the things you learned from Austin Powell.
Powell medicine was an esoteric eso youknow what I was. That's what
(04:12):
that was the word I was goingto say, Nick, I didn't get
my wind there. Though. Esotericpractice related to fate healing and witchcraft inheriting
traditions brought over by the Pennsylvania Dutchsettlers from Germany. In the US,
the practice centered around a book ofmagical recipes called Powells or The Long Lost
Friend by Johan George Hoeman or HamanPowows. It's Powell medicine. Powow medicine.
(04:44):
Not to be mistaken with Native AmericanPowells. Okay, yeah, because
that's just a meeting, isn't itcorrect? Is that? Yeah? Okay?
Yes, yes. In Williamstownship,Pennsylvania, there exists a place in
the woods called hexan cough Rock.It means which is head. It's told
in the book Ghost Stories of theLive Valley or the Lee Valley or Lie
(05:06):
Valley. I think it's Lehigh Valley. It might be. Why I know
that because it's a minor league hockeyteam in Lehigh Valley. Of course,
well, there we go, LehighValley. Hex and Couf Rock was said
to be a place where bad spiritswere removed from sick humans. Once removed,
a new home for these bad spiritswas required, and so this very
(05:30):
lock cropping of rocks nestled deep inthe woods was said to be the place
where they were placed. So that'sthe care for COVID this whole time,
and the High Valley they were exercisingfurniture head. You know what's interesting about
that though both of you have seenthe player which project right? Absolutely?
Yeah. Do you think Hexan KoufHexan Kouff Rock was the inspiration for the
(05:58):
rock area? What do they callit? Him? Blair Witch? It
was where where he went and murderedall the children at that rock or something
like that, right, child killedRock? It was not child killed Rock.
I can't remember the name of it. But I wonder if this rock
was inspiration since it means which hishead right? Right? These woods are
(06:21):
indeed very creepy, but perhaps evencreepier was the man who would drive along
the road and call the cops onanyone who did not belong there. It
sounds like a lot of Karen's today. Yeah, just didn't want anybody around
there, just calling calling nine oneone on kids? That are you know?
I have lemonade? No lemonade stands. Did somebody call on a chill
(06:47):
a child? That was? Yeah? I did catch them on video.
I thought it was a video.She got charged for it, yeah,
oh yeah or something. Isn't thatinsane? She got charged. Yeah,
well, yeah, you're wasting youyou're wasting like you know, their time
and shit, they gotta get get, you know, something out of it.
(07:11):
What's funny is is that you talkabout Karen's or whatever. Back when
we were kids, so this waslate nineties or whatever, we used to
ride the seeds and stuff up throughthe uh you know, you know what
a booy is, right, yeah, okay, we're awake. Booy that
tells you how fast you can goslow down? C Yeah, all right,
(07:32):
Well we used to do that inthe slough. Used to ride the
seed and you know, go backand forth or whatever, and we used
to have this. Uh. Therewas this guy named Billie Glasscock, so
you could call him Willie Glasscock,you could, you could, yeah,
But he was a very large man. If you know what I'm saying,
(07:53):
you like eat and so he didn'tleave his house very much. Used to
take his camp quarter and film usin the slough and they call the copy
or the water patrol. That heused to do it. Also when we
would ride dirt bikes, or wewould ride four wheelers, or we would
ride go cards up and down thedirt road and stuff, he'd call the
(08:16):
police. What are people so miserable? Police never did anything? They're like,
of course, you know, Idon't know. No, But William's
Township is not the only place inwhich these strange tales persist. In Stuartstown,
Pennsylvania, there's a place called Rhymer'sHollow where tales of hectacy curses,
(08:39):
which is, murders, and hauntingsare still told today. We all know
that the hauntings are real. That'swhy Gritty Gritty is the personification or the
mascot. He's been the one that'sbeen doing the curses. Yes, to
make sense. Yes, you can'ttell me that Gritty is not responsible for
the stics like a giant, hairynutter butter. Yeah. If you guys
(09:03):
don't know what he looks like,he's very very disturbing looking. He's the
orange. He's the orange mascot,right, Yeah, the orange mascot with
the googly eyes. Yes, wherethey get all the orange for your disturbing.
If you don't know what he lookslike, please look him up because
it's creepy. He's made a coupleappearances inside Creme, Yes he has.
He has made a couple of apparancesinside Creme. Ye. Stewartson was settled
(09:28):
as early as seventeen fifty, andit was originally called Meadstown after an appropriately
named tavern owner, Benedict Mead.Eventually, the town was renamed the Stewartsontown
after Anthony Stewart, who ran aworkshop in the town. The Stewarts and
name was officially adopted on March twentyfourth, eighteen thirty two. I heard
Anthony Stewart, and I got veryconfused, because there's a former NHL player
(09:52):
now current NHL analysts named Anthony Stewart. Yep. Everything, If you've never
noticed, everything ties with Nick tothe hockey. Everything. If you guys
don't know this by now, youhaven't been watching us long enough, and
you're probably very I'm Canadian. Ilike hockey. I'm sorry, and obviously
(10:16):
you are Canadian. You said,I'm sorry. Sorry. Ecstasy and pow
wowing are very much a part ofthe state's history Pennsylvania. Hex magic dated
back to the earliest days of thecolony, linked largely to the Pennsylvania German
or Dutch as they are often called, immigrants and their descendants. The German
(10:39):
settlers held strongly to elements of theirculture and blended customs of the old and
the New world to form a distinctidentity. Even their language became a unique
dialect. See it's kind of funnybecause um, my dad side of the
families their Italian immigrants. Yeah,and there are some italianisms that don't exist
(11:03):
in Italy that my family or youknow. Um no, no, this
is actually Italian. This is actuallyfrom Italy, I know. But I'm
doing the American version this one.I'll give you an example. So my
family here and like a lot ofthe Italian immigrants here, cream cheese became
Philadelphia because like the Philadelphia cream cheese. Yeah, so they think, oh
(11:24):
the Philadelphia right now, Italy hasits own term for cream cheese. I
assume it's like from Maggio de cremaor something like that, right from cheese,
but creamy Italian cheese, cream Italiancheese. But them all the family
that would come visit in Italy,or when the family would go to Italy
(11:45):
to visit, they would use thisterminology, uh you know the Philadelphia well
that has made its way into Italy. They will refer to cream cheese as
Philadelphia now right right, yes,pretty, And like other things, ginger
rail is a big thing. Sothat's Gingerella. It's just it's just like
(12:05):
the it's the italianize the the Englishwords, yeah, the best cement,
you know, like like words likethat. So and it's kind of made
its way over to our families inItaly. Yeah, Zoza think about that.
That's also the same thing when youlook at look at the creole yeah
(12:26):
yeah, in Louisiana, right,I mean, they speak a their own
dialect of French. It's like thequebec Qua French that we have here.
You go to France, they like, what the hell are you saying?
Well, they understand what you're saying, but it's like old old French,
yeah yeah. Or Southern yeah yeah. Look at Southern. We talk in
(12:46):
a totally different way. Go toNewfoundland to Louisiana, they're gonna have a
different like accid than Georgia. Youknow, Florida's not South, so well
Louisia Yanna has like three different accents. Oh yeah. Then you go to
New York and New Jersey. Thenyou go to Boston. Everyone sounds like
(13:11):
they have brain damage. Sorry toour Boston lesson, Nick, you are
gonna get a freaking oh my god, I'm wicked smat. Though there were
a great many different religious denominations amongthe German settlers, there was a common
tradition of folk magic that was practicedby all, with the exception of the
(13:35):
Plaine Dutch such as the Amish,who rejected the practice. The boring ones.
They don't want to practice. Butthey adopted the art of woodworking.
Oh that's and butter churning. Iwould rather learn folk magic than doing woodworking.
