Day of The Dead y La Bruja Discussions - Temple Illuminatus2024-03-29T07:14:15Zhttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/groups/group/forum?groupUrl=day-of-the-dead-y-la-bruja&feed=yes&xn_auth=noUnderstanding American Brujeriatag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-11-05:6363372:Topic:35497932020-11-05T21:42:25.461ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<p><span> OCTOBER 30, 2020 BY </span><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/author/jallencross/"><span>J. ALLEN CROSS</span></a></p>
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<p><span>Not long ago, I was given the opportunity to write a book. I nervously pitched my idea to write about Mexican-American folk magic to </span><strong><a href="https://redwheelweiser.com/p.php?id=7">Weiser…</a></strong></p>
<p><span> OCTOBER 30, 2020 BY </span><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/author/jallencross/"><span>J. ALLEN CROSS</span></a></p>
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<p><span>Not long ago, I was given the opportunity to write a book. I nervously pitched my idea to write about Mexican-American folk magic to </span><strong><a href="https://redwheelweiser.com/p.php?id=7">Weiser Books</a></strong><span> and to my surprise and joy they accepted my manuscript for publishing. Through the process of writing the book I realized that I needed a more succinct way to describe what it is I was talking about. After all, “modern day folk magic practiced by the descendants of Mexico who have immigrated and now live on American soil” is a lot to repeatedly type and it’s even less fun to read six times in a paragraph. So, I needed something to call it. It had to be accessible and pronounceable, but also describe what I’m talking about. In the end I decided I had to coin my own term and opted to call it “American Brujeria”.</span></p>
<p>Some folks will read the title and intuitively know exactly what I’m talking about. Others will take a single glance and then wildly misinterpret what I’m trying to say. Due to this, I’ve decided to come here and explain what I mean by American Brujeria, and why I chose this term. Let’s begin…</p>
<h3>What is American Brujeria?</h3>
<p>American Brujeria (brew-hair-EE-yuh) is essentially the folk magic that has been brought to the United States by Mexican immigrants. This work includes the lighting of<span> </span><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novena">novenas</a></strong>, calling upon saints, the veneration of<span> </span><strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe">Our Lady of Guadalupe</a></strong>, spiritual cleansing through “limpias”, and the casting of spells or “hechizos”. Since folks began crossing the border into the US they have brought with them ancient wisdom, powerful spirits, techniques for healing and harming, and more. All of these bits and pieces of Mexico’s deeply spiritual beliefs that were carried over on the backs of immigrants ended up being put into a large pile mixing together into a singular practice that sustained our people over the years as folks now living in a foreign country. These were passed down through the generations, and is ultimately how we ended up with American Brujeria.</p>
<p><span>This work is informed by traditional Brujeria (see below), Catholic belief, Aztec legend, Curanderismo (Mexican healing arts), and Hechiceria (sorcery). The practical and most utilitarian parts of these practices are what tend to survive in the US as they are the parts that are most heavily leaned upon. What’s more is that these have become so ingrained in our culture as Mexicans that we often don’t see these things as strange or in any way “magical”; it’s just what you do. It’s only after we really start to look around and examine our traditions that we realize how much magic we as Mexican and Mexican-American folk are surrounded by every day. Italian and African cultures are much the same.</span></p>
<p>Furthermore, American Brujeria has a habit of finding its way into the hands of Latinx folks living in the US, and many people begin to do it without even realizing it. Especially among our young folks, there seems to be a big call happening, drawing Latinx youth back to their culture, and traditional magical practices. It is also common among Latinx youth to refer to this work as “Brujeria” as a half joke with deadly serious undertones. Make no mistake, this work is powerful and should not be handled lightly.</p>
<div class="ad ad-container hidden-xs"><div id="div-gpt-ad-716188884-6" class="DFPAdSlot ad-notice"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29966721/PATH/pagan/agora_3__container__"><h3>How are American Brujeria and traditional Brujeria different?</h3>
<p>Real traditional Brujeria is a very secretive tradition that very few people are allowed access to. You must be mentored by a real Brujo/a and it is not a type of magic that you handle lightly. If you speak to your Mexican or Latinx friends most of us have family stories about Brujas. In researching this book I heard all kinds of astounding tales of people flying, or transforming into creatures like owls and jaguars. This magic is very real and very powerful. Furthermore, traditional Brujeria has very little to do with novena candles and saints; that is more of what we call Hechiceria (eh-chee-suh-REE-uh) or “sorcery”. However the latter term is much less known, especially in the US, and therefore seldom used.</p>
<p><span>When you ask Mexican-American folks what this mixed bag of Mexican folk magix is called, they will often refer to it as “Brujeria”, again, sometimes as a joke, but it’s what we continue to call it nonetheless. While this is traditionally inaccurate there is a large tendency for folks to diverge from tradition after immigration. Much like how you have Voodoo, Haitian Voodoo, Puerto Rican Voodoo (Sanse), and New Orleans Voodoo. Still, it would be damaging to my culture to write a book on “Brujeria” that is not actually about real Brujeria. I wanted to help preserve the meaning of “Brujeria” and I wanted to differentiate between the traditional kind and what we call “Brujeria” here in America. Thus, American Brujeria was born.</span></p>
