Brujería: Getting Witchy in Latin America

by Brian Alcamo

Those who have visited already know that Latin America is filled with excitement, adventure, and even magic. 

The term brujería has come into public consciousness in the past few years. Beyond cool looking social media posts, the practice has a long and extensive history. In fact, brujería is a bit of a catch-all word. Literally translated to “witchcraft,” the word also refers to multiple spiritual practices historically employed by Caribbean, African, and indigenous Latin Americans. Generally speaking, brujería includes honoring the planet earth (through goddesses such as Oshun and Elegua), cleansing, ancestor worship, and lighting candles. Sometimes, wearing specific clothes, singing or chanting, and preparing sacred offerings are part of practices as well. 

Yoruba, for instance, is a thousands-year old religion hailing from West Africa. It blended with indigenous practices and Roman Catholicism to form Santeria (also called Lucimi). An Afro-Cuban religion that emerged in Latin America during the 15th and 16th Century in response to Spanish colonization, the religion lives on to this day. It is a complex folk religion with an entire pantheon of Orishas— manifestations of Oludumare, or God. Most of these deities were borrowed from Yoruba, and some of them have alter egos among the Catholic saints. They are often exclusively communicated with through collaboration with trained, initiated followers. Santería favors ritual correctness over personal belief, so if you want to try your hand at accessing some of the religion’s power, make sure you find a trustworthy santero.

A Santería Celebration in Cuba

While Santería is the result of colonization, Spanish colonizers didn’t come to the Americas in the name of religious syncretism. In fact, they even brought the Inquisition, their brutal and forceful campaign for religious uniformity, with them to the New World. Compared to what they were like on the Iberian Peninsula, 16th Century Colonial witch hunts were even worse, with stake burning and extreme violence towards indigenous people being common. 

Spain’s Inquisition failed in its home territory, and it didn’t go well in the Americas, either. Unfortunately, just because religious policing failed doesn’t mean that people didn’t get hurt. Women suffered the most from violent religious extremism in the name of colonization, as they mingled in markets and often shared homemade remedies that traversed taboo racial boundaries as well as the boundaries of science and religion.

One of these remedies, known for its vitality-promoting properties, was chocolate. The drink has been cultivated in the Americas for at least the past 3,000 years. It originated as a status symbol, and was served to royals, diplomats, and at weddings. Its caffeine content, flavor profile, and power it held in indigenous communities scared Spanish colonizers from the get-go. 

Vocabulary for Your Next Séance

• Hechizo - spell

• Caldera - cauldron

• Varita mágica

• Séance - sesíon espiritista

• Magía - magic

Spanish colonizers immediately prohibited many Aztec health plants like psychedelic mushrooms, but kept chocolate around, even adopting the beverage for themselves (probably because they realized that it was delicious). It eventually became a mass-market phenomenon, with people drinking it every day as opposed to reserving it for special occasions. Chocolate’s popularity became a symbol swept up in the developing patchwork Latin American culture, which was a melting pot of indigenous, African, and Spanish cultures. 

Chocolate cooks prepared the beverage by first creating a paste made out of ground cacao, vanilla, and annatto, along with other spices, storing it in blocks to be used later. When someone wanted a cup of chocolate, they would whip the paste with hot water until foamy.  To indigenous Mesoamericans, chocolate represented vitality. Men and women alike drank it for strength and power. Women most often prepared the chocolate, and men constantly said that they were being bewitched through the inky beverage, bringing their suspicions to the table at every meal (but never considering that they could cook for themselves to avoid sneaky spells). 

Independent, single women who were economically active were easy pickings for witch hunters, since few people could seem to wrap their heads around the possibility that a woman could make her own living. They used potions to slip through the very low glass ceilings of wiferey, motherhood, and sexual submission. Women made good money with their witchcraft, and the entire practice subverted men’s long-assumed intellectual and economic power over them. These feelings were tenfold in Latin America, where Spanish colonizer’s guidebooks could not match Indigenous women’s knowledge of their native continent. Unfortunately, this made indigenous women big targets for the inquisition.

