Brujeria

Witchcraft in Latin America, known in Spanish as brujería, is a complex blend of indigenous, African, and European influences. Indigenous cultures had spiritual practices centered around nature and healing, while the arrival of Africans brought syncretic religions like Santería and Candomblé. European witchcraft beliefs merged with local traditions during colonization, contributing to the region's magical tapestry. Practices vary across countries. Accusations of witchcraft are historically intertwined with Latin American social dynamics. A male practitioner is called a brujo, and a female practitioner is a bruja. When Franciscan friars from New Spain arrived in the Americas in 1524, they introduced Diabolism, belief in the Christian Devil, to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Spanish clergyman, writer, and Indian-rights activist Bartolomé de las Casas (1484-1566) believed that human sacrifice was not diabolic, but was a legitimate form of religious expression.[4] Mexican Indians gladly absorbed belief in Diabolis into their preceding beliefs about creator-destroyer deities. Denunciations and persecutions of witches was common in colonial Mexico and Brazil. Across the Afro-Latin diaspora, many forms of spiritual practices emerged: Haitian Vodou, Cuban Santería, and Brazilian Candomblé and Umbanda. What distinguishes the witches of Latin America from their European counterparts is the blending of religiosity and spirituality. The magic of the witches in Latin America is rooted in African magic, European spiritualism, and indigenous practices, yielding highly syncretic versions of sorcery and witchcraft. In contrast to other Caribbean religions derived from African progenitors, brujería is not hierarchal or requires a membership. Practices are dependent on the ritual preferences of the participants. Because of the capriciousness and spontaneity of the spirits, it is impossible for institutionalized doctrines to be imposed on the followers and practicers of brujería. In some places, demonization of brujería has ended, but in others brujas are compelled to stop practicing their magic. In recent times, brujería has been forced to adopt a modernized, less offensive form to avoid extinction. As Latin American and Carribbean separatist aspirations begin to gain momentum, particularly in Puerto Rico, cultural traditions contribute to a sense of cultural nationalism (including Afro-Boricua and Taíno folklore). In the 1950s and 1960s, Puerto Rican journalists dismissed brujería as a means of educating the masses”. A shift toward cultural nationalism beginning in the 1980s prompted the media to uncover and publicize the hidden treasures of endangered Puerto Rican Hispanic, Taíno, and African tradition. Socio-cultural anthropologist and folklorist Raquel Romberg argues the practice of modern-day Puerto Rican brujería as "the vernacular co-optation of discourses of interest and passions, of consumerism and spirituality, commodity fetishism and morality, and welfare capitalism and magic". She also beleives that, despite misconceptions, Brujería contributes to the social order through both “holistic or individualized types of intervention” and its endorsement of positive “mainstream social values.”