The Sacred Art of Brujeria, by Katrina Rasbold

Praise for The Sacred Art of Brujería “Rasbold, herself a bruja of many years standing, explains clearly what Brujería is (and isn’t), sharing the depth and detail of practices, methodologies, and self-strengthening required to become a bruja or brujo. Her writing style is lucid and fluid, and even those who do not wish to become a practitioner will find this volume absorbing. A welcome book on a little-explored magical practice, The Sacred Art of Brujería is highly recommended.”

—Corbie Mitleid, author of The Psychic Yellow Brick Road “The Sacred Art of Brujería is an outsider’s guide to the inner workings of a magical system rarely revealed to noninitiates …

But now, thanks to this comprehensive work by Katrina Rasbold, a veritable bruja herself, we finally have an English-language gateway to truly understanding Brujería. Everything from limpias to energy manipulation to even knowing how to talk business between client and practitioner can be found in here, all while bridging the cultural divide so that all of us anywhere can learn and benefit from this sacred tradition.”

—Tomás Prower, author of La Santa Muerte “The Sacred Art of Brujería is an astute and accessible look into a profound and sometimes misunderstood spiritual path. Katrina opens up the door to allow more understanding for those of us who are reverently curious and a gateway to a new way of being for those who have been chosen for this divine work.”

—Madame Pamita, author of The Book of Candle Magic

“Katrina Rashbold artfully blends history, folklore, and the everyday practices of Brujería in this powerhouse book. The Sacred Art of Brujería is an engaging read that’s hard to put down.

What is evident on every page is the author’s deep connection and reverence for this work. Brujería is often called a path of service, and this book honors that sacred pledge.”

—Gwion Raven, author of The Magick of Food “In The Sacred Art of Brujería, Katrina Rasbold paints a complete picture of Brujería. She paints with a brush of history, lore, and practice. I have watched Katrina’s work with a combination of fascination and awe and am thankful for a glimpse into a world I had only imagined to exist. Thank you, Katrina, for bringing it to life.”

—Jean (Drum) Pagano, author of Arise from Vapours

© Myk Aero

About the Author

Katrina Rasbold has provided insightful, accurate, and helpful life path consultations to clients for over thirty years. She has worked with teachers and mentors all over the world, including three years of training in England and two years of practice in the Marianas Islands.

Katrina and her partner, Eric, are a popular presence at many festivals and speaking events throughout California, including PanGaia Festival, Sacramento Pagan Pride, and Pantheacon. She has distinguished herself with her no-nonsense approach and humorous, homespun commentary in many different genres of reporting. Her workshops, classes, and lectures continue to charm and educate her clients and students. Her blog Witch at the Crossroads recently debuted on Patheos Pagan.

Katrina and Eric have six adult children and live in a remote mountain community in El Dorado County. They are the owners of Two Sisters Botánica, an online shop offering their handmade magical products, and Crossroads Metaphysical Store (www.crossroadsoccult .com), a brick-and-mortar shop in Shingle Springs where they offer Two Sisters Botánica products, teach classes, and perform spell work and healing services. She also performs cleansings and spell work by remote for clients all over the world.

Llewellyn Publications Woodbury, Minnesota

The Sacred Art of Brujeria: A Path of Healing & Magic © 2020 by Katrina Rasbold. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Edition First Printing, 2020 Cover design by Kevin R. Brown Llewellyn Publications is a registered trademark of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data (Pending) ISBN: 978-0-7387-6271-5 Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business transactions between our authors and the public.

All mail addressed to the author is forwarded but the publisher cannot, unless specifically instructed by the author, give out an address or phone number.

Any internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific location will continue to be maintained. Please refer to the publisher’s website for links to authors’ websites and other sources.

Llewellyn Publications A Division of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd. 2143 Wooddale Drive Woodbury, MN 55125-2989 www.llewellyn.com Printed in the United States of America

Other Books by Katrina Rasbold Crossroads of Conjure How to Be a Queen Where the Daffodils Grow The Daughters of Avalon Rose of Avalon Aster of Avalon Iris of Avalon Lily of Avalon The Dance Card Energy Magic Beyond Energy Magic CUSP Properties of Magical Energy Reuniting the Two Selves Magical Ethics and Protection The Art of Ritual Crafting The Magic and Making of Candles and Soaps Days and Times of Power Crossing the Third Threshold How to Create a Magical Working Group Leaving Kentucky in the Broad Daylight The Real Magic Get Your Book Published Goddess in the Kitchen: The Magic and Making of Food Spiritual Childbirth Tarot for Real People Weather or Not Weather Witchery

Dedication

This book is dedicated to those wiser than I am who came before—those who healed, held space, worked magic, and forever changed lives, including my own. This book is for Don Fuji, who was the first to call me to this path, to invite me into his culture, and to convince me that it was what I should do. It is for Don Francisco, who deepened my healing skills and showed me how to be in the world, but not of it. This book is also for Doùa Marta, who taught me the power of faith and galvanized my connection to the world of the Dead so that I could better serve the world of the Living. Those three mentors placed my feet on a path I never imagined I would tread and forced me to trust what I do and to believe in myself.

