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

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 ...

In reference to the June 24 Sunday magazine article “Star Bright,” I thank The Morning Call for not using the word “hex” in bold type within the pages. Ever since the explosion of tourism, folk ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Among the highlights of this year’s 64th Annual PA Dutch Folk festival was an academic study done by Patrick Donmoyer, a young yet long established historian of our PA Dutch/German folk culture, who ...

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 ...

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 ...