That just sounds so and coming upwith very interesting beards. Yes,
(13:58):
you know, funny on my wayon the rare times. Actually for draft
to work, there's like an outletmall, and then if there's a giant
sign Amish furniture warehouse or whatever,So I guess the store that Yeah,
next to this Amish furniture store isa sex shop. Oh nice, it's
two. You get a hasty rockingchair, handed dildo, both give you
(14:26):
wood. Yeah, exactly. Iwonder I wonder if the how the Amish
people feel about that working next tothe sex shop. They probably don't pay
it no attention, to be honest, no, no. For large numbers
of these Germans, the belief infolk magic was entwined with their Christian beliefs.
(14:48):
At one end of the folk magicscale was pow wowing, which had
nothing to do with the Native Americanceremonial practice of the same name. I
cleared that up for you. I'venever heard of wo outside of that,
you know, it's outside of NativeAmerican. Yeah. I didn't know.
Yeah, I didn't know it wasa thing. I didn't. You know,
when when people are just like,we're gonna have a powell like a
(15:09):
meeting, right, Yeah, butI've never heard it like outside of reference
to magic. Yeah. Yeah.Let's see, like every single year my
tribe, we have the pow wowevery single year at the same time every
single year. What is it?Usually in the fall. It's around November
(15:31):
October. It usually falls towards theend of October, getting November. What
do you guys do though, Like, is it's just like a you know,
like a hangout ceremonial, okay,ceremonial. Yeah, awesome. Pow
Wowers performed magical religious folk healing anddrew their healing power from God. Generally,
(15:54):
pow wowers provided cures and relief fromillness, protection from evil, and
the removal of hexas and curses.They also located lost objects, animals and
people, foretold the future, improvidedgood luck charms. Okay, it's like
a lot of these good like goodstuff. You know. It's like when
you think of um, it depends. It sounds like the televangelism, That's
(16:18):
what it sounds. That's so funnythough, how back then, how they
had like they they combine m magicand God and all that stuff, because
nowadays, like oh my god,if you yeah, well, Christianity is
based out of paganism. Oh yeah, yeah, of course, so paganism
(16:41):
also used magic, right yea,every religion is based on some sort of
magic. It doesn't matter what itdoes, right, right, I mean
it has to be the whole thingof any religion is the world is created
out of nothing, right yeah?Well, I mean with the Big Bang
theory, the world was created outof nothing. So that's the best you've
(17:02):
got. But this is also theart of it's a belief, right,
and everybody has a religion. Mostpeople do some sort of belief. Whether
you're a religion is pokemon or God, it's somebody, you have a religion
of some sort. But this hereis also this isn't the only culture that
(17:27):
practiced this type. They just happento call it pow wowing. So this
could also be sort of like yoursnake swindler as well. Yeah, your
snake old salesman. Yeah, we'llfind your lost objects for you and your
lost puppy. Yeah. To carryout their practices, they use charms,
(17:48):
ambulance, incantations, prayers, andrituals. It was generally believed that anyone
could powow, but members of certainfamilies were especially adept at it. These
families past traditions down from generation togeneration. Talking about my generation, so
I used to think about this.Uh, somebody I guess I would bring
(18:11):
up would be the Rochelle or Romneyum Romani gypsies. Oh yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, I don't knowwhich version, but some did the
like how they sell how they selltheir services to outsiders. Well it wasn't
just services too. Some of themdid the potions and yeah, the healing
(18:33):
and that kind of stuff, andritual stuff as well. But I can't
remember which one it is. Ijust know that it fell within the realm
of gypsy. Yeah, I shouldget into selling potions. It'll just be
like rub and coke, rum andcoke, nice bottle. That'd be.
I mean, that's a good businessidea. You should do it. Name
yeah, I will, But thinkabout it. There's a lot of cultures
(18:56):
that pass down certain things. Wecould go back and say the Amish,
right, oh yeah, yeah,the Amish traditions are just passed down,
passed down, pass down, passdown. At the other end of the
scale was hexory or witchcraft. Practitionersof black magic drew their power from the
devil or other ungodly sources. Thewhich harassed neighbors and committed criminal acts with
(19:18):
supernatural powers sometimes which is were calledhex doctors. So they were trolls essentially,
or they were supposed to look liketrolls, too ugly and unsanitary,
like they haven't bathed. I mean, it was the sixteen seventeen, eighteen
hundreds. Yeah, it's not likeit's not like everybody plumbing. Yeah not
(19:41):
not everybody was looking their best backthen. But if witches did exist,
right, that I'm supposed to looklike But in all honesty, they probably
just looked like you and me andjust regular people. You know. It's
not like they were fucking like theywitches at all. They just had a
different form of religion. Yeah,essentially, people were racist. There you
(20:07):
go, There you go. Theterm hex doctor it can be confusing because
it can imply many things. Attimes, the term was applied to pow
wowers, who were also knowledgeable inthe ways of hexory and were skilled at
battling witches and removing curses. Battling. Now, this just sounds like Harry
(20:29):
Potter. That's how I imagine,just like a big old like witch battle
just right there in the courtyard.And then and then they played quidditch after
I said you're a witch, Harryinstead, I didn't even catch on that,
And Harry Potter and all of hiswizard friends went straight to hell from
practicing witchcraft. From the Simpsons,of course, these heckx doctors fell into
(20:57):
sort of a great air you betweena witch and a power hower. Sometimes
they cast hexes for a price orout of revenge. It was not uncommon
for someone to seek out one hecksdoctor to remove the curse of another.
Oh, of course, I'm surepeople back there business everybody, you know,
(21:18):
Yeah, I probably would have beena hex doctor. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I'll remove your curse forten shillings yep, and and in
like a nice cake, warm bread. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I
guess back then, yes, yes, I don't think they will walk it
around with fucking cakes Nick that attitude. For many Pennsylvania Dutch, and certainly
(21:45):
for outsiders, powowers and witches couldnot easily be placed into categories. There
were many who labeled the use ofany folk magic as witchcraft that was strictly
forbidden by their religious beliefs. Okay, there were a lot of people that
were against it. They're like,oh, you can't bring God into it.
Think about it now, people,people do practice witchcraft today. Okay,
(22:10):
it is common knowledge. There's abunch of them in Salem today and
they're going to go straight to hell. According to some they will. But
does it really work? Who knows. I mean, the whole thing about
witchcraft is that you have to believein it. You know, you have
(22:30):
to believe in yourself. You haveto believe in what you're doing, that
it's going to bring out whatever outcomethat you're trying to to bring out,
you know, whether it's positive ornegative. Isn't that just like what that
book what was it, like theCode or whatever? The book that was
like the self help book that wasvery popular. It's called the Something I
(22:52):
mean I just did an escape roomthe other day called the Code. Oh
did you win? Nice? Wedid? We had two minutes left on
the clock. Oh hell yeah,got out very good, very cool.
Pow hours and hex doctors often workedagainst one another, with the common person
called in the middle. It wasin the setting that fault magic flourished for
more than two centuries. M damn. So yeah, like you said,
(23:17):
it was very lucrative. So somebodywould put a curse on somebody, they'd
go to a powower, the powhour would remove the curse, and then
just vice versa, just continued andcontinue. I would meanwhile, none of
these things actually worked well. Iwould hand up what curses were put on,
like the people, and how didthe people like know, you know,
like they were they just having areally bad day, and they were
(23:38):
like, there's I kept shifting myselffor days. You know, you know
what this you know what this soundslike those like Microsoft scam callers. It
was the scammers, the seventeen hundredscammers. Oh, I had I had
a scam called the Amazon scam calledthe other day and I kept the guy
on the phone for twenty minutes andit ended in me faking to shoot it
(24:00):
with police. What what? Ohmy god, this guy's gonna think you're
like dead, so he doesn't care. No, no, But essentially,
the guy who said that someone hackedmy Amazon account and they did it because
my phone was tapped, I'm like, what do you mean my phone's tapped?