My deepest gratitude goes out to those sacred, fearless spirits who paved the way before me, such as the late Curandera Elena Avila who wrote the brilliant guide on healing called Woman Who Glows in the Dark and put into eloquent words many of the techniques my mentors used to train me. I am also humbly thankful to the amazing Puerto Rican teacher and healer Sancista Brujo Luis who is out there teaching, healing, and doing the good work with his clients. My mentors left the United States in 2016 and watching his YouTube channel helps me feel close to them again because his way of speaking and working is so like theirs.

This book is also dedicated to those who come after, to the students and apprentices and any who seek magic with the intent to help and heal others. I am honored to be a tiny link in this very long chain of dedicated service.

Contents Disclaimer … xiii Introduction … 1 Chapter 1: About Brujería … 13 Chapter 2: Divine Figures in Brujería … 27 Chapter 3: Words and Breath in Brujería … 41 Chapter 4: Days and Times of Power … 53 Chapter 5: The Body’s Energetic Systems … 65 Chapter 6: Managing Your Energetic Flow … 77 Chapter 7: The Plática … 89 Chapter 8: The Sage Bath and Egg Scrub … 101 Chapter 9: The Barrida and Beyond … 115 Chapter 10: Spiritual Maladies … 127 Chapter 11: Candle Preparation and Burning … 143 Chapter 12: Candle Glass Reading and Disposal … 155 Chapter 13: Effective Spell Work Techniques … 167 Chapter 14: Protection and Prosperity Work … 181 Chapter 15: Love Work … 197 Chapter 16: Brujería as a Business and Practice … 213 Brujería Chooses … 225 Sources … 227 Glossary … 229 Index … 233

Disclaimer

The information contained in this book derives from historical folk belief and practice. It is not intended to take the place of qualified medical care and no guarantees are implied or extended. The author and publisher are not liable for any injury or other malady resulting from the application of the information contained within this book. Most of the information written here came directly to the author by her apprentices through orally conveyed instruction. Please use common sense if and when attempting these practices and consult a healthcare professional when needed. The folk magic practices discussed in this book may seem simple, but they are normally conveyed through an apprentice relationship with a qualified teacher. If you feel a sincere calling to these practices, it is important that you do not attempt the techniques without training. When and if you are ready, the teacher will come to you. Put your beacon out into the world and trust the process.

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To me the word Witch is a delicious word, filled with the most ancient memories that go back to our earliest ancestors, who lived close to natural cycles and understood and appreciated the power and energy that we share with the cosmos. The word Witch can stir these memories and feelings even in the most skeptical minds. —laurie cabot, power of the witch

INTRODUCTION

I

live in the world as a bruja, the Spanish word for “female witch,” and each day as I work magic for the benefit of others, as I open my shop door in the morning and lock it at night, I do so with humble appreciation for the culture that created this magical system. The long journey that brought me to this practice began the day that my first mentor literally landed on my doorstep and told me it was the path I was born to follow, and encouraged me to start walking.

Being a bruja is not just about being a witch in the most general of terms. Brujería is its own practice, akin to the folk magic forms of Witchcraft in the European tradition and southwestern cousin to Hoodoo and other Conjure traditions, but with its own structure, purpose, and practices. It is specifically the Hispanic form of Witchcraft, born of the culture itself with its current form deriving from thousands of years of unbroken lineage and practice. Brujería is not merely “Witchcraft” as the word directly translates to English, but is a folk magic system specific to the culture. It shares some modalities with other traditions and yet has its own representation of the Craft.

1

Introduction I am not Mexican. I am a Caucasian woman from a predominantly Scotch-Irish family. I was born in Kentucky, which is far from Mexico both geographically and culturally. I left in 1978. I traveled the world with my first husband, who was in the US Air Force, and studied magic in the Marianas Islands, in England, and throughout the United States. During that time, I experienced magical practices through the eyes of many cultures and, although they were fascinating and I studied them academically, those traditions were not my path. I never imagined then, or at any time in my decades of magical study and practice, that it would be Brujería that would call me as the path I would ultimately embrace.

I walk in this world of Brujería by invitation, not only from the gods and from God, but from the three mentors who taught me: two brujos and a bruja. I resisted coming to the bruja’s sacred space, concerned over potential accusations of appropriation. My respect for the culture that I engage every day is profound and the thought of offending anyone who is ancestrally or geographically entitled to it shadowed my practice for years, no matter how many people I helped. It is a reality that fortunately does not seek me out very often anymore. Each day, I am a bruja, whether I like it or not (I do) and whether my critics like it or not (they typically do not).

