"Backwards letters", especially the mirror-inverted "N" and "S", are
quite common on a historical inscriptions here in Germany and also in
eastern France. They can be found on various inscriptions on stones
(gravestones, door lintels...), but also on coins and church bells. In
general there is nothing mystical about them.
http://www.inschriften.net/typo3temp/pics/di60-1_376_1_3ba9c452c6.jpg
Regards,
Jan Selmer

Am 24.02.2017 um 23:13 schrieb Bob Skiles:
> Lyle,
> 
> I would say that the inference is (again) strongly toward a literacy
> cause; [English] illiteracy was higher among ALL immigrants, including
> Germans. Consequently the greater incidence of "backwards letters" on
> German gravemarkers is simply a reflection of the higher incidence of
> [English] illiteracy among the immigrant population (not likely an
> indicator of some mystical practice ;)
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Bob
> 
> 
> On 2/24/2017 3:34 PM, Lyle E. Browning wrote:
>> The Cyrillic alphabet has numerous “backwards" letters while the
>> German has none. How does one explain that?
>>
>> Lyle Browning, RPA
>>> On Feb 24, 2017, at 4:09 PM, Bob Skiles <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>>>
>>>      Sticks & Stones: Three Centuries of North Carolina Gravemarkers
>>>      (Margaret Ruth Little, 1998)
>>>     
>>> <https://books.google.com/books?id=wb7fAAAAMAAJ&q=%22backward+letters%22+tombstone&dq=%22backward+letters%22+tombstone&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiRvu2HwanSAhVIYyYKHSX7D2YQ6AEIOTAF>
>>>
>>>
>>> p151 "Clodfelter is the only German stonecutter in North Carolina
>>> known to have signed a/gravestone/. ... Furthermore, the misspelling
>>> and/backward letters/are typical of the lettering on many German
>>> stones throughout the county."
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2/24/2017 12:52 PM, Linda Derry wrote:
>>>> Pete,
>>>>
>>>> I'd put my money on illiteracy, but  here is another idea you could
>>>> research since Maryland was an entry point for many Germans.  Part
>>>> of my
>>>> family came into America through Maryland and settled in Virginia
>>>> and moved
>>>> west through Pa., Ohio, Illinois, Iowa and so forth.  Some  of my early
>>>> ancestors practiced German folk magic or medicine.  Something often
>>>> called
>>>> "Pow-wow."  There are many old Pow-Wow practice books reprinted and
>>>> available today (even some in English) so you could look there for
>>>> something on backward writing.
>>>>
>>>> This, of course is a long shot, because O'Neal is not a very German
>>>> sounding name, but you never know who might have married into the
>>>> family!
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Linda Derry
>>>> Site Director, Old Cahawba Archaeological Park
>>>> Alabama Historical Commission
>>>> 9518 Cahaba Road, Orrville, AL 36767
>>>> park:  334/ 875-2529
>>>> [log in to unmask]
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Feb 24, 2017 at 6:12 AM, Pete Regan <[log in to unmask]>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Does anyone out there have information on the potential meaning of
>>>>> backward characters on gravestones? I have a crudely carved
>>>>> gravestone in a
>>>>> nineteenth century, family plot that was part of a central Maryland
>>>>> farm,
>>>>> with all of the D's, N's, J's, and 1's carved backward. Plenty of
>>>>> folks
>>>>> have suggested dyslexia or partial illiteracy as potential
>>>>> explanations,
>>>>> but I have a few archaeologist/historian colleagues who seem to
>>>>> recall that
>>>>> backward orthography can have specific meanings on gravestones. For
>>>>> what
>>>>> it's worth, here's the text as it appears on the stone (again,
>>>>> picture the
>>>>> aforementioned letters backward):
>>>>>
>>>>> WM ONEAL
>>>>> DIED.JAN
>>>>> THE.1.1893
>>>>> AGE.72.
>>>>>
>>>>> The stone appears as the final photo in the larger site's state
>>>>> registration form, located here: https://mht.maryland.gov/
>>>>> secure/medusa/PDF/Howard/HO-1109.pdf
>>>>>
>>>>> For some physical context, two adjacent stones (1906 and 1917) are
>>>>> professionally carved marble markers without any "incorrect"
>>>>> writing. The
>>>>> remainder of the graveyard consists of partial lines of unmodified,
>>>>> vertical slabs of fieldstones located west of the carved stones,
>>>>> presumably
>>>>> as markers for the graves of servants, the enslaved, or the poor.
>>>>>
>>>>> Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!
>>>>>
>