And he's like, I'm like,does this have to do with like
(24:22):
the dead body I saw? LikeI reported a dead body to police like
last week, and ever since thenthey've had me number one on the suspect
list. But I was just tryingto do my you know, good part
as a good citizen because I justsaw this. And then anyway, so
then I ring the doorbell and thenI faked being the police and then I'm
like I'm like I'm not coming withyou crop and then they played gunshot sounds
(24:44):
on YouTube? Do you get wayinto character? Nick? Yeah, it
was. I could have kept theguy going, but I was bored.
Did he hang up? He hungup? Yeah? But after yeah,
oh, he called me back ona secure line because my line was tapped.
Oh yeah. Also I used thename Bobichette, which is a guy
on the Blue Jays. Witches targetedtheir victims in many ways. Since hex
(25:11):
ory was based around a farming society, many of the witch's attacks were directed
at animals and crops. They wereoften blamed when cows did not produce milk,
when seemingly helped the animal, animalsmysteriously died, or when crops failed.
Okay, so that answers my questionas to what type of curses they
were handed out. Fucking nature,Yeah, normal shit and everyday life.
(25:33):
It's so funny because it's like theydidn't think, Okay, well the cow
just got sick. It could havejust gotten you know, a disease or
whatever. Must be a witch.Yeah. I'm glad farmers today don't think
like that. Now, think ofhow much more expensive our food would be
if farmers had to hire a hexdoctor every time a crop didn't turn out
(25:55):
properly or their cow died. Ohmy god, I know what my career
would be. I'd show them belike I can get rid of your curse.
Now you gotta come in. Yougotta come in like super mysterious,
like on a carriage and with likea hoodie, you know, like flip
my hood and look just like this. Go pe at sunset around the tree
(26:22):
in a circle. It'll be fivehundred dollars, but I need it paid
and Google Play gift cards. Whenwitches went after humans, they used a
variety of torments. They were commonlysuspected of causing illnesses, especially conditions that
lingered and caused a person to wasteaway over time. A witch could also
(26:45):
use spells so launch in visible attacks, causing seizures or fits, the sensation
of being pricked or stamp or thefeeling of being choked or strangled the force.
So these witches were Jedi what beingsaid, I'm also glad that um
doctors today don't think that everything chokeforced choke. They also did not have
(27:12):
the medical ability like we do today. No, no, no, they
did not, and badly give youlead. Any anybody could be a doctor
at that point. They could justbe like put up, put on a
little nightgown looking thing and just likeI, I got the shivers, Bobby.
What we need to do is weneed What we need to do is
(27:34):
release a lot of your blood thatfix everything, of course, yes,
and then we must mutilate the cow. Oh God, that will help,
that will help it. Meanwhile,like put some meat on it. The
farmer whose cow you just killed.Didn't realize that you the doctor killed the
cow. So they think it's awitch. Oh, of course, it
(27:59):
just snowball effect. Witches could alsocause a run of bad luck for any
individual that they attact. The witchcould even appear in the form of an
animal, like a black cat,so that they could move about undetected and
harass their victims. Needless to say, just about any type of misfortune could
be blamed on a witch. Sothis is like the early days of blaming
(28:22):
immigrants. I mean, yeah,yeah, you could say that. I
guess, you know, I'm surethere was some racial connotations. In addition
to spoken words, the written wordwas also used for magic. Written ambulance
and charms were common, and manyPennsylvania Germans carried them on their person.
(28:48):
Okay, so moderate or olden dayfortune cookie? Yeah, like a lucky
charm if you would, you know, live left die. I had Chinese
food yesterday, I had I hada fortune cookie. I forgot my fortune.
I had Chinese food on a Saturday. Nice, there you go,
look at that. No, no, it was Sunday. Liza got a
(29:11):
fortune cookie, no fortune in it. She's like, I don't know what
that means. That means going tohell. No fortune. That's really funny
you say that because one of thecookies we got did not have a fortune
in it. Damn it's the supplychain issues. The supply chains are affecting
the fortune cookies. In essence,we are looking at what can be compared
(29:34):
to voodoo in a way symbols andambulance and talisman held a significant importance and
illnesses were controlled by bad actors honingtheir witchcraft, very similar to some of
the basic principles of voodoo. Makessense. Yeah, and we already know
from our Crampus episode that the Germanshad a very unique set of beliefs and
(29:59):
p This is when it came tothe occult and creepy. These were just
Germans who came to settle in Pennsylvania, bringing with them their outlandish beliefs of
the old country that scared the shipout of everyone else. Oh I bet
no. I mean imagine back then, you know, you don't know what
the fuck Crampus is. You don'tknow, you know, you just these
people are coming over here. They'relike, Yeah, there's gonna be the
(30:21):
Christmas Monster that's gonna slap your asswith the fucking you remember he was like
his asses and shit it was weirdswitches in his sack and then whips them
with switches. One of the mostimportant items for those interested in hexory and
poweine was a book called Long LostFriend written in eighteen nineteen. The compilation
(30:45):
of spells, charms, prayers,remedies in folk medicine was called Deer Lane
Verbragani Frond or The Long Lost Friend. It was the first book of Powell
magic to achieved circulation. It hasbeen been in print in either German or
English continuously since eighteen twenty. Still, aside from being a collection of charms
(31:08):
and recipes, the book itself becamea talismans kind of like actors. Now,
I wonder can you listen to thisbook on audible? Probably? And
if so, does owning like downloadingthis book on audible account as it being
a talisman? Who knows we needit? Oh? Yeah, no,
that'd be cool to read over someof the different spells and stuff. The
(31:33):
spell to grow out your penis side, Yeah, it might will be bigger
than three inches? Who want togo from three to four? And what
was an example of a resoundingly successfulearly marketing ploy Buyers of the book were
(31:55):
told they would be protected from harmmerely by carrying it. Oh gosh.
In the front of each edition wasan inscription that read this, whoever carries
this book with them is safe fromall enemies, visible and invisible. And
whoever has this book with him cannotdie without the Holy corpse of Jesus Christ,
(32:15):
nor drown in any water, norburn up in any fire, nor
can any unjust citizen be passed uponhim. So help me God. So
this book that's a lawsuit waiting tohappen. This book completely like makes you
invincible. So once you have thisbook, you cannot die. You can.
(32:37):
You can just jump in in avolcano. You'll be fine, yes,
water, you just ye Oh mygod. It's like it's like when
the red Bull commercials started giving warningsafter the red Bull gives you it doesn't
give you winks. No, yeah, it's like, actually it doesn't.
It's like, okay, because itgives you heart rate an excessive high blood
pressure. You wonder how many peopledied carrying this book. You thot they
(33:00):
were going to be absolutely invincible.I couldn't do that today because you get
so soon. Oh my god,Like shoot, me in the chest,
I have my long most friend withme. I wonder if, like in
very very tiny text, this bookdoes not guarantee you know, invincibility,
(33:22):
nility. Yeah, this magical tonewas the hottest hex book at the time.
A sex book first, No,not the hottest sex book. Those
were the brothels. Nick, youdidn't need a book, You just needed
five bucks. No, not evenback. No, probably a nickel,
a chilly that's all. Probably anickel, and get your dick sucked and
(33:47):
contract everything under the sun. Well, then you would just go to the
witch doctor so she could remove itfor you. Yes, yes, that
sounds like a very exciting trip.A must have, multifaceted and useful or
needful item. If you wanted tosit with the cool kids at the cauldron,
this was the book. You needit. If you want to be
(34:12):
invited to the popular table, youneed the book. If you wanted to
hang out with the cool witches,you needed your long lost friend book.