The people I helped over the past years showed no hesitancy over the fact that I was white. They needed someone to help them, to channel God and magic into their despair, and I did that for them.

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Introduction The mentors who trained me, sometimes patiently and other times, not so much, did not care that I was white. Back then, I fussed about my skin color and heritage far more than they ever did. One even said, “You worry about this so much that I get tired of hearing about it. At least it will keep you humble.”

It is true that I voiced my concerns repeatedly. I told them I did not want to appropriate what was not mine to use. I thought surely the language barrier must be a problem or perhaps I was not expressing myself effectively when I lamented that I was not Mexican. That I was not Hispanic. That I had no ancestral claim to what they were teaching me to do.

They told me to stop making excuses and to do the work.

They told me that I was mired in ego.

They said that ego is what tells you to care about what others think of you more than what you are put on the earth to do, even though you are doing the will of God. They told me I was allowing fear to control and limit me.

They said that fear is what tells you that you will not be accepted. Fear shows you illusions, causing you to believe you cannot do what you know in your heart you can do … what God insists that you do.

One told me that anyone who truly matters in this process doesn’t care, and anyone who cares doesn’t matter. They said that my practice was between me and Brujería, between me and God. Another told me that when we are cut, the blood that comes out, whether it is Hispanic blood or Scotch-Irish blood, is red.

When we die and the fleshy vehicle we drove around here on 3

Introduction earth dissolves into the ground, our bones look alike. Our blood and our bones and our spirits do not care. Only our fearful, defensive minds care. Only our egos care.

Another told me that people may have an opinion about who practices Brujería, but they do not get to choose this. God chooses. Brujería itself chooses and it cares little about what mere mortals think of the choices it makes.

I frequently use that phrase with my students. “Brujería chooses.”

Brujería chooses whom it will call. Once you are called, Brujería exposes your deepest frailties and your strongest weaknesses; it forces you to confront every inner demon that inhibits your forward progress. It is like leveling up on a video game where you defeat each ever-stronger opponent in turn until you meet the Big Boss. Like a hazing or an initiation, you fight off your inner demons one by one until there is no longer fear and there is no longer ego. There is only Brujería.

Of course, there are practical modalities we work to master in Brujería. We learn to construct the most effective power grids for any situation. We learn to effectively interpret candle burns and how to blend herbs, oils, and salts into a powerful ritual bath. Like any branch of Witchcraft, we study the techniques and we learn the modalities, but the real training happens inside, away from the worktables and altars.

Back in the early 2010s, I had a little magic shop in the middle of a gigantic swap meet. It was a real brick-and-mortar shop with doors we could lock, which was unheard of in that venue of pop-ups, tarps, and folding tables. Our shop was tiny, maybe 4

Introduction 300 square feet, if that. We made the most of vertical displays and scrunched in as much inventory as we could.

One day, a woman who did not speak English came into our shop. My husband speaks Spanish conversationally and after talking with her a bit, he interpreted that she wanted me to cleanse her. I took out my white sage stick, my holy water, and my stones and began working on her intuitively as I had done with many others before. Just then, another vendor at the swap meet walked by and looked in our door, seeing what I was doing. He and I were on casual, friendly terms. He came in and pretended to look around the shop, but I could tell something was on his mind.

I finished up with the lady and she seemed pleased with the results. I was glad I did whatever it was she needed me to do, despite our language barrier. Through my husband, she asked how much she owed me. I shrugged and said, “Cinco” (five dollars).

She pushed a ten into my hands and refused her change.

The vendor, a large Mexican dude in a tie-dye shirt and gym shorts, came up to me, cocked his head toward the departing woman, and said, “What were you doing with her?”

I looked at him skeptically, unsure exactly sure what he was asking or even why.

“I was cleansing her,” I said, carefully watching his reaction.

“Sort of a smudging, if you know what that is, but more intense.”

“You were doing a limpia.”

“A what?”

“A limpia. You were doing a limpia on her. Are you a curandera or a bruja or something?”

5

Introduction I knew what “bruja” meant. This was before I knew all the cultural connotations of “bruja” and to me, the word just meant “witch.” I had identified as a witch for more than half my life, so I latched onto it.

“Yeah, I guess I am a bruja. I have been for years.”

“Who trained you?” he asked.

My mind was reeling and I fought back feelings of annoyance. We were back to this again. For the whole of my years as a witch, there was little more irritating to me than the pedigree effect of needing to provide line and verse of your lineage to anyone who asked. Apparently, this was a cross-cultural phenomenon.

