Athanor des Nordsternes Series:

The Viriditas of the Oley Grotto: Alchymia Rusticana in the Pennsylvania Taiga

&

The Yellow Earth and the Silentium: The Rosy Cross of the Blue Mountains

Spagyric and Alchemical Forest Chemistry  (Waldchemie) and Folk Healing of Penn’s Woods

The Forest Way is of the mountains and wilderness, of potent herbs in hidden meadows, of deep deposits of waxy clays, of roots harvested by the moon and stars. Such is the Way of the Kräuterhexen (herb witches) the Wise Women, the village healers and midwives who relied on empirical and spiritual knowledge rather than religious doctrine and desiccated scientific medicine that often made the patient worse. Such was power their folk craft and ancestral knowledge that the resulting autonomy and specialized knowledge were often reinterpreted as witchcraft by outside authorities.

One Germanic tradition that survived the vast waters from the Old World was the that of the Braucher / Braucherin. The specific name for practitioners of Braucherei (often called “Pow-wowing”), a German-American tradition of ritual healing that combines herbalism with religious charms and prayers. A Braucher (white witch/healer) was often believed to have the power to counteract Hexerei (black magic). Another term was Witte Wieven (Dutch): Originally meaning “Wise Women” in Low Saxon dialects (where wit meant “wise”), these figures appear in Dutch folklore as spirits of female herbalists and healers. In New York’s Dutch-influenced areas, this was often mistranslated as “White Women,” leading to legends of spectral “Ladies in White”. These Weiße Frauen (German): The German equivalent of the Witte Wieven, these “White Women” were seen as spirits or “goddesses” of the forest who predicted the future and protected the land. These ancestral myths contain the essence of the Germanic pagan traditions that extend into the supreme repository of the Northern Way, the Völva (Old Norse: vǫlva, “wand-carrier”) was a powerful shamanic seeress, prophetess, and practitioner of seiðr (magic) in Germanic and Norse paganism.

The English term of these herbalist, root and magical operators is that of the Cunning Folk:. The cunning in art, magic, herbalism and healing, the skillful means of the soothing and healing the spiritual and mundane ills of life fell to these men and women (also known as “wise-women”) who acted as the community’s unlicensed doctors, using inherited knowledge of herbs and rhythmic spells to treat the sick. This survived into the USA Germanic communities, some overtly alchemical, like Pow-wow Doctor: A colloquial English term for the German Braucher, common in areas like Berks County and parts of the Hudson Valley.

This is part of a broader esoteric Germanic influence in the Pennsylvania region we will be exploring in various articles and publications. Of crucial interest are the Hermits of the Wissahickon and the Ephrata Cloister represent a profound alchemical and True Rosicrucian “seeding” of the North American landscape. These groups did not just settle in the wilderness; they “anchored” specific spiritual and physical frequencies into the geological strata of Pennsylvania. The Hermits of the Wissahickon (1694) were known as the Society of the Woman in the Wilderness), this was a group of 40 scholars and mystics led by Johannes Kelpius.

It was an alchemical utopian community and they settled on the 40th parallel along the Wissahickon Creek to await the Second Coming. Their “Tabernacle” was a 40-by-40 foot structure aligned with the cardinal points, featuring a rooftop telescope to scan the “baleful stars” for signs of the apocalypse. The central alchemical operations and medicines are known, such as those conducted in Kelpius’s Cave (The Athanor). The stone cell still found in Fairmount Park—often debated to be a springhouse—was historically used by Kelpius for solitary meditation and alchemical study. Legend says he possessed a “philosopher’s stone” or a secret box that, when thrown into the Schuylkill River upon his death, exploded in a burst of alchemical fire.