Magical hot chocolate sat at the intersection of witchcraft and colonial strife. To European colonizers, the drink represented dissent, with racial, religious, and gender conflicts sitting at the bottom of each cup of cocoa. Once tried and found guilty of witchcraft, women most often went to prison.

A Cocoa Tree

In an attempt to control witchcraft, the Spanish Inquisition pushed magical practices to far-flung corners of society, following an “If I can’t see it, then it doesn’t exist” model of control. Women, who lost their autonomy after marriage, used brujería to regain control in their relationships while their husbands maintained the right to beat and cheat. Using chocolate as the basis of magic making was a way for women to transform their quotidian servitude into an act of power. Clearly, it worked, since governmental authorities were scared to let them continue without punishment. What they ended up doing, though, was incubating popular magical belief and religious culture beyond their dominion of control.

Even chocolate’s significance was eventually infused into indigenous converts’ new Catholic practices, with peoples leaving cacao offerings to Jesus. The Spanish conquerors could not keep up with their subjects’ creativity, losing track of the myriad ways Indigenous and African spiritual practices were growing, transforming, and even merging with their beloved Catholicism. Santería is the byproduct of centuries of creativity in the face of colonial might, and even Mexico’s Dia de Muertos merges indigenous practices with the Catholic All Saints Day. Walter Mercado, for all his pizzaz and pageantry, is yet another example of Latin America’s consistent grip on mysticism that goes beyond the monotheistic.

Nowadays, modern day brujas, brujos, and brujx are reclaiming the long-held taboo of the sexual enchantress and harnessing mysticism. Many are now publicly vocal about their power. Like their ancestors before them, young Latinx people are adopting brujeria to connect with their heritage, mysticism, and creativity. So, the next time you dissolve a tablet of Ibarra in your milk for a cup of hot chocolate, remember that you could be on the verge of casting a spell in line with centuries-old magic. 

Thumbnail photo by Tengyart.

Two Latin American Board Games That Will Bring Out Your Competitive Side

Board games, or juegos de mesa, are a great way to put down your electronic devices and connect with your friends and family. They’re also a great way to supercharge your Spanish learning with new vocabulary (and are also just way more fun than flashcards). Read on to discover two popular board games from Latin America.

Lotería 

Besides getting to know a cultural touchstone of Mexico, playing Lotería, or lottery, is awesome for your Spanish. Hailing originally from Italy, Lotería is a traditionally Mexican board game that is essentially Bingo. Instead of having a grid of letters and numbers, though, you receive a tabla, or board, filled with beautiful tarot card-esque illustrations. The way to win is determined at the beginning of each round, with a winning pattern chosen from a deck of cards. After a pattern is dealt, the game is on. El cantor, the caller, selects winning tiles from a different shuffled deck of cards. Each card includes an illustration, its name, and a short phrase describing the tile. El cantor reads out the card’s name and phrase, and people who have that tile place a frijole, a bean, on its respective spot on their boards. Once a player has filled out the pattern on their tabla, it’s time to shout ¡Lotería!

A Lotería tabla and deck of cards. (Photo by irvin Macfarland)

What’s so great about Lotería is that the sentences on the back of each card make it a fantastic way to learn some new vocab. Each sentence is tailor made to highlight the meaning of the name in the card, so most other words in the sentence have a high association to the card’s name. In this sense, you’re almost learning an entire tiny vocabulary unit as you listen to the cantor read out a card’s verse. 

“El que le cantó a San Pedro no le volverá a cantar.”

“The one that sang for St. Peter will never sing for him again.”

“Al otro lado del río tengo mi banco de arena, donde se sienta mi chata pico de garza morena.”

“At the other side of the river I have my sand bank, where sits my darling short one, with the beak of a dark heron.”

“Tu me traes a puros brincos, como pájaro en la rama.”

“You have me hopping here and there, like a bird on a branch.”