“No one,” I said, telling him the truth. “I mean, I have training, but it did not include what I was doing to cleanse the woman. The most we do is wave a sage stick at someone as they are coming into ritual. We don’t do what I was doing and look intuitively for energy imbalances and congestions, for attachments, and things like that. I have just always done that on my own.”

“Mija, you are a bruja,” he said. “You’re right.”

That is how he became my teacher. He never cared that I worked with a generational coven in England or with the Druids in Devore, California, or that I managed my own covens for more than twenty years. My magical lineage did not impress him. He cared about what I did with the healing process. He cared about my relationship to certain herbs and stones.

My next mentor did not know my first mentor personally, but came into my shop and after talking with me for a while 6

Introduction and throwing around a few buzz words, he decided he wanted to teach me. I was not really in the market for another instructor, but he was pushy about it and I figured I would rather know more than less, so I started learning with Don Francisco. He was not as jolly as my first teacher and looked like a wizened old cowboy, complete with the oversized hat and boots. He taught me about the discipline of the practice and how to interact with clients.

Doña Marta was a Guatemalan woman who was diminutive in size, but not in presence. She had a ready, broad smile and a good heart. She taught me about the concept of healing the whole client, carefully examining not just the obvious or known presentation of symptoms, but looking deeper into the client’s physical, psychological, social, and mental health to see how the known circumstances may be informed by the “ones unseen,” as she called them.

Her focus was on the client’s relationship with what they considered holy and sacred. She taught me about the saints and how we use them and the biblical Scriptures in our magical work. In addition to the canonized saints, she taught me about the folk saints and their vital role in the Hispanic community, including Santa Muerte, who quickly became my own patron saint.

These three people were instrumental in my training as a bruja and they are the reason why I am here today, writing these words. Each day, I offer my respect and gratitude to the path that called me and the mentors who accepted and guided me.

Me. A little Kentucky girl who is now an old woman living in 7

Introduction California, practicing from a beautiful mountain location and working hard to remember that “Brujería chooses” and for whatever glorious, inexplicable, amazing, damning reason, it chose me.

Well over a year ago, Santa Muerte tapped me to begin teaching Brujería classes. Again, I worried about the calling. I worried that the art would not translate out to a larger group of people. Traditionally, we teach the techniques in an apprenticeship arrangement as a one-on-one process. Brujería is a healing practice and in order for an apprentice to learn what they need to know, the right clients must walk through the door. You cannot teach tonali retrieval, the calling back of a lost piece of the soul, to an apprentice if you do not encounter a client who needs this type of healing.

It is like teaching someone to drive a car. You can describe to them how an internal combustion engine works. You can tell them about how the clutch engages the transmission and how much oil the car needs and when.

Until they sit in the seat and drive, however, they will not be a real driver. In fact, until they sit in the seat and drive the car for quite some time, they will not be a good driver. They must learn how to manage an accident and how to behave when a cop pulls them over for blowing through a stop sign. They must know what it feels like to run out of gas on a deserted road before they truly understand the value of keeping the gas tank happy. Brujería is the same, and I worried that I would be unable to convey the information adequately in a classroom setting, much less an 8

Introduction online setting. Brujería is experiential, not academic, and I hesitated when I got the call to teach.

I worried about putting myself out there as a white woman teaching Brujería. It’s one thing to heal, but quite another to teach as an authority Nevertheless, Santa Muerte persisted.

My mentors gave me the blessing to teach and take on apprentices when I moved out of their tutelage years ago. I said goodbye as, one by one, they left the country not long after the 2016 election. They are no longer here for me to contact and ask for guidance, but I hear each of them in my head. One line stood out to me: “If God led you to it, you’ve got to do it.”

So I did it. I put out the call and waited to see what would happen. I prayed and offered that if I were not meant to do this that no one would step forward. The response was overwhelming. People turned out in droves for the classes and, proving the premise that “Brujería chooses,” it was not for everyone.

In the first class of my year-long Brujería series, I bring up what I call “magical tourism,” which is when practitioners go from tradition to tradition, picking up techniques that work for them and incorporating them into an amalgam practice without ever fully immersing into the culture that birthed the techniques. Magical tourism is rampant in Western practice and, sure, a few people came to the classes because it was something new that they had not yet experienced. They imagined they would pick up a few new tools for their magical toolbox and move on and some did.

9

Introduction When I considered students for this class series, I did not take everyone who wished to attend. Applicants filled out a substantial form to apply for consideration as a student, but truth be told, I was only deeply interested in one question on the application which was the last one: “Why do you want to take this class series?”

For those who said things like, “I want to come up in power and I think this will help me do that” or “I have never heard of Brujería before and want to see what it is like” or “I am trying out several different traditions to find one that fits,” I replied with a polite rejection.