Yes, our long lost half off. How you say, the German Book
of the German Book, There wasanother popular book at the time. An
opposing book also came into circulation,known as the sixth and Seventh Book of
(34:34):
Moses, which contains instructions on conjuringand controlling demons. Hex Doctors all around
begin to acquire copies of the book, but merely owning it was said to
be extremely dangerous and could be evenbe fatal. That's that's not good marketing.
No, this book, but youmight die, you may be possessed
by demons. These are like differentmarketing stunts. Yeah, they got good
(35:00):
book, and then they got theevil book. You buy this book and
you get like the star Power fromSuper Mario Brothers. Buy this book and
it's the poison mushroom, or youget a one up, Yeah, get
the Extra life. Nice. Butyou can see how like that was still
kind of the the snake oil salesmantype of I just can't believe how many
(35:24):
people were so gullible back then,Like they actually thought a fucking book was
gonna keep it. The people aregullible now, Oh yeah, that's also
true. Well, how many peoplewould buy this book, you know,
saying like anything that says there wasn'tmodern medicine, Sam, there wasn't modern
(35:44):
medicine. So people believe, youknow, you're taking you're looking at a
miracle, right right? Oh yeah, yeah, back then it was taught
as good versus evil, right,yeah, so most people were forced to
go to church during that time.It was if you don't go to church,
it's a sin, or or ifyou don't do this, it's a
sin. It was a whole differentdynamic, right, yeah. And and
(36:06):
back then too, obviously, likeoccultism was super high. And I mean
obviously from this it's like people gointo yourtuality, go into witch doctors to
remove curses and all this other stuff, you know, yeah, right,
right. Actually, it's funny.Just before we started recording, my wife
was on Facebook. If you sawsomeone post something in like our community group,
(36:28):
they're dealing with like food anxiety stuff, so like they're very picky eaters.
Essentially they can't eat food and otherfood da da dada. So I
was like, how, like,does anyone know where I could get help
or whatever? Right, and peoplewere posting suggestions. One person's like pray
to Jesus. I mean, hey, if that work. I said,
Hey, if that works for you, that's great. But if someone's asking
(36:52):
for like, you know, legitadvice, like I would say, you
probably need to see a food therapist. Yes, that's most of the suggestions
were yeah, yeah, not notum yeah, prey. It's like,
oh good, I didn't you know. And this person apparently had this issue
since they were a kid, right, food therapy, yeah yeah yeah,
(37:14):
food therapy or a witch doctor.But yes, to help you, yes,
here, drink this uh un snownsubstance. Okay, But the confusing
thing about this person's post is theybought like a sub from subway or something.
They said, a sub I seewhat's from subway and they couldn't eat
(37:35):
it properly because they didn't cut itproperly. Yeah, but I'm like yeah,
but but what's confusing to me islike they can't eat food that touches
other food. But it's a sandwich. Everything's touching everything. Who knows food
therapy, man therapy, food therapy. But this is going to end Part
one of our series on Rhymer's Hollow. Now, obviously we didn't really talk
(37:58):
about Rhymer's Hollow. We had togive you the back story of kind of
how all this Rhymer's Hollow stuff cameabout. How get paranoid about the immigrants
that in the witchcraft and the hextoryand the pow alloying and but We'll still
talk about some of that in parttwo, but we'll actually get into Rhymer's
Hollow in part two. Okay,what we would like to thank our very
(38:22):
own writer in research or Stephanie Kimmemer, for all the hard work and dedications
she put into this series on Rhymer'sHollow Curse. We would also like to
thank the resources used for this seriesAmerican Haunting Scene, Philly Ghost Stewartstown dot
Org, Coffin Bell Visit Pa,Dutch Country only in your State, Atlas
Obscura, Collins Dictionary, and thebook ghost Stories of the Lehigh Valley and
(38:45):
Gritty and Gritty, Yes, thankyou Gritty obviously, don't forget. If
you want that extra content, youwant the after show, you want bonus
shit, join our Elbow Deep Clubon Patreon at Patreon dot com, lash
Already Studios. It is just fivedollars a month and you get five dollars
(39:07):
foot um. Unfortunately you don't.You don't get a foot long. You
don't. That would be nice,sorry, but it would be no.
But you do get after show episodes. We released one of those every single
week, and then you also getthe main show like this episode. Add
(39:29):
free and early, and that's asgood as five foot logs. Five foot
longs, yes, five foot longs. Don't forget. You can also follow
us on social media on Twitter,Instagram, and TikTok by searching at podcast
a Freight and I'll leave all ofthe links to everything I just mentioned in
the show notes of this episode,so they're easily clickable with your fingers or
(39:52):
your mouse. There you go.Speaking of Patreon, Uh, we have
a new episode for y'all coming aswell. We're actually going to do Sam
the sand Down clown. It's justit's just just yeah, no, it's
actually what I do on the sidewhen I'm not Her hair is a different
(40:14):
color of the week. Exactly,I exactly, Yes, yeah, it
all makes it. You're a mysteriousclown from another realm. I am method
the mess dealing clown from the planetflow Rider, Flow Riding flow Rider.
And then obviously next week we aregoing to be back with part two of
Rhymer's Hollow, the final part inthe series. So Nick, this is
(40:36):
the penultimate episode. There you go, There you go. Any closing thoughts
on this episode before we sign offon this episode, you know what?
I okay? So I was jokingthe whole time that this was like early
form racism. I think this isbetter than current day racism. I mean
a lot of things are better thancurrent day racism. Yeah, but because
(41:00):
it's not like, you know,it's not like blatantly like I hate you
because you're different. It's just like, oh my god, they're witches.
And then now there's like a lucrativebusiness out of it, but there's still
racism in the form of being different. Yes, oh yeah, yeah,
but you gotta think it created abusiness. It did of hex doctors.
(41:22):
Ye, And I bet you,I bet you those people that were like,
you know, being you know,they didn't like them and all that
stuff. I bet you when theywere sick or something happened to their crops,
they were right quick. Of course, that's the funniest part about it.
Of course. Well all right,well it's time to sign off on
(41:45):
this episode. Thank you listeners andviewers of Even the Podcast It's Afraid.
We truly appreciate you and we loveyou, and we will see y'all next
week for another episode of Even thePodcast Is Afraid. And of course,
stay elbow Deep. This podcast hasbeen made possible by listeners like you.
(42:32):
The show is part of the Ortistpodcast network.
We ain't gonna stand Even the Podcastis Afraid. Welcome to Even the Podcast
(00:21):
Is Afraid. I'm here with Nickand Sam as we start our series on
John Blamore or blin Meyer, Witches, curses, and Rhymer's Hollow Rhyme Rhymo's
Hollow, Rymer Raamer. It soundsspooky, yeah like Rhymer's hollow, sounds
(00:44):
like a porn It sounds like afucking a Mario Kart level. Well,
the Leafs used to have a goalienamed James Rhymer. Nice. Of course,
Rhymer's follow also sounds like a telenovelait does does or a soap it
does Yeah yeah. But obviously beforewe get into Rhymer's Hollow, we have
(01:07):
to mention the Crime and Conspiracy Network. If you want to see brand new
episodes of our TV show, godownload it on iOS, Android, Google
Play, Roku, Visio TV's andthe Amazon app store. It's completely free.
You just have to watch some adswhen you watch it, or you
can go watch old episodes on ourYouTube channel. The one that has currently
(01:30):
been uploaded is sidecrimell Well Was aWhale Tale Side Crime Well Tales. That
is the newest episode on YouTube.But it's actually a old episode, So
if you want to go watch someof the old ones, you can watch
them there, or you can watcheven the old ones on the Crime and
Conspiracy Network because it's on demand.So there you go, like Netflix,
(01:55):
just like Netflix. Now, Iknow neither one of you have ever heard
of the story that we're going todiscuss us in the stupid Nope. It
has to deal with murder, curses, witchcraft, satan. Oh yeah,
so it's alreadys the time Friday Night. It is. This literally covers just
(02:15):
about everything we talk about. Nice, it really does. Yeah. Also,
and since Stephanie researched and wrote this, just like she has on most
of our series, it's actually outof Pennsylvania, her home state. Oh,
I'll look at that. In thesecond part. You'll see she even
(02:37):
has a story that she's dealt inthis area. There happened in this area.