<h3>The Word Brujo/a/x</h3>
<p>In the United States there is a tendency for Latinx folks who practice American Brujeria style of magic to refer to themselves as Brujas (female witches) or Brujos (male witches) or Brujx (American gender-neutral term for witch). This creates a bit of a separation that can be hard to traverse when it comes to Mexico-style or American-style that really needs to be discussed and understood if we are going to call ourselves by these titles.</p>
<p>The first thing we have to understand is that the words mean different things depending on where you are geographically. In Mexico there is a lot of fear surrounding Brujas and Brujos and if you say you are one of those, folks will immediately try to distance themselves from you (if not literally run away). You have to be careful how you use this word because in the US our understanding of the word “witch” is very dewy-eyed and we often understand witches as “spiritual healers who love the earth”.</p>
<p><span>Meanwhile, if you tell someone you are a Bruja/o, you are telling them that you like to fly through the night and steal babies and eat them. Our understandings of these words differ. In the United States however, if someone calls themselves a Bruja/o/x they are simply saying that they practice a Mexican/Latinx style of magic. It’s also considered incorrect in traditional Mexican culture to refer to yourself as Bruja/o if you are not practicing real Mexican Brujeria. Those who practice American Brujeria would more correctly call themselves Hechicero/a/x, however most folks favor Brujo/a/x as a personal title.</span></p>
<p>Language is complicated and the meaning of words changes across geographical landscape, periods of time, and regional dialects. Due to this, I don’t think it’s inherently wrong to use the term Brujo/a/x to describe a person who works in American Brujeria as long as you understand the nuances and roots of the term, and understand that there is a time and place where it is best to not use the word.</p>
<p>I hope this crash course in American Brujeria cleared up some misconceptions or concerns you may have had about the term and where it came from. For more information on this style of work, please pre-order my new book<span> </span><em>American Brujeria</em><span> </span>on<span> </span><strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-Brujeria-Modern-Mexican-American-Magic/dp/1578637457">Amazon</a></strong><span> </span>or<span> </span><strong><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/american-brujeria-modern-mexican-american-folk-magic/9781578637454">Bookshop</a></strong>; it will be released May 1, 2021.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2020/10/cross-and-crossroads-understanding-american-brujeria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2020/10/cross-and-crossroads-understanding-american-brujeria/</a></em></span></p>
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</div> Celebrations Around the World Similar to Halloweentag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-11-01:6363372:Topic:35498232020-11-01T22:42:13.584ZCarmen Elsa Irarragorri Wylandhttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/CarmenElsaIrarragorriWyland
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>While we typically associate Halloween with costumes and candy these days, the holiday is actually rooted in spiritual beliefs from more than 1,000 years ago. Many trace Halloween back to the Celtic pagan celebration of Samhain, in which observants would </span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-we-celebrate-halloween" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">wear costumes and light fires to ward off the souls</a><span> returning back to their…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>While we typically associate Halloween with costumes and candy these days, the holiday is actually rooted in spiritual beliefs from more than 1,000 years ago. Many trace Halloween back to the Celtic pagan celebration of Samhain, in which observants would </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-we-celebrate-halloween">wear costumes and light fires to ward off the souls</a><span> returning back to their homes on November 1. As All Saints’ Day became a Christian take on Samhain, along with it came the festivities of the night before, or All Hallow’s Eve, which evolved into Halloween.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>The costume-wearing and trick-or-treating traditions popularized in the U.S. in the 1950s have turned into an annual $2.5 billion industry. But around the world, many other countries have their own sorts of similarly spirited occasions that recall the original intentions of Halloween. Here are 20 such celebrations and the stories behind them.</span></p>