I zeroed in on responses that sounded like, “I am drawn to this and I do not know why,” and, “When I was young, my grandmother was a curandera and I want to know more about what she did,” and, “Brujería was always considered something evil in my home. I want to know what it is really about.”

For some students, the premise of a magical practice that focused on clients rather than on themselves proved unfulfilling. Not everyone is cut out for magical servitude and for being more of a conduit than a cause, but Brujería is just that. There is no room for ego and no time for posturing. There is work to be done. For others, working magic to heal and benefit others was exactly what they felt called to do.

One of my mentors summed it up when he said, “Regardless of anyone’s ethnic origin, we need an army of healers for the bad times that are coming.”

When we engage Brujería as serious students, we accept the role of magical healers. We understand that we are here as 10

Introduction a channel for divine energy and that our pride has no place in what we do. We never lose the awe and respect for magic and sacred experiences, and yet, we know that the power lies in something above and beyond us, and while we may channel our personal energy toward a specific goal, even that energy is a gift from God, not an entitlement.

I trusted my mentors and taught apprentices one-on-one and it worked. I trusted my patron saint and taught Brujería in a classroom and it worked. Now I am going to trust my publisher and my God and hope it works yet again with this book.

If you reach beyond these pages to find information on Brujería, you will quickly see how little written instruction is available on this vibrant and evocative subject. The first book I encountered was Magic from Mexico by Mary Devine. Of the few books available on Brujería, most are written in Spanish and, even then, few are available.

Because Brujería is taught in an apprenticeship relationship, the techniques and practices are highly individualized and there is no “right” or “wrong” way to do them. Brujería is a dynamic process and what is energetically correct for one practitioner may not work for another practitioner. What works for us depends on our personal relationship with our higher powers and the psychic and spiritual gifts that come to us naturally and that we cultivate in ourselves. Putting the teachings of Brujería into a standardized, written form risks losing this energetic signature.

Brujería is not for everyone and as I mentioned previously, Brujería chooses. I extend my faith in Brujería to the publication of this book. Those who are meant to engage the practice will 11

Introduction find the book and those who are not, will not. Brujería will even choose who reads these words.

Whereas my first Llewellyn book, Crossroads of Conjure, was more of an anthropological view of Conjure traditions, including Brujería and Curanderismo, this is a direct “how to” and digs into the viscera of Brujería. Far more than a spell book or an instruction guide, this book covers the exact lessons I give to my personal students. It discusses what it feels like to be a working bruja and explores the fundamental aspects of healing with magical energy.

If this path is your calling, I suspect you will find this practice as sacred and breathtaking as I do. If it is not your calling, I believe you may still find appreciation for what Brujería brings to the world.

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Chapter 1

ABOUT BRUJERÍA

Before we begin, some points about language: In the Spanish language, words often have gender variants. A brujo is a male witch and a bruja is a female witch. A curandero is a male healer and a curandera is a female healer. For ease of expression throughout this text, I will combine these genderspecific words into bruja/o and curandera/o to avoid preferential or gender-dominant word usage.

T

he words “Hispanic” and “Latino/a/x” are not interchangeable. “Hispanic” is about language and designates a Spanishspeaking culture, person, or community. “Latino/a/x” is a distinction of geography and refers to culture, person, or community within or deriving from Latin America. In the Spanish language, the suffix “a” is feminine and “o” is masculine, making a Latina female and a Latino male. Some people prefer to use the term “Latinx” as a non-gendered identification.

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About Brujería

What is Brujería?

People often ask me the difference between a curandera/o and bruja/o. Both work magic and move energy in their practices.

Both are healers. Both are valuable components to a strong Latino community. There are, however, important differences.

The distinction is that a bruja/o is a Witch and a curandera/o is an acknowledged healer. The bruja/o is often shunned and feared in the community, but the curandera/o is revered and respected.

You visit the curandera/o for healing in the light of day without shame and you seek out the bruja/o in the dark of night as a last resort.

On the surface, their practices are quite similar. One of my mentors put it plainly when she said, “A curandera looks at a client presenting with physical symptoms and imagines there might be a spiritual cause. A bruja/o looks at a client presenting with spiritual symptoms and imagines there might be a physical cause.”

In each case, the bruja/o or the curandera/o will treat the client on all levels. They examine the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, sexual, social, and cultural well-being of the client and look for other manifestations of symptoms.

For instance, a client presenting with throat tightness or pain receives treatment for spasms or a sore throat in Western medicine. A curandera/o or bruja/o will look to see what truths the client has difficulty speaking. Looking socially, they might find that this is a woman whose husband has taken a mistress, causing her to feel set aside, but unable to voice her anger due to 14

About Brujería cultural conditioning. In Curanderismo and Brujería, all symptoms are interconnected and the healer must find the underlying cause to help the client move toward wholeness. Treating the symptoms alone results in recurring symptoms because the underlying condition was not addressed and treated.