So nice. I've driven through Pennsylvania, but I've never actually been.
I'd like to go and visit,you know, I'm afraid of Pennsylvania.
Gritty lives there. Oh, noFlyer's mascot. I love how I knew
(02:59):
exactly you were talking about. No, thank you. I will not be
visiting. Now, all right,are y'all ready to go into the series
on Rhymer or I hope I'm sayingthe name of this thing, ray Meyer,
Rhymers. I'm just gonna say Rhymer'shollow. Yeah. Pennsylvania has a
(03:23):
strange and rich history of bizarre,occultic or semi occultic beliefs. The settling
of Pennsylvania by a large number ofDutch, which your German immigrants, plays
a big role in this. Ifyou have ever seen a heck sign,
you may not realize that these werepart of the hex ory or Powwell medicine.
I have a Dutch action, isn'tthat feared? I love gold?
(03:47):
So what you're saying, is Nick, that they probably all love gold and
to eat their own skin. Yes, yes, absolutely, I lost my
genitalia in an unfortunate smelting accident.All the things you learned from Austin Powell.
Powell medicine was an esoteric eso youknow what I was. That's what
(04:12):
that was the word I was goingto say, Nick, I didn't get
my wind there. Though. Esotericpractice related to fate healing and witchcraft inheriting
traditions brought over by the Pennsylvania Dutchsettlers from Germany. In the US,
the practice centered around a book ofmagical recipes called Powells or The Long Lost
Friend by Johan George Hoeman or HamanPowows. It's Powell medicine. Powow medicine.
(04:44):
Not to be mistaken with Native AmericanPowells. Okay, yeah, because
that's just a meeting, isn't itcorrect? Is that? Yeah? Okay?
Yes, yes. In Williamstownship,Pennsylvania, there exists a place in
the woods called hexan cough Rock.It means which is head. It's told
in the book Ghost Stories of theLive Valley or the Lee Valley or Lie
(05:06):
Valley. I think it's Lehigh Valley. It might be. Why I know
that because it's a minor league hockeyteam in Lehigh Valley. Of course,
well, there we go, LehighValley. Hex and Couf Rock was said
to be a place where bad spiritswere removed from sick humans. Once removed,
a new home for these bad spiritswas required, and so this very
(05:30):
lock cropping of rocks nestled deep inthe woods was said to be the place
where they were placed. So that'sthe care for COVID this whole time,
and the High Valley they were exercisingfurniture head. You know what's interesting about
that though both of you have seenthe player which project right? Absolutely?
Yeah. Do you think Hexan KoufHexan Kouff Rock was the inspiration for the
(05:58):
rock area? What do they callit? Him? Blair Witch? It
was where where he went and murderedall the children at that rock or something
like that, right, child killedRock? It was not child killed Rock.
I can't remember the name of it. But I wonder if this rock
was inspiration since it means which hishead right? Right? These woods are
(06:21):
indeed very creepy, but perhaps evencreepier was the man who would drive along
the road and call the cops onanyone who did not belong there. It
sounds like a lot of Karen's today. Yeah, just didn't want anybody around
there, just calling calling nine oneone on kids? That are you know?
I have lemonade? No lemonade stands. Did somebody call on a chill
(06:47):
a child? That was? Yeah? I did catch them on video.
I thought it was a video.She got charged for it, yeah,
oh yeah or something. Isn't thatinsane? She got charged. Yeah,
well, yeah, you're wasting youyou're wasting like you know, their time
and shit, they gotta get get, you know, something out of it.
(07:11):
What's funny is is that you talkabout Karen's or whatever. Back when
we were kids, so this waslate nineties or whatever, we used to
ride the seeds and stuff up throughthe uh you know, you know what
a booy is, right, yeah, okay, we're awake. Booy that
tells you how fast you can goslow down? C Yeah, all right,
(07:32):
Well we used to do that inthe slough. Used to ride the
seed and you know, go backand forth or whatever, and we used
to have this. Uh. Therewas this guy named Billie Glasscock, so
you could call him Willie Glasscock,you could, you could, yeah,
But he was a very large man. If you know what I'm saying,
(07:53):
you like eat and so he didn'tleave his house very much. Used to
take his camp quarter and film usin the slough and they call the copy
or the water patrol. That heused to do it. Also when we
would ride dirt bikes, or wewould ride four wheelers, or we would
ride go cards up and down thedirt road and stuff, he'd call the
(08:16):
police. What are people so miserable? Police never did anything? They're like,
of course, you know, Idon't know. No, But William's
Township is not the only place inwhich these strange tales persist. In Stuartstown,
Pennsylvania, there's a place called Rhymer'sHollow where tales of hectacy curses,
(08:39):
which is, murders, and hauntingsare still told today. We all know
that the hauntings are real. That'swhy Gritty Gritty is the personification or the
mascot. He's been the one that'sbeen doing the curses. Yes, to
make sense. Yes, you can'ttell me that Gritty is not responsible for
the stics like a giant, hairynutter butter. Yeah. If you guys
(09:03):
don't know what he looks like,he's very very disturbing looking. He's the
orange. He's the orange mascot,right, Yeah, the orange mascot with
the googly eyes. Yes, wherethey get all the orange for your disturbing.
If you don't know what he lookslike, please look him up because
it's creepy. He's made a coupleappearances inside Creme, Yes he has.
He has made a couple of apparancesinside Creme. Ye. Stewartson was settled
(09:28):
as early as seventeen fifty, andit was originally called Meadstown after an appropriately
named tavern owner, Benedict Mead.Eventually, the town was renamed the Stewartsontown
after Anthony Stewart, who ran aworkshop in the town. The Stewarts and
name was officially adopted on March twentyfourth, eighteen thirty two. I heard
Anthony Stewart, and I got veryconfused, because there's a former NHL player
(09:52):
now current NHL analysts named Anthony Stewart. Yep. Everything, If you've never
noticed, everything ties with Nick tothe hockey. Everything. If you guys
don't know this by now, youhaven't been watching us long enough, and
you're probably very I'm Canadian. Ilike hockey. I'm sorry, and obviously
(10:16):
you are Canadian. You said,I'm sorry. Sorry. Ecstasy and pow
wowing are very much a part ofthe state's history Pennsylvania. Hex magic dated
back to the earliest days of thecolony, linked largely to the Pennsylvania German
or Dutch as they are often called, immigrants and their descendants. The German
(10:39):
settlers held strongly to elements of theirculture and blended customs of the old and
the New world to form a distinctidentity. Even their language became a unique
dialect. See it's kind of funnybecause um, my dad side of the
families their Italian immigrants. Yeah,and there are some italianisms that don't exist
(11:03):
in Italy that my family or youknow. Um no, no, this
is actually Italian. This is actuallyfrom Italy, I know. But I'm
doing the American version this one.I'll give you an example. So my
family here and like a lot ofthe Italian immigrants here, cream cheese became
Philadelphia because like the Philadelphia cream cheese. Yeah, so they think, oh
(11:24):
the Philadelphia right now, Italy hasits own term for cream cheese. I
assume it's like from Maggio de cremaor something like that, right from cheese,
but creamy Italian cheese, cream Italiancheese. But them all the family
that would come visit in Italy,or when the family would go to Italy
(11:45):
to visit, they would use thisterminology, uh you know the Philadelphia well
that has made its way into Italy. They will refer to cream cheese as
Philadelphia now right right, yes,pretty, And like other things, ginger
rail is a big thing. Sothat's Gingerella. It's just it's just like
(12:05):
the it's the italianize the the Englishwords, yeah, the best cement,
you know, like like words likethat. So and it's kind of made
its way over to our families inItaly. Yeah, Zoza think about that.
