4 stars - balanced and full of history and context
This is a manual, one for a very specific practice and from a largely misunderstood but very active belief system. From that angle, it's better organized than most collections of charms and prayers and the context the author provides is both sympathetic (as a practitioner) and thorough (as a student of the culture). Honestly, I love seeing both angles since religious practice or actions based on belief are inextricable from the culture that practices them.
The book does assume the person picking it up knows a bit about braucherei and the PA Dutch, even if it's just a quick dose off of a shallow mention in popular media. It's a bit hard to imagine anyone tracking this book down otherwise. So, fair play there.
There are a few typos and things in the printing I have. There wasn't any loss of meaning, it just took away a bit from the scholarly tone set early on.
Altogether, this book earned a spot on my shelf for keeps! I look forward to going through the charm section in a bit more detail later on.
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