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<h2 id="samhain-scotland-and-ireland-" style="text-align: center;">Samhain (Scotland and Ireland)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/Samhain_TT.jpg" alt="Samhain celebration in Scotland"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>The Celtic pagan celebration of Samhain, or Samhuinn, </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://time.com/5434659/halloween-pagan-origins-in-samhain/">dates back to the Iron Age</a><span> and is often referred to as the predecessor to Halloween. With the Celtic calendar divided into a light and dark half, the </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samhain">November 1 festival</a><span> ushers in the beginning of the dark part of the year between the autumn equinox and winter solstice — it’s considered one of its fire festivals marking the change. (Samhain means “summer’s end in Gaelic.)</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>During this time, the gods become visible on earth and play tricks on mortals, leading to widespread fear and <a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Samhain">supernatural occurrences</a>. Over the course of time, myths about shape-shifting monsters and carved turnips called Jack-o-lanterns emerged, as well the <a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain#section_5">tradition of “Dumb Suppers</a>,” where deceased ancestors would join in on meals while children entertained them. The tradition of <a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.history.com/news/halloween-trick-or-treating-origins">guising</a>, where kids would go door-to-door in costumes to accept offerings after reciting a poem or joke, eventually developed into trick-or-treating.</span></p>
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<h2 id="d-a-de-los-muertos-mexico-" style="text-align: center;">Día de Los Muertos (Mexico)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/09/iStock-153151051.jpg" alt="Graveyard at night with candles, flowers, and other decorations for Dia de Los Muertos"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">While Mexico’s tradition of Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) has gained popularity in recent years — in part because of its <a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/indigenous-festivity-dedicated-to-the-dead-00054">inscription on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list</a> in 2008 — its tone is quite the opposite of Halloween, which is rooted in terror. Celebrated over a <a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/top-ten-day-of-dead-mexico">two-day period </a>on November 1 for All Saints’ Day and November 2 for All Souls’ Day, it’s a colorful and lively celebration to honor “the transitory return to Earth of deceased relatives and loved ones,” according to UNESCO.</p>
<div class="ArticleList__htmlChunk"><p style="text-align: center;">Day of the Dead is also synced with the end of the maize harvest, and the origins of the holiday date back to the Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people several thousand years ago, who “considered mourning the dead disrespectful,” according to<span> </span><em>National Geographic</em>. Nowadays, ofrendas (altars) are set up with offerings to welcome back the dead, including sugar skulls, which originated with 17th century Italian missionaries. Poems poking fun at the living called calaveras (literary skulls) are also read, and revelers often dress up as skeletons with their faces painted.</p>
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<h2 id="fet-gede-haiti-" style="text-align: center;">Fet Gede (Haiti)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/haiti.jpg" alt="Morning at the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de l’Assomption in Cap-Haitien, Haiti."/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The Haitian take on Day of the Dead, Fet Gede — which translates to Festival of the Dead — is a<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/fotografia/foto-del-dia/fete-gede_14921">voodoo festival</a>, similar to Mardi Gras. One of the biggest celebrations during the November 1-2 festival happens at Grand Cimetière in Port-au-Prince, where dancing, feasting and drumming take place to honor ancestors.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">With black, purple, and white as the celebration’s official colors, offerings are made to spirits, including the god of death Baron Samedi, and a<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com.es/fotografia/foto-del-dia/fete-gede_14921">dance called the Banda</a><span> </span>is performed. While the connotation of voodoo is often misassociated with dark practices, the festival is rooted in the spiritual side of the culture.</p>
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<h2 id="hungry-ghost-festival-asia-" style="text-align: center;">Hungry Ghost Festival (Asia)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/Hungry-Ghost-Festival--Asia-.jpg" alt="Chinese traditional religious practices, Zhongyuan Purdue, Chinese Ghost Festival."/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">According to<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.cbc.ca/kidscbc2/the-feed/have-you-heard-of-the-hungry-ghost-festival">an ancient Chinese legend</a>, the monk Mulain was worried that his mother was hungry in the afterlife, so he turned to Buddha, who suggested offering food and clothing to the monks. In appreciation, the monks prayed — and since ghosts can’t eat, Mulain’s mother was born again as a human, ending her hunger. Thus the Hungry Ghost Festival began, celebrated as a Buddhist and Taoist tradition during the entirety of the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/explore/culture/hong-kong-traditional-celebrations-throughout-the-year.html">seventh month of the Lunar calendar</a>, which usually starts<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/taiwan/spirit-festival">around late August to early September</a>. The festivities peak on the 15th day with the Yulan Ji festival.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Nowadays, the offerings<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/hong-kong-hungry-ghost-festival/index.html">include money, dim sum, and iPhones</a>, passed along to the otherworld by burning paper versions of the items. Empty seats are also left at operas and family dinners for the ghosts. The festival is commemorated in many Asian countries, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and China.</p>