A curandera/o often has specialized training in a specific field of healing. A “yerberos” specializes in herbal healing. A “huesero” is a bone specialist and physical therapist. An “oracionista” heals using focused prayer and incantations. A “sobadores” uses massage techniques and a laying on of hands to heal. A “patera” specializes in midwifery and gynecological medicine. A “curandera/o total” is like a general practitioner and is trained in all types of medicine.

A bruja/o, however, addresses clients from a magical perspective rather than a physical one. They are problem solvers, confessors, and advocates for their clients. The bruja/o may look like a grandmother, a street merchant, an exotic and magical figure, or an eccentric vagrant.

As a bruja/o comes up in power and is recognized for their work, others may refer to them as “Don” (for a male) or “Doña” (for a female), which is an honorary title given to elders to convey respect.

Myths abound about Brujería, brujas, and brujos and they are spoken of in hushed tones and threats. “Be good or the brujas will get you.” Many lucid and rational people still believe brujas and brujos to be shape-shifters who eat babies and who are in service to Satan.

15

About Brujería Clients may consult a bruja/o if they think they have been crossed or cursed in some way or if they wish to somehow control the actions of another person. Often, they want an ex-lover to return to them or an employer to promote them ahead of someone else. They may want to manage a wayward spouse or a child who is acting out. They themselves may want a spiritual cleansing, or to reverse a downward financial spiral or run of bad luck.

Most who come to a bruja/o are holding on to hope by a thread. By the time they reach our doorstep, they have tried everything and are looking for a last resort.

In Brujería, there is an energy exchange. Sometimes, that energy is money for magic; sometimes, it is a cake or a chicken or some other gift that forms the client’s part of the energy exchange. They might pay in barter, but they always pay. They arrange the exchange at the beginning of the encounter and leave nothing to ambiguity. They do not wish to ever be beholden to a bruja/o, and at the end of the service they will always make certain that the bruja/o agrees that their debt is paid.

We never teach Brujería as a type of magic used to improve our own lives. In fact, brujas/os are often the least affluent people in any community. In Mexico and border towns, they usually have another occupation that is their primary income, so your bruja/o might also be your butcher or the tamale lady.

If you go into a Latino community as an outsider and ask where the bruja/o lives, the locals will likely meet you with a confused look and an insistence that there is no bruja/o. Eventually, it comes out that the guy on the street selling flowers is 16

About Brujería the local brujo. You will rarely find a shingle on their door advertising their services. You know someone who knows someone and everyone around knows who that someone is.

To understand Brujería and how it engages the community and its magical needs, it is essential that we set aside all concepts of European magical ethics. Brujería does not utilize or acknowledge ideas such as threefold law, the law of return, karma, or “harming none.” In Brujería, all magical acts fall into two categories: justified and not justified. That’s it. Like a lawyer who decides if they will take a case, the bruja/o carefully evaluates each client that comes to them and determines whether they can help. The identification of a work as justified or not justified shifts from person to person, so one bruja/o might consider a client’s request justified while another does not. Among brujas/ os, there is rarely any judgment levied from one to another regarding individual assessment of a case.

There is a prevailing notion, although this is not entirely universal, that if a client finds their way to you as a bruja/o, you are meant to assist them in some way. Otherwise, they would be unable to approach you. Certainly, you can still refuse service to them, but some form of exchange between the two of you was intended or else they would not be there.

Brujería is not gender-biased, so brujas and brujos are treated equally. For most of history, Curanderismo was primarily a female-dominated practice due to midwifery falling within its purview. Brujería, on the other hand, usually had more male practitioners than female. In recent years, young Latinx women have embraced Brujería as a statement of empowerment and 17

About Brujería this movement tipped the scale so that females are now the dominant force in the demographic.

Despite a common misperception otherwise, Brujería is not a Pagan practice. It is a magical practice, but it is not a Pagan practice. Although Brujería emerged out of a veneration for the old gods of the Mexica and the Aztec, at the time of the Spanish conquest, Brujería survived by syncretizing with the Catholic religion of the incoming conquistadors. Now, Brujería operates exclusively as Catholic and relies heavily on Scriptures, saints, and other components of Catholicism.

Brujería is not a reconstructed path, but one of ongoing development dating back more than twelve thousand years to the very beginning of life in Latin America. Brujería did not undergo the horrific persecutions so common to the European countries. That is not to say the brujas/os were not targeted for attack, because they certainly were, but the widespread witch hysteria that overcame medieval Europe was not as aggressive in Latin America, which allowed for an unbroken lineage of practice.