That's also the same thing when youlook at look at the creole yeah
(12:26):
yeah, in Louisiana, right,I mean, they speak a their own
dialect of French. It's like thequebec Qua French that we have here.
You go to France, they like, what the hell are you saying?
Well, they understand what you're saying, but it's like old old French,
yeah yeah. Or Southern yeah yeah. Look at Southern. We talk in
(12:46):
a totally different way. Go toNewfoundland to Louisiana, they're gonna have a
different like accid than Georgia. Youknow, Florida's not South, so well
Louisia Yanna has like three different accents. Oh yeah. Then you go to
New York and New Jersey. Thenyou go to Boston. Everyone sounds like
(13:11):
they have brain damage. Sorry toour Boston lesson, Nick, you are
gonna get a freaking oh my god, I'm wicked smat. Though there were
a great many different religious denominations amongthe German settlers, there was a common
tradition of folk magic that was practicedby all, with the exception of the
(13:35):
Plaine Dutch such as the Amish,who rejected the practice. The boring ones.
They don't want to practice. Butthey adopted the art of woodworking.
Oh that's and butter churning. Iwould rather learn folk magic than doing woodworking.
That just sounds so and coming upwith very interesting beards. Yes,
(13:58):
you know, funny on my wayon the rare times. Actually for draft
to work, there's like an outletmall, and then if there's a giant
sign Amish furniture warehouse or whatever,So I guess the store that Yeah,
next to this Amish furniture store isa sex shop. Oh nice, it's
two. You get a hasty rockingchair, handed dildo, both give you
(14:26):
wood. Yeah, exactly. Iwonder I wonder if the how the Amish
people feel about that working next tothe sex shop. They probably don't pay
it no attention, to be honest, no, no. For large numbers
of these Germans, the belief infolk magic was entwined with their Christian beliefs.
(14:48):
At one end of the folk magicscale was pow wowing, which had
nothing to do with the Native Americanceremonial practice of the same name. I
cleared that up for you. I'venever heard of wo outside of that,
you know, it's outside of NativeAmerican. Yeah. I didn't know.
Yeah, I didn't know it wasa thing. I didn't. You know,
when when people are just like,we're gonna have a powell like a
(15:09):
meeting, right, Yeah, butI've never heard it like outside of reference
to magic. Yeah. Yeah.Let's see, like every single year my
tribe, we have the pow wowevery single year at the same time every
single year. What is it?Usually in the fall. It's around November
(15:31):
October. It usually falls towards theend of October, getting November. What
do you guys do though, Like, is it's just like a you know,
like a hangout ceremonial, okay,ceremonial. Yeah, awesome. Pow
Wowers performed magical religious folk healing anddrew their healing power from God. Generally,
(15:54):
pow wowers provided cures and relief fromillness, protection from evil, and
the removal of hexas and curses.They also located lost objects, animals and
people, foretold the future, improvidedgood luck charms. Okay, it's like
a lot of these good like goodstuff. You know. It's like when
you think of um, it depends. It sounds like the televangelism, That's
(16:18):
what it sounds. That's so funnythough, how back then, how they
had like they they combine m magicand God and all that stuff, because
nowadays, like oh my god,if you yeah, well, Christianity is
based out of paganism. Oh yeah, yeah, of course, so paganism
(16:41):
also used magic, right yea,every religion is based on some sort of
magic. It doesn't matter what itdoes, right, right, I mean
it has to be the whole thingof any religion is the world is created
out of nothing, right yeah?Well, I mean with the Big Bang
theory, the world was created outof nothing. So that's the best you've
(17:02):
got. But this is also theart of it's a belief, right,
and everybody has a religion. Mostpeople do some sort of belief. Whether
you're a religion is pokemon or God, it's somebody, you have a religion
of some sort. But this hereis also this isn't the only culture that
(17:27):
practiced this type. They just happento call it pow wowing. So this
could also be sort of like yoursnake swindler as well. Yeah, your
snake old salesman. Yeah, we'llfind your lost objects for you and your
lost puppy. Yeah. To carryout their practices, they use charms,
(17:48):
ambulance, incantations, prayers, andrituals. It was generally believed that anyone
could powow, but members of certainfamilies were especially adept at it. These
families past traditions down from generation togeneration. Talking about my generation, so
I used to think about this.Uh, somebody I guess I would bring
(18:11):
up would be the Rochelle or Romneyum Romani gypsies. Oh yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, I don't knowwhich version, but some did the
like how they sell how they selltheir services to outsiders. Well it wasn't
just services too. Some of themdid the potions and yeah, the healing
(18:33):
and that kind of stuff, andritual stuff as well. But I can't
remember which one it is. Ijust know that it fell within the realm
of gypsy. Yeah, I shouldget into selling potions. It'll just be
like rub and coke, rum andcoke, nice bottle. That'd be.
I mean, that's a good businessidea. You should do it. Name
yeah, I will, But thinkabout it. There's a lot of cultures
(18:56):
that pass down certain things. Wecould go back and say the Amish,
right, oh yeah, yeah,the Amish traditions are just passed down,
passed down, pass down, passdown. At the other end of the
scale was hexory or witchcraft. Practitionersof black magic drew their power from the
devil or other ungodly sources. Thewhich harassed neighbors and committed criminal acts with
(19:18):
supernatural powers sometimes which is were calledhex doctors. So they were trolls essentially,
or they were supposed to look liketrolls, too ugly and unsanitary,
like they haven't bathed. I mean, it was the sixteen seventeen, eighteen
hundreds. Yeah, it's not likeit's not like everybody plumbing. Yeah not
(19:41):
not everybody was looking their best backthen. But if witches did exist,
right, that I'm supposed to looklike But in all honesty, they probably
just looked like you and me andjust regular people. You know. It's
not like they were fucking like theywitches at all. They just had a
different form of religion. Yeah,essentially, people were racist. There you
(20:07):
go, There you go. Theterm hex doctor it can be confusing because
it can imply many things. Attimes, the term was applied to pow
wowers, who were also knowledgeable inthe ways of hexory and were skilled at
battling witches and removing curses. Battling. Now, this just sounds like Harry
(20:29):
Potter. That's how I imagine,just like a big old like witch battle
just right there in the courtyard.And then and then they played quidditch after
I said you're a witch, Harryinstead, I didn't even catch on that,
And Harry Potter and all of hiswizard friends went straight to hell from
practicing witchcraft. From the Simpsons,of course, these heckx doctors fell into
(20:57):
sort of a great air you betweena witch and a power hower. Sometimes
they cast hexes for a price orout of revenge. It was not uncommon
for someone to seek out one hecksdoctor to remove the curse of another.
Oh, of course, I'm surepeople back there business everybody, you know,
(21:18):
Yeah, I probably would have beena hex doctor. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I'll remove your curse forten shillings yep, and and in
like a nice cake, warm bread. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I
guess back then, yes, yes, I don't think they will walk it
around with fucking cakes Nick that attitude. For many Pennsylvania Dutch, and certainly
(21:45):
for outsiders, powowers and witches couldnot easily be placed into categories. There
were many who labeled the use ofany folk magic as witchcraft that was strictly
forbidden by their religious beliefs. Okay, there were a lot of people that
were against it. They're like,oh, you can't bring God into it.