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<h2 id="obon-festival-of-the-dead-japan-" style="text-align: center;">Obon Festival of the Dead (Japan)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/Obon-Festival--Japan-.jpg" alt="Bon Odori Dancers at the Sugamo Bon Odori Festival in Toshima Ward, Tokyo, Japan."/></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;">Japan’s take on the Hungry Ghost Festival is known as the Obon Festival, or Bon Festival. Families return to their hometown for a <a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/asia/japan/summer-obon-festival-of-the-dead/">three-day ritual</a> around the 15th day of the Lunar calendar’s seventh month. Specific traditions vary, but most start with lantern lightnings (mukaebi) to lead the spirits home, while others also clean and decorate ancestors’ tombs (ohakamairi) and create altars for both the ancestors and spirits (shōryō-dana).</p>
<div class="ArticleList__adContainer"><div class="PrebidAdPairedMR"><div class="PrebidAd__container PrebidAd__container--MR"><div class="PrebidAd"><div class="PrebidAd__unit PrebidAd__unit--labeled"><div class="ArticleList__htmlChunk"><p style="text-align: center;">The pinnacle of the celebrations comes as revelers dress up as folk characters for folk dances (bon odori) around taiko drummers and then use floating lanterns and bonfires (okuribi) to send the spirits on their way. Dating back to the Asuka period from A.D.<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Asuka-period">552 to 645</a>, the celebration is rooted in Buddhism but<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2006/7/8/obon/">celebrated by all</a>.</p>
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<h2 id="pchum-ben-cambodia-" style="text-align: center;">Pchum Ben (Cambodia)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/Pchum-Ben-cambodia.jpg" alt="Celebrating the Pchum Ben holiday and to pay their respects to the monks."/></p>
<div class="ArticleList__htmlChunk"><p style="text-align: center;">Cambodia’s 15-day Pchum Ben Festival is also a nod to the hungry ghosts, who direct the king’s servants and soldiers to offer food to the one among who demonstrate morality. The first 14 days of the Khmer month of Pheaktra Bot make up the celebration of Kan Ben, where the Buddhist monks are offered candles and food and recite protective prayers in return.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It all leads up to the 15th day of Pchum Ben. Pchum means “meeting,” and Ben means “a ball of rice or meat” — rice balls known as bay ben, made of sticky rice and sesame,<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/background-history-pchum-ben">are offered to the ghosts</a><span> </span>at dawn on this day. The celebration is also intended as a<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50760193/modern-meets-traditional-in-new-pchum-ben-festival-t-shirt-design/">day to reunite with families to honor ancestors</a>.</p>
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<div class="ArticleList__adContainer"><div class="PrebidAdPairedMR"><div class="PrebidAd__container PrebidAd__container--MR"><div class="PrebidAd"><h2 id="fastelavn-denmark-" style="text-align: center;">Fastelavn (Denmark)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/09/shutterstock_1653200164.jpg" alt="Traditional cat decoration for Fastelavn"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Kids <a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://people.com/celebrity/halloween-celebrations-around-the-world/">dress up in costumes and go door-to-door</a> for Fastelavn — but the similarities to Halloween end there. Celebrated in February, the Carnival festival is the feast before fasting for Lent. Originated in Denmark, the holiday is also celebrated in other Roman Catholic countries, often by eating a bun called a fastelavnsboller. </p>
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<div class="ArticleList__adContainer"><div class="PrebidAd__container PrebidAd__container--LB"><div class="PrebidAd"><p style="text-align: center;">While<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.thelocal.dk/20150214/ten-things-to-know-about-fastelavn">past traditions have reportedly</a><span> </span>included riding horseback at full speed to put a lance through a ring, yanking off a goose’s head, and smashing a bat while blindfolded, the only animal antic remaining is having kids knock a cat out of a barrel. While<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.visitdenmark.com/denmark/highlights/history-and-culture/danish-traditions">actual black cats were used in the past</a>, now barrels painted with cats are used, similar to piñatas filled with candy.</p>
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<h2 id="guy-fawkes-day-england-" style="text-align: center;">Guy Fawkes Day (England)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/09/iStock-154122005.jpg" alt="Bonfire celebration with Guy Fawkes effigy"/></p>
<div class="ArticleList__htmlChunk"><p style="text-align: center;">If credit went to where it was due, Guy Fawkes Day should actually be called Robert Catesby Day. Now also known as Bonfire Night, the November 5 celebration honors the failed attempt in 1605 to destroy King James I and Parliament, who were intolerant toward Catholics. The effort, known as the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Gunpowder-Plot">Gunpowder Plot</a>, was led by Catesby — Fawkes was actually just one of four other co-conspirators.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">When the plot was revealed, bonfires were lit in London to celebrate, and<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.history.com/news/guy-fawkes-day-a-brief-history">November 5 became a day to give thanks</a>. Now it’s hailed as a time to reunite with family and friends while lighting bonfires, fireworks and<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.history.com/news/guy-fawkes-day-a-brief-history">effigies of Fawkes</a>. Children often went around with their effigies asking for a “penny for the Guy,” in a tradition similar to trick-or-treating.</p>
