Three Sisters Center for the Healing Arts Braucherei, Herbalism and Agriculture

Jesse TobinJesse Tobin graduated from the Herbal Therapeutics School of Botanical Medicine in 2006. She has a bachelor’s degree in healing Arts from Prescott College and for the past five years has studied in the Pennsylvania German healing practice known as Braucherei (or Powwow). Jesse is a practicing herbalist and Braucher, as well as a teacher in traditional PA German Healing Arts.

Susan HessSusan Hess graduated from the Herbal Therapeutics School of Botanical Medicine in 1996. She is a Therapeutic Herbalist, an herbal educator and has maintained a thriving herbal products business, Farm at Coventry, since 1997. She teaches an informative 8- month Homestead Herbalism course and hosts various classes on herbalism on her farm in Pottstown, PA. Susan is a practicing Braucher with a particular interest in herbs grown or gathered for medicinal and folkloric purposes by the early PA Germans.

Matt SicherMatt Sicher received his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2004 from Prescott College. It was during his time at Prescott that he dedicated himself to the study of Pennsylvania German heritage. He has spent several years focusing on PA German lifeways, including traditional agricultural methods, the PA German Dialect, and the healing tradition of Braucherei. He is a practicing Braucher and speaks on traditional PA German Healing Arts.

Dennis BoyerDennis Boyer believes in the power of stories. He is a lifelong collector of lore and personal narrative, starting in teacher Edwin Fox's one-room school classes in Hereford Township (Pennsylvania) and continuing with the native elders of the sub-arctic and Central America. He believes that much of our wisdom is embedded in the oral traditions of common people. It is truly only due to Dennis’s devotion to the collecting of stories and traditional wisdom that we, at Three Sisters Center, are able to share such a rich tradition of Braucherei Wisdom. His work began in the 1980’s, collecting traditional knowledge regarding Braucherei, and has not stopped to this day. He is the Father of our Kutztown Raad, and teacher and elder to us all. When he is not traveling the Spirit Path, he lives with his family on a farm in Iowa County, Wisconsin.

Lauren SicherLauren Sicher is a serious student of the PA German culture and language. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree through Prescott College. Lauren has studied the language and culture of her people and has recently committed herself to the Braucherei Path. She is apprenticing with her brother, Matthew Sicher, and taking the Braucherei Weg course this year. Lauren has undertaken a great challenge during her apprenticeship: she is transcribing the interviews of over 80 Braucherei practitioners, and organizing the information in a coherent way so that it is of use to the work of the Three Sisters Center in the future. We, at the Three Sisters Center are very grateful for her commitment to this important task.

Patrick DonmoyerPatrick Donmoyer currently lives in the Kutztown area while working towards a BFA in Studio Art and a BFA in Fine Crafts at Kutztown University, with concentrations in Printmaking and Textiles, respectively. He is also working towards a minor in PA German Studies. His artwork attempts to reflect on occult and religious symbolism of the past and present. His research has primarily focused on the restoration of early 19th century carpet looms as well as developing a photographic survey of the historic hex signs of Berks County, Pennsylvania. He currently works and studies at the PA German Cultural Heritage Center in Kutztown. He has also committed himself to the Braucherei Path this year and is apprenticing with Jesse Tobin.