If I’ve learned anything from reluctant witch Sally Owens, played by Sandra Bullock in the iconic 1998 witchcraft rom-com “Practical Magic,” it’s that our ancestors remain with us, in blood and spirit, and loving and embracing them brings you more power.
While a lot of the movie is pretty inaccurate (they float off the roof of a house and the cop is a good guy in the movie), the belief that our ancestors guide and protect us is intrinsic to a spirituality often connected to brujeria.
It’s one of the many reasons so many young Latinx people have been called to — as Miss Owens put it — the craft.
In the last decade or so, there’s been a broad reclamation of brujeria among young Latinx people, and it’s helped de-stigmatize the practice. But as my Catholic mom would say, “son puras cosas del demonio.” It’s funny considering how often she’s taken me to get tarot readings, seen santerxs and performed her own rituals as prescribed by a bruja.
As we approach Halloween, which stems from Celtic paganism as a celebration of the dead and the supernatural, and Día de los Muertos, an ancient holiday rooted in death rite practices among Indigenous peoples of the Americas and the Caribbean, Latinx brujas offer insights into this magical period, where the veil between worlds thins and the natural world transitions from one season to another, leading to death and later rebirth.
“It’s a deeply powerful time of year for many cultures, especially those with ties to nature-based forms of mysticism, brujerismo, witchcraft or magick, because it marks a moment of transition between the season of ‘life’ and the season of ‘death,’” my friend Angie Jaime, head of creator content at The Times, told me. “In many ways, this traces humanity’s most intrinsic journey.”
Jaime’s practice comes from her family, who practiced curanderismo, frequented their local botanicas, and generally lived by the Indigenous spiritual practices passed on to them. Her practice has become “a more intentional part of my everyday life” as she’s gotten older, which inevitably serves her as she navigates an often overwhelming world.
“With so much bombarding our psyches, our minds, our bodies every day, it’s vital to me to have this practice,” she said.
For Christy Lendechy, who runs Bruja’s Botanica, an online botanica where she offers products, tarot readings and tutorials via her Patreon, her practice of ancestral veneration has brought her strength and guidance. “Sometimes we go about this life feeling so lost and confused,” she said. “Knowing that we can reach out to our ancestors and our spiritual guides, and it is their job to guide us in this life. It’s not just me walking this life. It’s me and hundreds of people behind me that came before me that are giving me strength that are guiding me.”
It’s that connection to those long or recently departed that look after us. It’s the belief in a greater, more universally connected world that exists beyond the physical, and a reconnection to my Indigenous roots that awakened a calling in me toward these spiritual practices.
But this comes with care, as I consider how much brujeria has been appropriated and commodified. It’s also important to understand what doesn’t belong to me, and honoring that as I navigate a practice that’s intrinsic to many people’s way of life.
“I think people are being called upon and it seems like there’s some sort of awakening where people are starting to answer to that call,” Lendechy said. “People are trying to kind of get more in tune with themselves, get to know their roots, get to know where they come from, and taking a more personal approach to their spirituality.”
“Brujeria isn’t about hexing your ex,” she joked. “It’s about healing yourself. It’s about healing your family. It’s about helping others, about fulfilling your life’s purpose. And the ancestors and the spirit guides are the compass.”
Practices like new moon manifestations and calling to my ancestors soothed me through difficult times, helped me reconfigure my purpose, be less afraid of death and trust in a larger path and vision for my life.
My anxiety has always run on a wave that can be described as an “electrocuted tsunami,” but it’s largely tempered over the years by these practices and my trust in my ancestors to look after me. It’s also made me better about caring for my communities and the people in my life even though I make them watch “Practical Magic” with me over and over again.
Michael Cardenas has been a professional witch for 15 years. Based in San Diego, he offers workshops, tarot readings, spellwork and more via his website. Cardenas says brujeria is “the only thing that’s ever made sense to me.”
“I’m able to be an intuitive person,” he said. “I’m encouraged to be a powerful person. I’m able to create my own reality, create my own destiny and I am able to help others. It’s like an eternal love.”
Cardenas explains that because this is a period where “the veil is nonexistent,” we are essentially as close to the dead as we can be. It makes it a powerful time to tap into your ancestors and do spiritual work that will stay with you.
“The spiritual work that you do around this time makes an impact for the entire year,” he said.
But it’s important to always do so with respect and care for the cultural tradition that is Día de Muertos and brujeria as a whole.
“People love Mexican traditions,” he said. “People love Mexican food. People love all of that, but they have no respect for Mexicans. We need to respect, we need to uphold those traditions. If there’s any other motivation behind that, it’s the spirits don’t f— around.”
Alex Zaragoza is a television writer and journalist covering culture and identity. Her work has appeared in Vice, NPR, O Magazine and Rolling Stone. She’s written on the series “Primo” and “Lopez v. Lopez.” She writes weekly for De Los.