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<div class="ArticleList__adContainer"><div class="PrebidAdPairedMR"><div class="PrebidAd__container PrebidAd__container--MR"><div class="PrebidAd"><div class="PrebidAd__unit PrebidAd__unit--labeled"><h2 id="barriletes-gigantes-guatemala-" style="text-align: center;">Barriletes Gigantes (Guatemala)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/Giant-kite-festival--Santiago-Sacatepequez.jpg" alt=" Giant kite festival honoring spirits of the dead in town cemetery each year on All Saints Day in Guatemala."/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Rooted in a pre-Colombian tradition, colorful kites fly high in the Guatemalan skies on November 1-2 for Barriletes Gigantes, meaning “giant kites.” Originally, they were flown to show the connection between the otherworld and the human one, but eventually the kites became part of the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.vogue.com/article/giant-kite-festival-sumpango-guatemala">All Saints’ Day celebrations</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The kites, many which are more than 40 feet wide, are hand-painted and flown over the graves of ancestors in cemeteries in Santiago Sacatepequez and Sumpango. These days, the messages are no longer intended for the deceased, but to show<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/02/world/barriletes-gigantes-guatemala/index.html">peace and companionship for the living</a>.</p>
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<h2 id="correfocs-spain-" style="text-align: center;">Correfocs (Spain)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/09/iStock-622971582.jpg" alt="Revelers light torches for Correfocs celebration"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Fleeing from the devil carrying fire may sound a bit extreme, but it’s all part of a<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.spain.info/en/calendar/fiestas-santa-tecla/">tradition called correfoc</a>, which translates to “fire-running.”. Held all over the Catalonia region in Spain, the Balls de Diables (devil dances) involve jumping and running over people dressed as dragons and devils; the tradition started as far back as 1150 to show the fight between good and evil.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">In the port city of Tarragona, it’s part of the two-week celebration in late September called the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.tarragona.cat/cultura/festes-i-cultura-popular/santa-tecla">Santa Tecla Fiesta</a>, which originated in 1321 to honor<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.tarragona.cat/cultura/festes-i-cultura-popular/santa-tecla/descobreix-la-festa/guia">the patron saint</a>. In Barcelona, it’s celebrated at the end of the month for the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.spain.info/en/calendar/fiestas-nuestra-senora-merced/">Nuestra Señora de La Merced Fiesta</a>, first held in 1871.</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;">ZADUSZKY, POLAND</p>
<p><span><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/09/iStock-183234689.jpg" alt="Close-up of colorful candles lit for Zaduskzi"/></span></p>
<div class="ArticleList__htmlChunk"><p style="text-align: center;">For the Polish, traveling to see family on Zaduszki, their version of All Souls’ Day on November 2, is just as<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://culture.pl/en/article/all-souls-day-the-tradition-of-zaduszki-in-poland">essential as on Easter and Christmas</a>. Many of the traditions — like baking bread and leaving it at graves for good luck or going to bed early to avoid meddling with the spirits — trace back to Slavic traditions, when they were focused on pleasing the spirits who appear closer to our world during this period. Today, it’s more about family time to honor the deceased.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The preceding day, All Saints’ Day on November 1, has long been an official holiday in the country, with many using the time off to tend to their ancestors’ graves. In<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.polamjournal.com/Library/Holidays/Zaduszki--All_Soul-s_Day/zaduszki--all_soul-s_day.html">some parts of the country</a>, candles are melted into walnut shells and set afloat down rivers to send messages to the deceased.</p>
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<div class="ArticleList__adContainer"><div class="PrebidAd__container PrebidAd__container--LB"><div class="PrebidAd"><h2 id="walpurgis-night-northern-europe-and-scandinavia-" style="text-align: center;">Walpurgis Night (Northern Europe and Scandinavia)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/09/iStock-907652864.jpg" alt="Walpurgis Night celebrations with fireworks, revelers and bonfire in a grassy field at night"/></p>
<div class="ArticleList__htmlChunk"><p style="text-align: center;">The English nun Saint Walburga, who became an abbess at Germany’s Heidenheim monastery, was believed to<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Walpurgis-Night">cure many of the locals</a>, while also<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-germany-devil-walpurgis/walpurga-faust-satan-vie-for-souls-on-german-mountain-idUSKBN0DH2S620140501">converting pagan Germans</a>. She was canonized on May 1, 870, which happened to be the same time as a spring festival that Pope Adrian wanted to Christianize.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">While that didn’t happen, Walpurgis Night is still celebrated on its eve, April 30, in many northern European and Scandinvanian countries. In Sweden, spring folk songs are sung around bonfires, while in Germany, people leave butter-and-honey bread (or ankenschnitt) for “phantom hounds” and dress up and play tricks on one another, since loud noises are thought to fight off evil.</p>