Braucherei (The “Pow-wow” Tradition) 

The most direct link to Old World German tradition is Braucherei (from the German brauchen, meaning “to use” or “to need”). Immigrants from the Rhineland and Switzerland brought these rituals, which used Bible verses, charms, and specific gestures to heal ailments in both humans and livestock. It viewed sickness as a spiritual imbalance rather than just a physical one. A practitioner, or Braucher, was seen as a mediator who drew power directly from God to counteract Hexerei (malevolent magic). This is a remarkable synergy of indigenous terms of Native Tribes and the blend with ancient Germanic terms: The “Pow-wow” as it was the Algonquian word for a gathering (“pow-wow”) to these German rituals, and the term remained. But they also brought secret, high level alchemical methods of spagyrics and metallurgy, Hermeticism concealed within the Christian veneer their ancestors had to use to conceal the Old Ways from the Inquisitional forces.

Jacob Boehme and Nature Mysticism

Many settlers were influenced by the 17th-century German mystic Jacob Boehme, whose writings were smuggled from Germany to Holland and eventually to the New World. He taught an esoteric and alchemical based Christianity, a Hermeticism in the veneer of Germanic peasant religion. He taught of The Inner Eye and that nature was a “Third Principle” of God—a reflection of the divine essence. This is the remnant of the Way of the Forest, these setters came to find the peace of the wilderness and mountains that the turmoil in Europe was eroding. They moved to the New World and embraced the landscape as The Living Forest.

This belief led settlers to see the American wilderness not as a godless void, but as a place where “manifested truth” could be found in trees, hills, and herbs. This provided the spiritual foundation for the “wise women” who lived on the edges of the forest. The ancient Nordic Utiseta (Old Norse for “sitting-out”) was the shamanic, and meditative vigil, involving sitting alone in nature—often on a grave mound, at a crossroads, or by a tree—through the night to commune with spirits, ancestors, or land-vaettir, seek wisdom, or gain prophetic insights. The survived into Germanic lore as “Hedge Witch” of the Boundary. The German/Dutch concept of the Hedge Witch (or Haegtessa) is that of the shaman, the mystic who occupies the threshold, the liminal realms, a foot in the world and one in the unseen, one in the pragmatic skills to heal and daily life but also in the spiritual and subtle Wisdom of the secret arts.  The “hedge” was the boundary between the civilized village and the wild, unknown forest.

The Wise women were believed to be “hedge riders”—individuals who could enter a trance to travel between the physical realm and the spiritual realm to gather information for healing, using the herbs, songs and plant spirits of the forest and wilderness. Settlers brought legendary German books like The Long Lost Friend (by John George Hohman) and the ancient Grimoires, which were kept in homes for protection and good fortune. One can see the various Hex Signs that are like sigils of deep encoded meaning and intent in the geometric language and colors of magical art. These geometric “barn stars” were rooted in Old World beliefs about celestial harmony and were used to maintain “balance” and protect the farm.

Old World traditions were preserved through specific “spell books” that acted as both medical guides and spiritual talismans. The literal belief in these books eventually led to one of the most sensational “witchcraft” trials in 20th-century America. The Grimoires (The “Spell Books”) These books were common in German and Dutch households, blending Christian prayers with ancient folk magic (Braucherei).  The Hex Hollow Trial (1928) The tension between these Old World beliefs and modern life peaked in York County, Pennsylvania, in a case known as the “York Witch Trial”.

Even in that modern time of the 1920’s the witch accusations came against one Nelson Rehmeyer, a local Braucher (healer) who lived in a secluded area known as Rehmeyer’s Hollow (now commonly called Hex Hollow). A neighbor, John Blymire, believed Rehmeyer had placed a “hex” on him, causing years of bad luck and illness. After consulting a “river witch” named Nellie Noll, Blymire was told the only way to break the curse was to find Rehmeyer’s copy of and burn it, or bury a lock of Rehmeyer’s hair. On Thanksgiving Eve, Blymire and two accomplices broke into Rehmeyer’s house. When Rehmeyer refused to hand over the book, they bludgeoned him to death and set his body on fire. This was seen as a testimony of supernatural power because despite being doused in kerosene, Rehmeyer’s body and his wooden house did not burn down—only the floorboards beneath him were scorched. This was nearly miraculous to the locals, and his legend was secured as the case made national headlines, exposing the “medieval” superstitions still thriving in rural Dutch and German communities. All three men were convicted of murder. Today, the Hex House still stands and is owned by Rehmeyer’s descendants.