Brujas/os usually do not view time as a linear process; instead, they understand that healing of the client occurs on multiple levels at once. Mental healing occurs at a different rate than the physical healing, which may happen at a different rate than the social healing or spiritual healing; multiple realities are present within a single case study. For this reason, we engage the client from a perspective that is very plugged in to the “now” that is occurring with them. We treat them as though, in that sustained moment, there is no past or future. Only the now.

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About Brujería The goal for any bruja/o who works with integrity is to assist the client in living a good life and, when it is time, dying a good death without the burden of guilt, unresolved conflict, or unspoken words upon them. What constitutes “living a good life” or “dying a good death” is subjective to the client, not to the healer, so it is incumbent upon the bruja/o to assist the client in determining their criteria for those goals and to help them meet those objectives without judgment or recrimination.

In my own classes, I teach my apprentices the following premises, which act as our basic code: • The Universe around us inhales and exhales the breath of God. Nature is an expression of the God energy and we are part of Nature. When we heal, we act as a divine channel for the God energy. The power to heal is not ours to claim but is ours to direct.

• We practice magic by tuning ourselves to the frequency of the Universe. Once we do this, we hear differently, think differently, behave differently, and engage life differently, always informed by the divine will of God that travels on that universal frequency.

• Our spirit guides are the voices through which God speaks to us and are the primary frequency to which we must attune.

• We do not choose to be a bruja/o. We are called to Brujería. We can deny this calling our entire lives, but the call will return periodically and become increasingly louder if ignored.

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About Brujería • Once we walk in the world as a bruja/o, we will never again see the world through mundane eyes.

• A bruja/o knows no ethical boundaries except to classify a magical work as “justified” or “not justified.” This identification of a work as either justified or not justified shifts from healer to healer.

• A bruja/o accepts complete accountability for their actions and their choices.

• Brujas/os respect and uphold one another, even if they find they are working in opposition to another bruja/o through their individual clients.

• Brujas/os teach primarily through apprenticeship, and one must always treat one’s mentor with dignity and respect.

• Some things a bruja/o teaches their students are for brujas/ os only and must remain private between the mentor and the apprentice.

• Brujería is learned not only from a mentor but from engaging living interaction with the frequency of the Universe.

Where Did Brujería Come From?

Brujería, broadly speaking, comes from Latin America—predominantly Mexico. The first accounts of the practice come from the Mexica (muh-SHEE-cuh). Anyone with a fundamental knowledge of the history of Mexico understands that the following is a condensed version of history for the sake of brevity.

A full and reasonable accounting of pertinent Mexican history 20

About Brujería would easily take up this entire book, so what I offer below is the nutshell version.

The city-states of Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco, which now make up Mexico City, were originally separate land masses in a large lake, which is now dry. At that time, many individual civilizations existed throughout what is now Mexico.

In 1273, the Mexica were the rulers of the Aztec Empire.

They did not call themselves Aztecs. That identification came more than five hundred years later, when Prussian explorer Alexander von Humboldt combined the words “Aztlan” (“place of the heron”) and “tec(atl)” (“people of ”). “Aztec” eventually came to refer not only to the Mexica, but to all Nahuatl-speaking tribes of the Valley of Mexico. The Maya were located primarily along the Yucatán Peninsula and the Sierra Madre highlands.

The ambitious Mexica began conquering the independent cities throughout Mexico and their reach extended into what are now the US states of California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, as well as parts of Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and New Mexico.

The Mexica encountered little resistance to their rapid expansion since they did not demand change from the areas they conquered. The people could still conduct business, worship, and carry on as they had prior to the conquest, provided they paid tribute to the Mexica.

Due to their widespread expansion, literally hundreds of different languages developed from the Nahuatl language of the Mexica. By the time Cortés and his army landed in 1519, the Maya alone spoke more than thirty different languages, most 21

About Brujería of which are still used today. Because the Mexica did not force their conquered territories to adapt to Mexica beliefs and practices, many different magical traditions flourished throughout their empire.

Empowered by the success of their conquests throughout Europe, the Spanish invaders sent to conquer Mexico were unprepared for what they encountered in terms of sheer numbers.

When Cortés landed, he was faced with approximately 4.5 million indigenous people. Knowing his army was vastly outnumbered, he was forced to devise a different way to conquer the indigenous people.

After spending time among the Aztecs, he learned that the ruling forces worshipped rain gods who demanded ongoing human sacrifices. After many hundreds of years of frequent human sacrifices, he found that the populace was less than enchanted with the ruling paradigm and as such perhaps did not resist the Spanish conquest as much as they would have otherwise. That is not to say Cortés enjoyed a bloodless coup. Far from it. His tactic, however, was to turn the people against their rulers and cause them to rise in rebellion. Although it is undocumented, legend says that the Aztec king Moctezuma, who ruled at the time of Cortés’s invasion, was ultimately stoned to death by his own people.

