WeвЂ™re all just tapping into so many different parts of the spectrum at this point that thereвЂ™s no way it couldnвЂ™t be ambiguous at this point,вЂќ says Gomez.ДЄccording to Curly, El Salvador, like much of Latin America, holds many of its roots in a mixture of Catholic, SanterГa, and Indigenous folk magic. I donвЂ™t think there really is a word anymore. The same thing happens within magical communities: shamanism, wizardry, witchcraft, all these different terms that are just describing their own sovereign approach to magic and the art of bringing this forward. вЂњIt really comes down to this combination of all practices at this point вЂ“ because weвЂ™re kind of in a big melting pot of culture at this point. Historically a lot of us just intuitively know itвЂ™s time to kind of move past it,вЂќ says Gomez. WeвЂ™re at a point in history (and the earthвЂ™s history) where words like bruja, witch, or even witchcraft have a lot of stigma behind it. вЂњIn the direction that weвЂ™re going, itвЂ™s just going to be so ambiguous that I donвЂ™t think itвЂ™ll matter. I consider myself an intuitive вЂ“ someone who is tapped into a lineage of things that pertain to witchcraft from a young age.вЂќ вЂњI think itвЂ™s easy for people to attach that word to anybody who is witchy. Jesse Sandoval Gomez, Mexican-American energy and sound healer, believes weвЂ™re beyond outdated or ambiguous terms like bruja or brujo. We use the elements of water, fire, earth.вЂќДЇor mixed BIPOC people (especially those with Latin roots living in the United States), the word вЂњbrujaвЂќ or вЂњbrujoвЂќ carries a different connotation. We do tiny things to get back at people вЂ“ to bind people вЂ“ and this isnвЂ™t for everybody, but these are things typical of my culture,вЂќ Curly says. вЂњFor Latin folk, we pray heavy, we light a lot of candles, we burn a lot of different things. He calls himself an вЂњenergy manifestor.вЂќ For him, and many other witches, prayers are just another word for spells. In SanterГa, an Afro-Latinx religion with Yoruba roots, Yemaya (considered the Mother of All and Queen of the Sea) is one of the most beloved Orisha in Cuba вЂ“ and in iconography, her image is closely tied the Virgin Mary.ДЇor Los Angeles-based brujo Curly Velasquez, whose family comes from El Salvadorian Indigenous lineage, modern traditions like Wicca, founded in the early to mid 20th century in England, werenвЂ™t really for him. In Mexico, for instance, the annual celebration of honoring the dead during DГa de los Muertos has origins in Aztec culture but also takes place on All SaintsвЂ™ and All SoulsвЂ™ Day on the Catholic calendar. Since Latin America was colonized by Europeans beginning in the 15th century вЂ“ leaving a desecrated Indigenous culture in its wake вЂ“ some native healing medicine and magical traditions syncretized with the Roman Catholic Church and this led to a kind of hybridity in contemporary spirituality. It goes back to this idea of belonging and acceptance within magical communities and shows how self-identity can carry a lot of weight вЂ“ especially with people of mixed racial backgrounds. But one interesting thing I've encountered when talking to some practicing modern witches is both a total embrace of the word вЂњbrujaвЂќ and also a reluctance to use it all together. Over many centuries, brujerГa in Latin America has become a deeply personalized practice with roots in several spiritual lineages, including Yoruba, Macumba, Vodou, and more. So what exactly is a bruja/o/x? Simply put, вЂњbrujaвЂќ means вЂњwitchвЂќ in Spanish.

Que es una bruja