Die Berg Maria, MOUNTAIN MARY

We turn to perhaps the most intriguing, the Wild Woman of the Wilderness embodied in the form of Mountain Mary (Anna Maria Jung (1744–1819). She was a German immigrant who lived as a hermit and “mystic” for over 30 years in the secluded Oley Hills of Pike Township, Pennsylvania. She was revered as a pious “wise woman,” herbalist, and pow-wow healer Her reputation was so vast that people traveled from as far as Philadelphia to seek her council and healing. The “Abbess”: In the 1790 census, she was curiously listed as “Mary the Abbess,” a title likely given by her community to denote her status as a spiritual leader and “holy woman,” though she was not a literal nun.  Like Mother Hulda of Sleepy Hollow, Mary was often viewed with a mix of fear and reverence. Her knowledge of herbs and solitary lifestyle led some to categorize her as a “witch,” though she is more accurately remembered as a Protestant Saint or folk hero who provided for the poor and sick. According to some legends, her husband (or fiancé, Theodore Benz) was killed fighting the British in Long Island, New York, during the Revolutionary War, which led to her retreating into the mountains as a recluse.

This series will focus on much of the herbal medicines and alchemical elixirs of these early immigrant and esoteric groups. So, we begin with the Pharmacy of the Penn’s Woods, as Mountain Mary said the “Oley Hills were God’s garden.”  Though she never wrote her recipes down, folk traditions and historical accounts from the Oley Valley have preserved the primary components of her healing practice. Our specifics begin with Mountain Mary for many reasons, but our primary interest is alchemical. Mountain Mary was famous for her medical use of The “Wax Oley” (Salve/Ointment). Mary would gather herbs from her homestead in the Oley Valley and mix them with this clay/wax to create therapeutic salves and ointments. She used native plants common in her area, including heal-all (for wounds), jewel-weed (for poison ivy), and wild onion (for croup) but more are listed below.

Our Forest Chemistry is that of using the natural resources of the mountains and wilderness as the alchemical laboratory and making nearly all the equipment and sourcing all materials by hand as part of the internal process, training, research and purification. It is the education of the region sieved through the literal actions of harvesting clay but triangulated in the three-fold sieve of academic geology, alchemical and folk traditions.

In recreating the Spagyric Unguents, medicines and alchemical pottery we have begun an exhaustive study of all the local clays and minerals of the region. The Yellow-Orange Waxy Clay (The “Sulphur of the Earth”). In the Forest Alchemy, the color of this clay is its “Signature.” Yellow represents Sulphur (the Soul), and its “waxy” texture indicates a high concentration of Fixed Oil trapped within the silicate lattice. Found at the Geological Contact Zone where the Limestone meets the Reading Prong Gneiss.

The Alchemical Property is that of this special clay as a “Radon-Sieve.” It absorbs the rising Uranium-Radon vapors (The Volatile Spirit) and “Fixes” them into a medicinal paste. This is the “Yellow Earth” (Terra Sigillata) and Mountain Mary’s “wax” was not a common clay; it was a Mineralized Seal found at the contact point between the Devonian Sandstone and the Reading Prong Gneiss. Located in Pike Township, this clay is sieved as the “Sulphur of the North.” Its Yellow-Orange Hue signals the presence of Fixed Solar Light trapped in the iron-rich soil. The Waxy Texture indicates a High Silicate/Lithia Concentration, which acts as a “Magnetic Sponge” for the Radon-Spirit venting from the deep granite. The Alchemical Role of this and other region soils/deposits and rare earths,  becomes Philosopher Clay, from the Celestial Soil, the Terra Sigillata—a “Sealed Earth” that, when calcined in the Pit Athanor, becomes the Fixed Salt.