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<div class="ArticleList__adContainer"><div class="PrebidAdPairedMR"><div class="PrebidAd__container PrebidAd__container--MR"><div class="PrebidAd"><div class="PrebidAd__unit PrebidAd__unit--labeled"><h2 id="vappu-finland-" style="text-align: center;">Vappu (Finland)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/09/iStock-640353328.jpg" alt="Close-up of glass jugs of celebratory drink, sima, for Vappu"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Finland celebrates a similar tradition as Walpurgis Night, but the festivities coincide with May Day, a holiday similar to Labor Day. Known as Vappu, the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://finland.fi/life-society/finland-shows-carnival-colours-on-may-day/">two-day celebration on April 30 and May 1</a><span> </span>is one of the nation’s major holidays.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">What<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Walpurgis-Night">started as an upper class celebration</a><span> </span>then became one mostly indulged in by students — now, everyone is involved. On April 30, toasts are made over alcoholic beverages, especially sparkling wine, and then the first day of May is celebrated with park picnics (often decked with balloons) and drinking of a homemade mead called sima, as well as reveling in the streets.</p>
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<h2 id="-arod-jnice-czech-republic-" style="text-align: center;">Čarodějnice (Czech Republic)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/-arod-jnice--Czech-Republic-.jpg" alt="Walpurgis Night, mayfire, burning of the witches."/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The Čarodějnice festival, also known as the witch-burning festival, is the Czech version of Walpurgis Night, also held on April 30. As part of the legend, it’s thought that<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-48111094">witches convene on mountaintops</a><span> </span>on this night, so bonfire smoke can get rid of the black magic. But it’s also a time to get bid adieu to the cold and welcome spring.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">These days, the biggest celebration is at<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/carodejnice-czech-witch-bonfire-festival">Prague’s Ladronka Park</a>, where people dress up as witches for costume contests and enjoy live music. But all over the country, Czechs roast burty sausages and witch effigies.</p>
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<h2 id="gai-jatra-nepal-" style="text-align: center;">Gai Jatra (Nepal)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/Gai-Jatra-Procession--Nepal-.jpg" alt="Gai Jatra procession in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal."/></p>
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<div class="PrebidAd__container PrebidAd__container--MR"><div class="PrebidAd"><p style="text-align: center;">The people of Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley remember their loved ones in a brightly colored celebration called Gat Jatra, or the Festival of the Cow. Also known as Saya, the festival is usually<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.welcomenepal.com/whats-on/gai-jatra.html">held in July or August</a>. Cows are<a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://rubinmuseum.org/blog/gai-jatra-celebration-life-death-renewal"><span> </span>believed to guide the dead to heaven</a>, so families are meant to send a calf in a procession to guide those who died that year, but many send children dressed as cows instead.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">While it marks a solemn occasion, the atmosphere is light-hearted and fun, with people dressed up in costumes and performing dances, plays, and comedy in the streets. The reason: Back in the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Malla-era">Malla era</a>, from the 10th to 18th centuries, a queen mourned for her son’s passing for so long that the king asked everyone who had suffered loss to join a procession to show that she wasn’t alone.</p>
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<h2 id="up-helly-aa-scotland-" style="text-align: center;">Up Helly Aa (Scotland)</h2>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2020/10/Up-Helly-Aa-vikings--Scotland-.jpg" alt="Viking longship burning at Up Helly Aa Viking fire festival. "/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Imagine Halloween if every single person dressed up like a Viking. To mark the return of the sun after the winter solstice, the town of Shetland, Scotland, celebrates Up Helly Aa on the last Tuesday of January to honor its Viking heritage. Called a “northern Mardi Gras,” the day-long celebration<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.shetland.org/things/events/up-helly-aa/lerwick-up-helly-aa">culminates in a procession</a><span> </span>led by torchlight to a burning of a<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/galley-ship">galley</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">While the celebrations only last one day, the committee starts<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" href="https://www.uphellyaa.org/">planning in February</a><span> </span>for the following year’s celebration, as dozens of squads design their own costumes — much of it in secrecy. One of the biggest secrets each year is which Norse Saga the festival head, the Guizer Jarl, will portray.</p>
