Hex signs are a form of folk art, thought by some to be of a talismanic nature, found in the Pennsylvania Dutch tradition. Folk Art describes a wide range of objects that reflect the craft traditions, and traditional social values, of various social groups. ... Talisman can refer to: An amulet sometimes believed to have mystical, and amazing powers The Talisman board game from Games Workshop Talisman - Sacred Cities, Secret Faith by Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval Talisman (band) - a hard rock band. ... The Pennsylvania Dutch (perhaps more strictly Pennsylvania Deitsch or Pennsylvanian German) are descendants of German speaking immigrants who came to Pennsylvania before 1800. ...

Artfully painted hex signs, in star-like patterns, are a well-known sight on Pennsylvania Dutch barns in and around central Pennsylvania, especially Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and Berks County, Pennsylvania. In recent years, they may be increasingly used as decoration rather than as items of folk magic. Indeed, some scholars argue that they never had any connection with superstition or magic, but were decorative symbols of ethnic identification, possibly originating in reaction to 19th Century attempts, by the government, to suppress the German language. Hex signs are predominately used by many of what the plain Anabaptist sects like the Amish and Mennonites consider to be "gay" or showy German immigrants, signs are rarley if never seen on an Amish or Mennonite household or farm. Lancaster County is a county located in the south-central portion of the state of Pennsylvania in the Susquehanna Valley. ... Berks County is a county located in the state of Pennsylvania. ... Folk religion consists of beliefs, superstitions and cultural practices transmitted from generation to generation, in addition to the formally stated creeds and beliefs of a codified major religion. ... A common European superstition dictates that it is bad luck for a black cat to cross ones path. ... Magic or sorcery are terms referring to the alleged influencing of events and physical phenomena by supernatural, mystical, or paranormal means. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ...

Hex signs were painted directly onto barns in a portion of Pennsylvania Dutch country, beginning, probably, in the latter half of the 19th Century. In the 20th Century, signs began to be sold which could then be mounted onto barns. Contrary to some popular fiction, hex signs are not a part of Amish culture. Amish couple in a horse-drawn buggy in rural Holmes County, Ohio, the site of one of the largest concentrations of Amish in the United States The Amish are a denomination of Anabaptists, found primarily in the United States and Canada, noted for their restrictions on the use of modern...

The term hex derives from the word hexagram. A hexagram (also known as sexagram or a magicians/sorcerers star) is a six-pointed star, a type of complex star polygon. ...

See also

• Pow-wow (folk magic)
• Pentagram
• Barnstar

Pow-wow is a system of American folk religion and magic associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch. ... A pentagram, pentacle, pentalpha, or pentangle A pentagram is a five-pointed star drawn with five straight strokes. ... A barnstar is a decorative motif found on barn structures in the United States and Germany. ...

External links

• About Hex Signs