Think about it now, people,people do practice witchcraft today. Okay,
(22:10):
it is common knowledge. There's abunch of them in Salem today and
they're going to go straight to hell. According to some they will. But
does it really work? Who knows. I mean, the whole thing about
witchcraft is that you have to believein it. You know, you have
(22:30):
to believe in yourself. You haveto believe in what you're doing, that
it's going to bring out whatever outcomethat you're trying to to bring out,
you know, whether it's positive ornegative. Isn't that just like what that
book what was it, like theCode or whatever? The book that was
like the self help book that wasvery popular. It's called the Something I
(22:52):
mean I just did an escape roomthe other day called the Code. Oh
did you win? Nice? Wedid? We had two minutes left on
the clock. Oh hell yeah,got out very good, very cool.
Pow hours and hex doctors often workedagainst one another, with the common person
called in the middle. It wasin the setting that fault magic flourished for
more than two centuries. M damn. So yeah, like you said,
(23:17):
it was very lucrative. So somebodywould put a curse on somebody, they'd
go to a powower, the powhour would remove the curse, and then
just vice versa, just continued andcontinue. I would meanwhile, none of
these things actually worked well. Iwould hand up what curses were put on,
like the people, and how didthe people like know, you know,
like they were they just having areally bad day, and they were
(23:38):
like, there's I kept shifting myselffor days. You know, you know
what this you know what this soundslike those like Microsoft scam callers. It
was the scammers, the seventeen hundredscammers. Oh, I had I had
a scam called the Amazon scam calledthe other day and I kept the guy
on the phone for twenty minutes andit ended in me faking to shoot it
(24:00):
with police. What what? Ohmy god, this guy's gonna think you're
like dead, so he doesn't care. No, no, But essentially,
the guy who said that someone hackedmy Amazon account and they did it because
my phone was tapped, I'm like, what do you mean my phone's tapped?
And he's like, I'm like,does this have to do with like
(24:22):
the dead body I saw? LikeI reported a dead body to police like
last week, and ever since thenthey've had me number one on the suspect
list. But I was just tryingto do my you know, good part
as a good citizen because I justsaw this. And then anyway, so
then I ring the doorbell and thenI faked being the police and then I'm
like I'm like I'm not coming withyou crop and then they played gunshot sounds
(24:44):
on YouTube? Do you get wayinto character? Nick? Yeah, it
was. I could have kept theguy going, but I was bored.
Did he hang up? He hungup? Yeah? But after yeah,
oh, he called me back ona secure line because my line was tapped.
Oh yeah. Also I used thename Bobichette, which is a guy
on the Blue Jays. Witches targetedtheir victims in many ways. Since hex
(25:11):
ory was based around a farming society, many of the witch's attacks were directed
at animals and crops. They wereoften blamed when cows did not produce milk,
when seemingly helped the animal, animalsmysteriously died, or when crops failed.
Okay, so that answers my questionas to what type of curses they
were handed out. Fucking nature,Yeah, normal shit and everyday life.
(25:33):
It's so funny because it's like theydidn't think, Okay, well the cow
just got sick. It could havejust gotten you know, a disease or
whatever. Must be a witch.Yeah. I'm glad farmers today don't think
like that. Now, think ofhow much more expensive our food would be
if farmers had to hire a hexdoctor every time a crop didn't turn out
(25:55):
properly or their cow died. Ohmy god, I know what my career
would be. I'd show them belike I can get rid of your curse.
Now you gotta come in. Yougotta come in like super mysterious,
like on a carriage and with likea hoodie, you know, like flip
my hood and look just like this. Go pe at sunset around the tree
(26:22):
in a circle. It'll be fivehundred dollars, but I need it paid
and Google Play gift cards. Whenwitches went after humans, they used a
variety of torments. They were commonlysuspected of causing illnesses, especially conditions that
lingered and caused a person to wasteaway over time. A witch could also
(26:45):
use spells so launch in visible attacks, causing seizures or fits, the sensation
of being pricked or stamp or thefeeling of being choked or strangled the force.
So these witches were Jedi what beingsaid, I'm also glad that um
doctors today don't think that everything chokeforced choke. They also did not have
(27:12):
the medical ability like we do today. No, no, no, they
did not, and badly give youlead. Any anybody could be a doctor
at that point. They could justbe like put up, put on a
little nightgown looking thing and just likeI, I got the shivers, Bobby.
What we need to do is weneed What we need to do is
(27:34):
release a lot of your blood thatfix everything, of course, yes,
and then we must mutilate the cow. Oh God, that will help,
that will help it. Meanwhile,like put some meat on it. The
farmer whose cow you just killed.Didn't realize that you the doctor killed the
cow. So they think it's awitch. Oh, of course, it
(27:59):
just snowball effect. Witches could alsocause a run of bad luck for any
individual that they attact. The witchcould even appear in the form of an
animal, like a black cat,so that they could move about undetected and
harass their victims. Needless to say, just about any type of misfortune could
be blamed on a witch. Sothis is like the early days of blaming
(28:22):
immigrants. I mean, yeah,yeah, you could say that. I
guess, you know, I'm surethere was some racial connotations. In addition
to spoken words, the written wordwas also used for magic. Written ambulance
and charms were common, and manyPennsylvania Germans carried them on their person.
(28:48):
Okay, so moderate or olden dayfortune cookie? Yeah, like a lucky
charm if you would, you know, live left die. I had Chinese
food yesterday, I had I hada fortune cookie. I forgot my fortune.
I had Chinese food on a Saturday. Nice, there you go,
look at that. No, no, it was Sunday. Liza got a
(29:11):
fortune cookie, no fortune in it. She's like, I don't know what
that means. That means going tohell. No fortune. That's really funny
you say that because one of thecookies we got did not have a fortune
in it. Damn it's the supplychain issues. The supply chains are affecting
the fortune cookies. In essence,we are looking at what can be compared
(29:34):
to voodoo in a way symbols andambulance and talisman held a significant importance and
illnesses were controlled by bad actors honingtheir witchcraft, very similar to some of
the basic principles of voodoo. Makessense. Yeah, and we already know
from our Crampus episode that the Germanshad a very unique set of beliefs and
(29:59):
p This is when it came tothe occult and creepy. These were just
Germans who came to settle in Pennsylvania, bringing with them their outlandish beliefs of
the old country that scared the shipout of everyone else. Oh I bet
no. I mean imagine back then, you know, you don't know what
the fuck Crampus is. You don'tknow, you know, you just these
people are coming over here. They'relike, Yeah, there's gonna be the
(30:21):
Christmas Monster that's gonna slap your asswith the fucking you remember he was like
his asses and shit it was weirdswitches in his sack and then whips them
with switches. One of the mostimportant items for those interested in hexory and
poweine was a book called Long LostFriend written in eighteen nineteen. The compilation
(30:45):
of spells, charms, prayers,remedies in folk medicine was called Deer Lane
Verbragani Frond or The Long Lost Friend. It was the first book of Powell
magic to achieved circulation. It hasbeen been in print in either German or
English continuously since eighteen twenty. Still, aside from being a collection of charms
(31:08):
and recipes, the book itself becamea talismans kind of like actors. Now,
I wonder can you listen to thisbook on audible? Probably? And
if so, does owning like downloadingthis book on audible account as it being
a talisman? Who knows we needit? Oh? Yeah, no,
that'd be cool to read over someof the different spells and stuff. The
(31:33):
spell to grow out your penis side, Yeah, it might will be bigger
than three inches? Who want togo from three to four? And what
was an example of a resoundingly successfulearly marketing ploy Buyers of the book were
(31:55):
told they would be protected from harmmerely by carrying it. Oh gosh.
In the front of each edition wasan inscription that read this, whoever carries
this book with them is safe fromall enemies, visible and invisible. And
whoever has this book with him cannotdie without the Holy corpse of Jesus Christ,
(32:15):
nor drown in any water, norburn up in any fire, nor
can any unjust citizen be passed uponhim. So help me God. So
this book that's a lawsuit waiting tohappen. This book completely like makes you
invincible. So once you have thisbook, you cannot die. You can.