Another unsubstantiated legend says that the brujas/os of Mexico studied the conquests of Europe and educated themselves about Catholicism; by the time the conquest occurred, they had already syncretized their own gods and holy figures with those of the Catholics, thereby minimizing religious 22

About Brujería persecution and allowing them to continue their practice unhindered.

Spain’s conquest of Mexico was relentless and soon they ruled the entire land. Flash forward to 1848 when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo was signed, ending the Mexican-American War and redefining Mexican borders to where they are today.

When the 1848 treaty was signed, thousands of people were literally Mexican citizens one day and Americans the next, so when we consider the idea of how Brujería came to what is now the United States, the answer is that it was always here. The legal identification of the brujas/os may have changed with the stroke of a pen, but, as their ancestors experienced with the conquest of the Mexica, their magical healing practices continued unhindered.

Brujería developed further as it assimilated the influences of other cultures into its framework. The Spaniards brought their Judeo-Christian influences, including the use of Scriptures as incantations, now a staple Brujería practice. The image of the crucifix and the amulets and talismans of the canonized saints also come through the Spanish influence. The tradition considers the Bible itself to be a holy talisman with powers beyond the Scriptures inside.

Spanish priests and healers who traveled to Mexico to educate what they imagined as poor savages found not only magicoreligious beliefs that closely resembled their own, but also some of the most sophisticated medical systems in the world, including hospitals, successful surgeries, and the progressive concept of medically treating through the mind-body-spirit connection.

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About Brujería The latter perspective was reinforced by the Hispanic-Arabic healing practices, which used a similar holistic approach. These innovations and similarities allowed for a more streamlined integration of the two cultures and informed what would become the long-term perspectives of both Curanderismo and Brujería.

The Judeo-Christian concept of healing in the name of God, as Christ and his disciples did, also was a primary influence on Brujería. Neither brujas/os nor curanderas/os themselves claim any kind of supernatural powers, but instead tap into the supernatural power of God to heal, channeling divine influence into the client or spell work through visualization, incantation, and ritual.

From the worship of prehistoric gods and goddesses such as Coatlicue, Quetzalcoatl, Tlazolteotl, and Mictecacihuatl to the veneration of canonized saints, the Blessed Mother, Jesus, and the various folk saints, the unfolding of Brujería over thousands of years creates a fascinating and vibrant historical process.

A Student’s View

Growing up as a Mexican-American, Brujería has always been in my background, and after I was an adult, I realized my grandmother was a bruja. All the neighbors sought her out for help. She had a “shop” in the backyard that was a little room off the garage. She sold candy and sodas in the front but in the back, she had other stuff that I was not allowed to touch. We never talked about it in the family. It was kept hush hush.

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About Brujería Taking Katrina’s classes, I realized what it was and why I feel the calling so strong. I am blessed to have found Katrina as a teacher but finding my classmates—my fellow brujas and brujos—has been a dream. Many of us are from different backgrounds and yes, around months six to eight of our training, the sense of “brujo-hood” was strong. We work limpias, barridas, and sage baths on each other. We support each other not only in our Brujería work, but in life in general. We came together when one was fighting an abusive relationship. We supported each other when another one was waiting for important medical test results. I know if I need help, whether it be energy sent, magic work, or just someone to listen, my fellow apprentices are there.

We are kindred spirits. lisa moreno, 2019

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Body, Mind & Spirit / Witchcraft / Brujería “Thanks to this comprehensive work, we finally have an English language gateway to truly understanding Brujería.”

—Tomás Prower, author of La Santa Muerte

ANSWER BRUJERÍA’S CALL AND BECOME A MAGICAL HEALER

Featuring hands-on exercises, simple techniques, and how-to instruction from a professional bruja, this beginner-friendly guide is the best choice for understanding and practicing Brujería—the healing witchcraft of Mexico and the American Southwest. The Sacred Art of Brujería is adapted from a twelve-month series of classes and presents a wide variety of topics, including magical tools, the body’s energetic systems, and effective spellcasting.

This practical book covers everything from the history and divine figures of Brujería to the healing, protection, and money magic that you can use in daily life. Explore power words and breath work, treat spiritual maladies, perform different types of limpias (cleansings and clearings), and learn about Brujería as a business. Katrina Rasbold gives you an insider’s look at this sacred practice and how it helps others as well as yourself.

Katrina Rasbold is a practicing bruja, rootworker, tarotist, teacher, and author of over thirty published books. She has been active in the magical arts since 1982 and was trained in Brujería by two brujos from Mexico and a bruja from Guatemala. Katrina has presented at California festivals for more than two decades, and she is a professional working witch who offers classes and healing services at her shop, Crossroads Metaphysical Store. Visit her at www.KatrinaRasbold.com.

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