We will return to these and for those interested in the Forest Medicine of the North, see our Research Collective of Hyperborean Laboratories. To conclude this brief outline, we give some of Mountain Mary’s “Recipes” and methods in the lexicon of our Guild.

The Yellow Clay Poultice (Drawing Essence)

Mountain Mary famously used the Yellow Clay of the Oley Valley as a “drawing” agent for infections, boils, and inflammation. She would use a rustic sieve method: Mary would dig the yellow clay from specific springs on her property, then sieve it through fine cloth to remove grit. She often combined the clay with Vinegar (to increase acidity/cooling) or Linseed Oil (for flexibility) to form a thick, cool paste. Applied directly to the “Husk” (skin) and wrapped in linen, it was left until the clay dried, “pulling the poison” out through the mineral structure of the earth.

The Spring Tonics (Vital Essence)

To re-awaken the body after long Pennsylvania winters, Mary shared “spring tonics” made from the first growth on the hillsides.

Dandelion Tonic: She used freshly gathered Dandelions to create a bitter spring tea designed to “pick up spirits” and cleanse the liver (the internal sieve).

Peppermint & Spearmint Tea: These were her staple “hospitality” beverages, used to settle the stomach and soothe the nerves of travelers who visited her cabin.

Bergamot Elixir: Collected later in the spring, Bergamot was used for its antiseptic properties and to treat respiratory distress.

The Elderberry “Ascension” Tea

Following deep-rooted folk ritual, Mary utilized the Elderberry for both its physical and spiritual potency.

The Ritual Timing: In line with local tradition, Elderberry bark and blossoms were often harvested around Ascension Day to maximize their healing “virtue.”

The Recipe: Blossoms were steeped into a delicate tea for anti-inflammatory use, while the berries were cooked into a thick syrup to fight “pestilence” (viruses).

See our Elderberry Tonic Wunjo for a Spagyric Elixir of the Elder Mother.

In Southern Germany and Germanic mythology, the elder bush was believed to be the dwelling place of the goddess Holder or Holla (also associated with the fairy tale character Frau Holle), who was seen as a protective figure. She is the Mother of All, the Elder Mother, the “Elder Mother” (Hyldemoer in English/Scandinavian folklore), a spirit who inhabits the elder tree and possesses powers of healing and protection.

Mary’s “recipe” for healing always included a non-material component. She was known to pray with her neighbors and read from her German Bible while administering herbs, believing that the “Gnosis” of the healer was as important as the chemistry of the plant. So to finish this discourse, let us return to the cave laboratories of the Rosy Cross Hermit, where he would patiently use the alchemical seasons to sieve the astral Nitre and sift the clay to make his furnaces, crucibles and extract the hidden Secret Fire.

Oley-Wachs and Magnesia Borealis Flava:

The Yellow Northern Magnesia,  The Oley Wax and The Yellow Clay Connection

The Oley Valley is geologically distinct, forming a “bowl” shape with fertile soils and significant limestone and clay deposits. In local folk medicine, yellow clay from the region was traditionally used in poultices and topical treatments to draw out infections or soothe inflammation, a practice Mountain Mary is often credited with refining through her extensive knowledge of nature. Her reclusive cabin and spring house were located near Pikeville. Today, Mountain Mary Road and a memorial plaque stand as tributes to her legacy in this specific region of Berks County.

Within the Rosy Cross traditions of the Penn’s Mountains and Woods was the secret “Potable Gold of the Forest” (Aurum Potabile Silvestre). The alchemical sieved knows this not as a liquid metal, but as the “Marriage of the Solar Sulphur” to the “Magnetic Wine.” To the Jünger der Eichen, the forest is a Natural Athanor where the North Star “Fixes” the solar spirit into the 12 Hyperborean Herbs.