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</div> Day of the Dead 'Skeleton' Barbie Splits Opinion In Mexicotag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-10-29:6363372:Topic:35494762020-10-29T19:27:54.233ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092168692?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092168692?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710"></img></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She's been a princess, a president, a Marine Corps sergeant, an astronaut and a Star Wars stormtrooper. In Mexico for the Day of the Dead festival, Barbie is even a skeleton.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yet while fans of the iconic…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092168692?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092168692?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710"/></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She's been a princess, a president, a Marine Corps sergeant, an astronaut and a Star Wars stormtrooper. In Mexico for the Day of the Dead festival, Barbie is even a skeleton.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Yet while fans of the iconic doll see it as an homage to the country's rich tradition, critics say it is little more than cultural appropriation.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mattel has launched the second Barbie based on "Catrina", a skeletal representation of death created by cartoonist Jose Guadalupe Posada that is a symbol of one of Mexico's most important festivals.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The US toymaker says the doll "honors the traditions, symbols and rituals" of the Day of the Dead, which is celebrated on November 1-2.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">But some in Mexico see the Barbie -- which has a price tag of around $72 -- as just another example of big brands cashing in on the country's heritage.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"The cultural, hereditary and symbolic importance that this holiday has for Mexico opens up in the eyes of the market opportunities that are exploited by these firms," said sociologist Roberto Alvarez.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Day of the Dead "should be a solemn subject," but it has become a commercial event in the United States since featuring in movies such as "Coco," the computer-animated fantasy released by Disney's Pixar studio in 2017, Alvarez said.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fans of the iconic doll see "Catrina" Barbie -- which bears certain similarities to renowned painter Frida Kahlo -- as a respectful tribute.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">"It means that they take notice of our traditions," said Zoila Muntane, a 54-year-old artist and doll collector who has 2,000 Barbies.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Fellow fan Carlos Sandoval says the doll represents "a very beautiful tradition, like few others in the world."</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">This year Barbie wears a blush-colored lace dress and a crown of skeleton hands holding roses and marigolds, unlike the first Day of the Dead edition in 2019 which was dressed in black.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Its creator, Mexican-American designer Javier Meabe, said he sought to "create more awareness about the celebration," which UNESCO in 2003 named an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The festival is believed to be when the gateway separating the living and the deceased opens, allowing people to pay their respects to those who have passed.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Librada Moreno, a sociologist and academic at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, sees the Barbie as a "cultural hybrid" and product of migration to the United States, home to 37 million people with Mexican ancestry.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">More than one billion Barbies have been sold globally since the American brand's launch 60 years ago.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Mattel is not the only US brand launching products linked to the Mexican festival: there is also a "Catrina" Minnie Mouse and a Nike Day of the Dead collection.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/day-dead-skeleton-barbie-splits-061429242.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://news.yahoo.com/day-dead-skeleton-barbie-splits-061429242.html</a></em></span></p> Cross and Crossroads: Cultural Sensitivity and The Day of The Deadtag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-10-29:6363372:Topic:35495482020-10-29T19:16:07.669ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<p><strong>OCTOBER 23, 2020 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/author/jallencross/">J. ALLEN CROSS</a></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Well folks, it’s that time of year again. The special time of year where the leaves turn beautiful colors, we all begin to pull out our sweaters, and my inbox inevitably fills with questions from non-Latinx folks about <strong><a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/day-of-the-dead">Dia De Los…</a></strong></span></p>
<p><strong>OCTOBER 23, 2020 BY <a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/author/jallencross/">J. ALLEN CROSS</a></strong></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Well folks, it’s that time of year again. The special time of year where the leaves turn beautiful colors, we all begin to pull out our sweaters, and my inbox inevitably fills with questions from non-Latinx folks about <strong><a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/day-of-the-dead">Dia De Los Muertos</a></strong>, aka The Day of The Dead.</span></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092077858?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092077858?profile=RESIZE_584x" width="500"/></a></p>
