Believing in witches and witchcraft was second nature to people in my hometown.

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I Do not Believe in them but, Boy Do They Fly!

Believing in witches and witchcraft was second nature to people in my hometown. Even if you had never experienced any supernatural occurrence, there were plenty of hearsay of a hearsay around to make you feel you had.

This vicarious experiencing was enough to perpetuate hundreds of behaviors that responded more to superstitious assumptions that to an actual cause-effect relationship. You knew you could not go to bodega on the corner to buy salt after 6 pm. The bodeguero will say he does not have salt, even if you were looking at it on the shelves. If they were honest enough they would say, “I don’t sell salt in the evening.” If you asked why, they might just say because it is bad. If you asked why it was bad, they’d just say “because!”

“Better safe than sorry,” was the motto of the alleged non-believers when they allowed relatives to dress newborns with amulets and other ritualistic artifacts. A peony seed bracelet or a lignite amulet worked as evil-eye repellent.

The “evil eye” was probably the least of the threats and yet the most ubiquitous beliefs. Some people were well-known for their evil-eye energy and they avoided complimenting babies, for instance, even looking at them straight in the eye, lest they put an unintentional spell on the innocent victim.

“Your eyes in my ass,” is an expression still used by the parents of the children whose cuteness attracts lots of attention and compliments. It was common to hear the phrase from the mouth of the potential “evil-eyers” themselves, allegedly to block their own power.

If you have ever read the records of the Salem witch trial, as narrated by Cotton Mather, you should know that the evil eye was enough “evidence” to send an alleged witch to the pyre. On kids, my people believe it can cause anything from fussiness to death. Thus, parents or grandparents did not waste time to send a crying baby to the rezandero (good witches and wizards) to have them santiguados (healed by prayers/blessings).

The accidental evil eye was nothing compared to the intentional evil eye that could make people fall in disgrace because of their looks, wealth, or ideas. Whether there were people with actuals supernatural powers or just clever enough to psychologically influence others is still a matter of controversy among townspeople, but not many would take chances.

It is a fact that there are men and women who live to conjure all kinds of spells to harm others for the most absurd reasons. They are easily indefinable by their looks, their smell, and their surreptitious demeanor. They trust no one and expect evil from anyone. Their aura is dark, as are usually their homes. They are surrounded by images and amulets and every action is measured and driven by esoteric practices and beliefs.

Witchcraft may have been rebranded as a legitimate practice performed by those who are closer to nature and its powers. It has become a movement and a religion that tries to vindicate the honor and dignity of women and healers. Yet, for some people in many parts of the world, it is still a practice that perpetuates the darkest stereotypes associated with evil practices and beliefs.