The Recipe: The “Golden Marriage” (Matrimonium Aureum)

The True Rosy Cross in the New World did not seek “vulgar” gold; they sought the “Vegetable Gold” trapped in the Yellow Earth (Terra Sigillata) of Pike Township.

The Body (The Salt): The Yellow Waxy Clay of the Oley Valley. This provides the “Fixed House” for the gold.

The Spirit (The Mercury): Magnetic Wine of Saknussemm (extracted from Catskill Magnetite). This is the “Universal Solvent” that “opens” the clay.

The Soul (The Sulphur): The “Red Oil” of St. John’s Wort. Harvested when the Golden Arrow of Abaris indicates the peak of the solar light.

The “Process to Totality” in the Forest

The Putrefaction: Place the ingredients in a Hollowed-Oak Pelican and bury it in the Pit Athanor.

The “Metonic” Digestion: Maintain the heat of the First Degree for 40 days. The Viriditas-Green Light will circulate until the liquid turns Transparent Gold.

The Fixation: At the moment of the Full Moon, add three drops of Balsam Fir Spirit. The liquid will “Freeze” into the Golden Elixir.

We will return to the Silence to prepare your Medicines with these ancient techniques, your purchases support this research and folk lore, folk herbalism and the Old Ways. We appreciate your support and wish you radiant Health!

Also see The Healing Spring

: A spring house was part of her original 42-acre farm. Historical accounts describe the “sweetness” of the water she used for her infusions and to welcome travelers with “delicious bread, butter, cream, and milk”.

Yellow Clay Deposits: While not a commercial site, the “Yellow Clay” Mary used is characteristic of the limestone and clay-rich “bowl” of the Oley Valley. Modern organizations like Clay on Main in Oley Village (313 Main St.) continue the region’s historical connection to local earth and pottery.

Historically, structured pilgrimages have taken place to honor Mary’s “virtue, cooperation, and humility”:

Annual May Procession: Historically held on a Sunday afternoon in mid-May (around May 15th), pilgrims would meet at Hill Church and process to her gravesite for a service featuring hymns and addresses by local pastors. Her legend is frequently celebrated at Pennsylvania Dutch cultural festivals throughout Berks County, where she is portrayed as the “Highland Healer”. The Phantom Barge and Other Poems by the author of The Limner” in Philadelphia gives her immortal story:

Whoe’er has trod by Schuylkill’s shore,

Where Oley’s hills are stretched along

And in romantic beauty soar, –

Has heard of Mary Young.

They tell for many a mile around

Where her lone dwelling may be found,

And show the green hill where it stands

Surrounded by its cultured lands,

Where yet the traveller stops to see

The poor and humble devotee.

Far from the world and all its strife

And care, old Mary dwells alone –

And tho’ she treads the vale of life,

Her mind is not o’erthrown;

But the bright evening of her days

Is passed away in prayer and praise,

Like that fair bird, whose latest form

Is full of music’s magic power,

And who, in death, awakes a tone

Far sweeter than her life had known.

She owns no sect – but thus has trod

The path of piety from youth

And she is one who worships God

In spirit and in truth.

Her praise is pure – devoid of art –

The adoration of the heart; –

And tho’ ’tis simple, has no less

The majesty of holiness;:

And shines as bright, when prayer is heard,

As oft by loftier life prepared.

As the sweet star of evening shines,

When sinking nightly to repose,

Towards life’s last goal she now declines,

The horizon of her close –

With as much calm serenity,

As tho’ she waited but to die:

As tho’ the toils of time were o’er,

And she were lingering on the shore,

Till the light bark of death should come

To bear her to a happy home.

There is a little spot, which she

Now holds within her cottage view, –

There sleeps her line of ancestry.

And she will sleep there too.

And tho’ the name of Mary Young

Be not, on earth, remembered long,

There is a world where virtue lives

Beyond the limit memory gives,

And from its earthly frailties free,

Blooms on, in one eternity.