(32:37):
You can just jump in in avolcano. You'll be fine, yes,
water, you just ye Oh mygod. It's like it's like when
the red Bull commercials started giving warningsafter the red Bull gives you it doesn't
give you winks. No, yeah, it's like, actually it doesn't.
It's like, okay, because itgives you heart rate an excessive high blood
pressure. You wonder how many peopledied carrying this book. You thot they
(33:00):
were going to be absolutely invincible.I couldn't do that today because you get
so soon. Oh my god,Like shoot, me in the chest,
I have my long most friend withme. I wonder if, like in
very very tiny text, this bookdoes not guarantee you know, invincibility,
(33:22):
nility. Yeah, this magical tonewas the hottest hex book at the time.
A sex book first, No,not the hottest sex book. Those
were the brothels. Nick, youdidn't need a book, You just needed
five bucks. No, not evenback. No, probably a nickel,
a chilly that's all. Probably anickel, and get your dick sucked and
(33:47):
contract everything under the sun. Well, then you would just go to the
witch doctor so she could remove itfor you. Yes, yes, that
sounds like a very exciting trip.A must have, multifaceted and useful or
needful item. If you wanted tosit with the cool kids at the cauldron,
this was the book. You needit. If you want to be
(34:12):
invited to the popular table, youneed the book. If you wanted to
hang out with the cool witches,you needed your long lost friend book.
Yes, our long lost half off. How you say, the German Book
of the German Book, There wasanother popular book at the time. An
opposing book also came into circulation,known as the sixth and Seventh Book of
(34:34):
Moses, which contains instructions on conjuringand controlling demons. Hex Doctors all around
begin to acquire copies of the book, but merely owning it was said to
be extremely dangerous and could be evenbe fatal. That's that's not good marketing.
No, this book, but youmight die, you may be possessed
by demons. These are like differentmarketing stunts. Yeah, they got good
(35:00):
book, and then they got theevil book. You buy this book and
you get like the star Power fromSuper Mario Brothers. Buy this book and
it's the poison mushroom, or youget a one up, Yeah, get
the Extra life. Nice. Butyou can see how like that was still
kind of the the snake oil salesmantype of I just can't believe how many
(35:24):
people were so gullible back then,Like they actually thought a fucking book was
gonna keep it. The people aregullible now, Oh yeah, that's also
true. Well, how many peoplewould buy this book, you know,
saying like anything that says there wasn'tmodern medicine, Sam, there wasn't modern
(35:44):
medicine. So people believe, youknow, you're taking you're looking at a
miracle, right right? Oh yeah, yeah, back then it was taught
as good versus evil, right,yeah, so most people were forced to
go to church during that time.It was if you don't go to church,
it's a sin, or or ifyou don't do this, it's a
sin. It was a whole differentdynamic, right, yeah. And and
(36:06):
back then too, obviously, likeoccultism was super high. And I mean
obviously from this it's like people gointo yourtuality, go into witch doctors to
remove curses and all this other stuff, you know, yeah, right,
right. Actually, it's funny.Just before we started recording, my wife
was on Facebook. If you sawsomeone post something in like our community group,
(36:28):
they're dealing with like food anxiety stuff, so like they're very picky eaters.
Essentially they can't eat food and otherfood da da dada. So I
was like, how, like,does anyone know where I could get help
or whatever? Right, and peoplewere posting suggestions. One person's like pray
to Jesus. I mean, hey, if that work. I said,
Hey, if that works for you, that's great. But if someone's asking
(36:52):
for like, you know, legitadvice, like I would say, you
probably need to see a food therapist. Yes, that's most of the suggestions
were yeah, yeah, not notum yeah, prey. It's like,
oh good, I didn't you know. And this person apparently had this issue
since they were a kid, right, food therapy, yeah yeah yeah,
(37:14):
food therapy or a witch doctor.But yes, to help you, yes,
here, drink this uh un snownsubstance. Okay, But the confusing
thing about this person's post is theybought like a sub from subway or something.
They said, a sub I seewhat's from subway and they couldn't eat
(37:35):
it properly because they didn't cut itproperly. Yeah, but I'm like yeah,
but but what's confusing to me islike they can't eat food that touches
other food. But it's a sandwich. Everything's touching everything. Who knows food
therapy, man therapy, food therapy. But this is going to end Part
one of our series on Rhymer's Hollow. Now, obviously we didn't really talk
(37:58):
about Rhymer's Hollow. We had togive you the back story of kind of
how all this Rhymer's Hollow stuff cameabout. How get paranoid about the immigrants
that in the witchcraft and the hextoryand the pow alloying and but We'll still
talk about some of that in parttwo, but we'll actually get into Rhymer's
Hollow in part two. Okay,what we would like to thank our very
(38:22):
own writer in research or Stephanie Kimmemer, for all the hard work and dedications
she put into this series on Rhymer'sHollow Curse. We would also like to
thank the resources used for this seriesAmerican Haunting Scene, Philly Ghost Stewartstown dot
Org, Coffin Bell Visit Pa,Dutch Country only in your State, Atlas
Obscura, Collins Dictionary, and thebook ghost Stories of the Lehigh Valley and
(38:45):
Gritty and Gritty, Yes, thankyou Gritty obviously, don't forget. If
you want that extra content, youwant the after show, you want bonus
shit, join our Elbow Deep Clubon Patreon at Patreon dot com, lash
Already Studios. It is just fivedollars a month and you get five dollars
(39:07):
foot um. Unfortunately you don't.You don't get a foot long. You
don't. That would be nice,sorry, but it would be no.
But you do get after show episodes. We released one of those every single
week, and then you also getthe main show like this episode. Add
(39:29):
free and early, and that's asgood as five foot logs. Five foot
longs, yes, five foot longs. Don't forget. You can also follow
us on social media on Twitter,Instagram, and TikTok by searching at podcast
a Freight and I'll leave all ofthe links to everything I just mentioned in
the show notes of this episode,so they're easily clickable with your fingers or
(39:52):
your mouse. There you go.Speaking of Patreon, Uh, we have
a new episode for y'all coming aswell. We're actually going to do Sam
the sand Down clown. It's justit's just just yeah, no, it's
actually what I do on the sidewhen I'm not Her hair is a different
(40:14):
color of the week. Exactly,I exactly, Yes, yeah, it
all makes it. You're a mysteriousclown from another realm. I am method
the mess dealing clown from the planetflow Rider, Flow Riding flow Rider.
And then obviously next week we aregoing to be back with part two of
Rhymer's Hollow, the final part inthe series. So Nick, this is
(40:36):
the penultimate episode. There you go, There you go. Any closing thoughts
on this episode before we sign offon this episode, you know what?
I okay? So I was jokingthe whole time that this was like early
form racism. I think this isbetter than current day racism. I mean
a lot of things are better thancurrent day racism. Yeah, but because
(41:00):
it's not like, you know,it's not like blatantly like I hate you
because you're different. It's just like, oh my god, they're witches.
And then now there's like a lucrativebusiness out of it, but there's still
racism in the form of being different. Yes, oh yeah, yeah,
but you gotta think it created abusiness. It did of hex doctors.
(41:22):
Ye, And I bet you,I bet you those people that were like,
you know, being you know,they didn't like them and all that
stuff. I bet you when theywere sick or something happened to their crops,
they were right quick. Of course, that's the funniest part about it.
Of course. Well all right,well it's time to sign off on
(41:45):
this episode. Thank you listeners andviewers of Even the Podcast It's Afraid.
We truly appreciate you and we loveyou, and we will see y'all next
week for another episode of Even thePodcast Is Afraid. And of course,
stay elbow Deep. This podcast hasbeen made possible by listeners like you.
(42:32):
The show is part of the Ortistpodcast network.
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