Lotería is huge all throughout Latin America, and has a dedicated fan base. Back in late 2019, Google released a Google Doodle celebrating it. Check it out and try playing a virtual version! One of the big draws for Lotería’s continued adoration is because of its captivating illustrations. In fact, one way that fans express their love for Lotería is through t-shirts featuring its tiles. Lotería combines simple and exciting gameplay with artful design and language to create a memorable experience every time you pick up a new tabla.

Estanciero

If your idea of fun is raking in the dough, you’ll probably enjoy Estanciero, Spanish for the word “rancher.” Drawing heavily from Monopoly, this Argentinian board game swaps the goal of being a real estate mogul for the more pastoral dream job of a cow herding kingpin. The game invokes Argentina’s history as a world class cattle hotspot. Estanciero’s biggest innovation to the Monopoly-style game mechanism is a rest spot where you can hide from ever-growing farming fees. 

In the video below, you can see that the game looks a ton like Monopoly, except for the hexagonal shape of the board. What’s nice about the similarities between the two games is that you won’t have much trouble figuring out which Spanish words correspond to their English counterparts. 

Get Some Friends and Play!

There are tons of other Spanish-language board games out there, but these two have gameplay similar to ones that you and your friends are probably already familiar with. This way, you can skip right past the rules and into the game. Be sure to try speaking Spanish as you play, and maybe modify the rules to include bonus points for using certain tenses and negative points for speaking in English.

What’s your favorite board game? Be sure to comment below, and share this post with a friend.

(Thumbnail photo by Photo by Lat Lon).

Spanish-Speaking Four Legged Friends

Today, it’s estimated that over 437 million people internationally speak Spanish as their native language, making it the second most spoken language on Earth. That estimate accounts for all the humans who speak Spanish, but what about their four legged companions?

For thousands of years, we’ve suspected that our dogs understand human speech, but in 2016 a group of Hungarian scientists proved that dogs can understand language. Their findings indicated that a dog’s brain processes language with mechanisms very similar to the way humans process language, with both sides of the brain working in tandem to decipher a word’s meaning, tone, and its resulting reaction. Thanks to these findings, it’s safe to say that millions of dogs on our planet speak Spanish too! Here’s a few of the most popular breeds in Spanish speaking countries near and far.

Spanish Greyhounds (Galgo)

These slender small pups are known for their unparalleled speed and agility and powerful sight. Originally bred for hunting hare, Galgos have evolved over centuries into tender companion dogs with timid natures when they’re not on the hunt. Rarely seen outside of Spain, the Galgo is cemented as one of Spain’s classic breeds. Unfortunately, as the Galgo breed grew in population, mistreatment of these loyal companions has been on the rise. In recent years, Spanish shelters have been overrun with Galgos who have fallen victim to fighting rings and puppy mills breeding them for game. You can support efforts to aid Spanish Greyhound rescue with the great folks at Galgo Rescue International Network here: http://www.galgorescue.org/#canvas

Ibizan Hound

This fine-framed hound is known for their smooth or wiry caramel coats and for having “legs for days.” These two traits and an excellent sense of sight and smell make the Ibizan Hound Dog Spain’s most agile tricksters. The Ibizan Hound has roots, dating back to 8th century Egypt’s Tesem breed. The breed was refined as a sight hound on the isle of Eivissa to hunt for rabbits and small game on varied terrain. When the breed first gained popularity, they were used to hunt as a means of survival, but today these polite, little dogs make excellent companions for any adventurer. It’s even rumored in Spanish folklore that the Ibizan Hound will bring it’s companion good luck if well cared for!

Chihuahua

Ah, the famous Chihuahua… a spunky dog that is one of Central America’s most famous exports (though historians have little understanding of how the breed landed on the continent in the first place). Chis are known for their compactness, on average weighing six pounds. When the Aztecs conquered the Toltecs in the 12th century, they refined the Toltec-favored Techichi breed from their larger, stockier frame into the pint size version we see today nestled in travel bags worldwide. The recognizable apple shaped faces and large expressive eyes of these larger than life pups have extended their reach from Central America to laps all over the world.

