Cuba´s santeria, Haiti´s voodoo, and Catemaco brujeria are closely related and promise their aficionados blissful
enlightenment, and, to cover all bases, even throw in a little devil worship.
Catemaco brujos went a step further and commercialized the industry. So for a large bundle of Pesos you will get a spell to
wipe out your competitor and cure cancer, or for 100 pesos or so you´ll get a limpia (cleansing) of evil spirits. The limpia price
usually includes a raw egg, a few sprinkles of rose water and some fresh herbs, but no dessert. Charms or amulets are extra.
And then there are the Chamanes, local "white" witches. They occasionally are deeply spiritual and mystic beings who
earned their accolades with hard work and knowledge of their physical environment and human psychology, and are almost
impossible to find for the brujo tourist, except for the dozens of herbalists and amulet seller around the central Catemaco
market.
Traditional medicine is still a favorite medical recourse for many in Los Tuxtlas. Culebreros (snake bite healers) are especially
well known in the region because of its variety of poisonous snakes, as well as Yerberos (herbal healer) who take
advantage of the profusion of Tuxtlas medicinal plants. Hueseros (a form of chiropractor) and Yorbateros (massage healers)
are also still popular. Parteras (midwives) have mostly been converted into professional nurses.
Catemaco´s major claim to fame, aside from its disappearing flora and fauna, are these commercial brujos. The area, lately,
seems to be schizophrenic about their presence. A few years ago a glitzy magazine, "Los Tuxtlas en el Siglo XXI" was
printed without a single mention of brujos.
In the 1990´s the local brujos were identified with numerous murders and drug related mayhem and probably caused the local
populace to ignore them.
If you arrive in Catemaco expecting anything official regarding brujos, forget it. Instead, throngs of motorbike riding shills
accost you to steer you to their most well paying brujo. The town has tried to put a stop to these shills, but the system seems
so be ingrained.
Gypsies, locally known as hungaros, have also found Catemaco. Their haggling to read palms add to the brujo atmosphere,
but they too, are hounded by the official inquisition.
The first Friday in March (which is actually the first Thursday night) celebrates the annual Congreso Internacional de Brujos
when healers, soothsayers, assorted medicine men and a garden-variety of witch doctors descend on the town to sell their
spells and exploit tourist Pesos.
Read more "I visited a brujo in Catemaco" stories here.
Links:
Brujo Pedro Gueixpal - El Poder del Tigre - Spanish
Vandammed - Gringo brujo
Partial Brujo History
tuxtlas.com - 2006 Brujo Convention
enlightenment, and, to cover all bases, even throw in a little devil worship.
Catemaco brujos went a step further and commercialized the industry. So for a large bundle of Pesos you will get a spell to
wipe out your competitor and cure cancer, or for 100 pesos or so you´ll get a limpia (cleansing) of evil spirits. The limpia price
usually includes a raw egg, a few sprinkles of rose water and some fresh herbs, but no dessert. Charms or amulets are extra.
And then there are the Chamanes, local "white" witches. They occasionally are deeply spiritual and mystic beings who
earned their accolades with hard work and knowledge of their physical environment and human psychology, and are almost
impossible to find for the brujo tourist, except for the dozens of herbalists and amulet seller around the central Catemaco
market.
Traditional medicine is still a favorite medical recourse for many in Los Tuxtlas. Culebreros (snake bite healers) are especially
well known in the region because of its variety of poisonous snakes, as well as Yerberos (herbal healer) who take
advantage of the profusion of Tuxtlas medicinal plants. Hueseros (a form of chiropractor) and Yorbateros (massage healers)
are also still popular. Parteras (midwives) have mostly been converted into professional nurses.
Catemaco´s major claim to fame, aside from its disappearing flora and fauna, are these commercial brujos. The area, lately,
seems to be schizophrenic about their presence. A few years ago a glitzy magazine, "Los Tuxtlas en el Siglo XXI" was
printed without a single mention of brujos.
In the 1990´s the local brujos were identified with numerous murders and drug related mayhem and probably caused the local
populace to ignore them.
If you arrive in Catemaco expecting anything official regarding brujos, forget it. Instead, throngs of motorbike riding shills
accost you to steer you to their most well paying brujo. The town has tried to put a stop to these shills, but the system seems
so be ingrained.
Gypsies, locally known as hungaros, have also found Catemaco. Their haggling to read palms add to the brujo atmosphere,
but they too, are hounded by the official inquisition.
The first Friday in March (which is actually the first Thursday night) celebrates the annual Congreso Internacional de Brujos
when healers, soothsayers, assorted medicine men and a garden-variety of witch doctors descend on the town to sell their
spells and exploit tourist Pesos.
Read more "I visited a brujo in Catemaco" stories here.
Links:
Brujo Pedro Gueixpal - El Poder del Tigre - Spanish
Vandammed - Gringo brujo
Partial Brujo History
tuxtlas.com - 2006 Brujo Convention
Visit a brujo in Catemaco
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A fabulous now deceased promoter, "Brujo Mayor" Gonzalo Aguirre, organized a witchcraft convention in
Catemaco in 1970, offering a black mass, row boat races, anthropological discourses and the presence of
brujos, witch doctors, shamans, and like ilk.
Since then, Catemaco has soared in international and Mexican renown as an asylum for mysticism and
witchcraft. The convention is repeated yearly on Thursday/Friday in the first week of March.
Geographically the Tuxtlas mountainous terrain essentially isolated it from the rest of Mexico until the 20th
century. The first railroad arrived in 1912. The first paved highway did not reach here till the 1950´s.
Reliance on curanderos' (healers) knowledge of medicinal plants was a must, and it is only a small step
from curandero to brujo (sorcerer).
Catemaco in 1970, offering a black mass, row boat races, anthropological discourses and the presence of
brujos, witch doctors, shamans, and like ilk.
Since then, Catemaco has soared in international and Mexican renown as an asylum for mysticism and
witchcraft. The convention is repeated yearly on Thursday/Friday in the first week of March.
Geographically the Tuxtlas mountainous terrain essentially isolated it from the rest of Mexico until the 20th
century. The first railroad arrived in 1912. The first paved highway did not reach here till the 1950´s.
Reliance on curanderos' (healers) knowledge of medicinal plants was a must, and it is only a small step
from curandero to brujo (sorcerer).
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And Catemaco and Tuxtlas tropical
flora is home to many hundreds of
medicinal plants. Local inhabitants
and especially the remaining
indigenous people today still rely on
these plants for the treatment of
multiple ailments
Historically brujos, shamans,
warlocks, or whatever you choose
to call them, occupy a revered
place in Mexican indigenous
culture. The Aztecs classified
almost 40 different types of healers.
On the spiritual side, after the
Spanish conquest, Catholicism's
attempt to slaughter indigenous
culture was ingeniously
transformed by native peoples into
metamorphed saint worship and,
especially in Veracruz, abetted by
a large influx of African slaves and
their jungle heritage.
flora is home to many hundreds of
medicinal plants. Local inhabitants
and especially the remaining
indigenous people today still rely on
these plants for the treatment of
multiple ailments
Historically brujos, shamans,
warlocks, or whatever you choose
to call them, occupy a revered
place in Mexican indigenous
culture. The Aztecs classified
almost 40 different types of healers.
On the spiritual side, after the
Spanish conquest, Catholicism's
attempt to slaughter indigenous
culture was ingeniously
transformed by native peoples into
metamorphed saint worship and,
especially in Veracruz, abetted by
a large influx of African slaves and
their jungle heritage.
Click photo for a "bewitching" slideshow
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