Butzemannbrenning: Honoring the Retired Plant Spirit

This is a 120-minute intermediate level workshop, located in Sophia's (main level)

Shake and rattle around the house, the Butzemann dances about the home and in the wind. The spirit figure of the Butzemann is similar to a Kobold, (Goblin) which guards the land, waters, and animals surrounding home and hearth. In Pennsylvania Dutch or Deitsch German folklore traditions, a part of the domestic integrity are the objects in the home and on the farm including tools, farming equipment, utensils, and furniture and the need for protection. A "Butzemann" literally means "scarecrow," but in Pennsylvania Dutch Braucherei (ritual healing), there is a semantic meaning of spiritual activation of the scarecrow. The more generic term for a scarecrow is "Lumbemann," which does not imply activation. Poppet figures are present in Pennsylvania Dutch or Deitsch folklore, a part of the domestic integrity. A foundling at inception, the Butzemann, when activated, serves a…