High in the misty hills of Appalachia, where old forests stretch for miles and stories travel easily from one porch to ...

Tourist beliefs notwithstanding, a German folklore professor has found that the hex sign is a tradition of mainstream Pennsylvania Germans – not “plain groups” such as Mennonites – and appears ...

His fortune is in painting hex sign art, not necessarily in believing in any supernatural powers that may be attributed to them. Johnny Claypoole of Lenhartsville R.1, hex sign artist, commenting on ...

I wanted to see distelfinks. But they were hard to find. In Pennsylvania Dutch country, the distelfink, a goldfinch that eats thistle seeds and builds thistledown nests, is a good-luck bird. It also ...

Perhaps nothing symbolizes Pennsylvania Dutch culture more than the hex sign. Some believe hex signs were first added to barns as a kind of painted prayer, usually for blessings and as protection from ...

Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Dr. Alfred L. Shoemaker, celebrated authority on Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs, noted these (hex ...

I wanted to see distelfinks. But they were hard to find. In Pennsylvania Dutch country, the distelfink — an imaginary goldfinch that eats thistle seeds and builds thistledown nests — is a good-luck ...

Editor’s note: Welcome to the world of “Paranormal PA,” a PennLive series that delves into Pennsylvania-grown stories of spirits (like the ghost of a murdered girl whose cries can be heard in one of ...

It was in her late 20s when Rachel Yoder realized she didn’t know much about her heritage. She yearned to feel connected to her roots, and for Yoder, art was a natural way to do so. “It was my ...