Xoloitzcuintli (Show-low-eats-Queen-tlee)

The Xoloitzcuintli, or Xolo, is known today for its primarily hairless coat and fierce loyalty, but holds a sacred history and was revered by the Aztecs as a spiritual guide. The Xolo was named for the Aztec god of lightning and death, Xolotl, and evidence of the breed being used to ward off evil spirits and protect homes dates back over 3,500 years. There are accounts of Xolos being buried alongside their owners to act as a spiritual escort on their journey to the underworld. Their impact as a protector has carried the Xolo into modern culture, being dubbed the National Dog of Mexico.

---

We hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the various Spanish-Speaking Four Legged Friends around the world! Wishing you could understand Spanish as well as these pups? Our culturally immersive group classes and native teachers can help put you on the path to fluency faster than you may think! Click below to learn more.

The Euskera Resurgence

Photo by Daniel Norris

There is a resurgence of linguistic tradition brewing in the Basque region of Spain. A 2016 study concluded that 34% of people in Spain’s Basque region spoke Euskera, the native language of the Basque region of Spain, which is an increase from just under 25% in 1991. The more impressive increase is of Basques under the age of 25 who speak Euskera from 25% to now over 70%.

Euskera was banned throughout much of the four-decade dictatorship of Francisco Franco, whose determination to impose a uniform culture on the country included ensuring the use of Castilian Spanish, to the exclusion of regional languages in areas such as the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia. During that time, Euskera was confined to smaller towns and villages and used cautiously.

It wasn’t until the 1960s, as the end of the dictatorship approached, that the policy became more lenient. Basque schools, or ikastolas, were created and the language started to enter the mainstream. Today there are 2 entire generations who can communicate with their children in Euskera as the school system has made the push ensuring its survival. The standardization, at the end of the dictatorship, of a language with many dialects also boosted its use and the nationalist governments that have dominated Basque politics in recent years have made the study of Euskera to the forefront of the culture.

The origins of Euskera remain a matter of debate to this day. Its unusual syntax and reliance on a barrage of prefixes and suffixes make it distinct to the Latin-based languages prevalent in southern Europe. Its shrouded history has given way to some odd theories including the claim by historian Esteban de Garibay that Noah’s grandson, Tubal, brought the language to the Basque Country. That notion has long been ruled out, but links have also been made with Caucasian and Berber languages of North Africa. 

But while Euskera has enjoyed a steady resurgence in recent years, it has also been the cause of political discord. On June 2nd, thousands of people demonstrated on the streets of Pamplona, against what they saw as the imposition of Euskera in the region’s public institutions. The opponents of the language’s spread have linked it to extreme nationalist politics, but Basque nationalists insist there is room for both Spanish and Euskera. 

---

We hope you've enjoyed learning about The Euskera Resurgence! What are your thoughts on the reemmergance of popularity of the Euskera language? Do you believe it can exist side by side with the Spanish language? Join the conversation below! 

Taiwan's Spanish Celebration

Taiwan's Spanish Celebration 

 This past March, Taiwan celebrated it’s very first "Spanish Day" in Taipei honoring the world's second-most-spoken language and its cultural heritage, as well as raise interest among local high school students in learning Spanish.

Photo: CNA

Paraguay, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras and the Dominican Republic round out the roster of the campaign initiated by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Taipei to instigate the day. The project to promote Spanish started six months ago, which also won support from representative offices from countries such as Chile, Peru, Mexico and the United States. According to the Spanish Chamber of Commerce, there are about 2,500 students with Spanish as their major in universities in Taiwan, with a further 2,000 students taking it as a second foreign language course.

Although interest in learning Spanish is growing in Taiwan's higher education system there remains a gap to fill among high school students. Considering that the world's Spanish-speaking population is nearly 548 million people, the popularity of the language has not yet received the desired amount of attention in Taiwan's high schools compared with European languages such as French and German.

Photo: Songshanculturalpark.org

The celebration hosted at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park offered an array of cultural events including a Spanish speaking contest, screenings of Spanish-language movies and performances of art and dance. 

---

We hope you've enjoyed learning about Taiwan's Spanish Celebration! What are your thoughts on the campaign to promote the Spanish language by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce? Join the conversation below!