Braucherei, a form of healing used in Amish and Mennonite communities, might seem like an appropriately antiquated practice for a traditional culture. But the writer Rachel Yoder returned to her Mennonite roots to investigate the practice’s modern uses. Embodying all the contradictions and complexities of the much-discussed Amish community overall, Braucherei might be most significant because of its commitment to an ancient practice: someone honoring your pain. “What could be more valuable?”
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“In the Glimmer,” Rachel Yoder’s essay in the July issue of Harper’s
The Long Lost Friend: A Collection of Mysterious and Invaluable Arts and Remedies
1:36: The origins of Braucherei
4:25: The “flattening” of Amish and Mennonite communities in media
14:20: An alternative solution to chronic pain: “pain itself can be so mysterious to modern medicine”
19:33: The power of it: “Being two bodies together in a place and caring for each other.”
26:59: The “evolution” of these communities
33:40: Being interested in “the mysterious” as a direct link to being a writer
35:52: Writers as a “secular clergy”
37:17: Goop-mystics on the Upper West Side and the Amish healer
43:04: Returning home
The Good Witches of Pennsylvania