<p>This is a very special holiday in my culture where the living celebrate the dead, and get the chance to once again share good times and happiness with those we have lost. Many folks who come to me around this time of year want to know how and if they should participate, and want to know some guiding rules for avoiding cultural appropriation or insensitivity while doing so. To help reach a larger audience I am here to walk you through the finer points, and “Do’s and Dont’s” for non-Latinx folks who want to participate and learn about Mexican culture.</p>
<p>Before we begin, please understand that this list is far from exhaustive. It would be impossible for me to cover every possible consideration when approaching this holiday from outside of the community; however, I will attempt to hit the highlights. Also, please remember that things like cultural appropriation have a lot of nuance and each instance needs to be dissected individually in order to classify it as “okay” or “inappropriate”. If you find yourself with further concerns, please try to find more educational materials from the Latinx community in order to decide your next steps. Without further ado, let’s begin…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092079472?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092079472?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="710"/></a></p>
<p><strong>DO: </strong>Learn about Dia De Los Muertos by watching documentaries or reading books created by Mexican people. Did you know that there are multiple days devoted to the dead around this time of year, including one for children called <strong><a class="decorated-link" href="https://danestrom.com/dia-de-los-angelitos-remembering-children-day-dead/">Dia De Los Angelitos</a></strong> (day of the little angels)? Learning about world cultures can be fascinating, fulfilling, and can help broaden our own beliefs and world-view. There is nothing wrong with being educated and you’ll be better for it.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T: </strong>Ask your Latinx friends to explain it all to you or learn about the holiday from non-Mexican sources. These are often unreliable or don’t accurately capture the spirit and message of the traditions. Also please don’t rely on the movie <strong><em><a class="decorated-link" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2380307/">Coco</a></em></strong> as your only educational material. It’s fantastic but it’s far from a complete education.</p>
<p><strong>DO: </strong>Build an <strong><a class="decorated-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofrenda#:~:text=An%20ofrenda%20(Spanish%3A%20%22offering,Mexican%20D%C3%ADa%20de%20Muertos%20celebration.">“Ofrenda”</a></strong>, aka an altar for your beloved dead, if you feel called to do so. Please take this as an opportunity to educate yourself and learn how to construct one properly. This is a great time to find out things like, “why do we decorate using marigolds?” and “what is the significance of sugar skulls?”. You may also decorate your home in the traditional style if you would like.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T:</strong> Decorate <em>yourself</em> in Day of the Dead sugar skull face paint. Cultures are not costumes, and let’s be honest, it’s been done to death (see what I did there? Death puns! But really, don’t do it; it’s tacky and offensive).</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092082270?profile=RESIZE_930x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8092082270?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" class="align-right"/></a>DO: </strong>Consider whether or not your ancestors would be comfortable being honored in this manner. If you feel they need to be honored in a different manner, then that is totally fine and you should do so.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T: </strong>Substitute our traditions with non-Mexican traditions and still call it your Dia De Los Muertos celebration. If you feel the need to do it up “Viking style”, or add in a massive amount of your non-Mexican culture to your ancestral celebrations that is fine! You are welcome to celebrate your ancestors in whatever way they prefer to be celebrated around this time of year.</p>
<p>However, if you are going to go a different direction, please don’t call it Dia De Los Muertos as it’s not authentic and you risk erasing precious culture. If, however, you would think your non-Latinx ancestors would have a great time having a Dia De Los Muertos party thrown for them you should feel free to do so! Also, if you want to add offerings that are not specifically Mexican (like some Bratwurst, or Sauerkraut for Uncle Boris because they were his favorite) that’s fine too.</p>
<p><strong>DO: </strong>Purchase your decorations and flowers from Latinx individuals and companies when available.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T: </strong>Purchase your decorations from non-Latinx owned businesses or big corporations if you can help it. If you do find yourself having to purchase from a corporation that is not Latinx owned, do a little research and make sure they are at least not actively lobbying against the Latinx community. If the corporation is, please move on to the next. Also, please don’t make Dia De Los Muertos-themed art or décor and try to cash in on the holiday by selling them if you are not Latinx. That’s disrespectful. You can however make your own decorations if you would like to, as long as you don’t plan to profit off of them.</p>
<p><strong>DO: </strong>Take this time to dig up old photos and buried treasures from your family history that have been tucked away in old boxes or storage bins. Be sure to include your aging relatives in the festivities and ask them for stories about their childhood and relatives that have passed on. They live in these stories and if you never hear them, you can’t help keep them alive by retelling them.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T: </strong>Use this as an opportunity to party while simultaneously forgetting about your ancestors, and soon-to-be ancestors.</p>
<p><strong>DO: </strong>Consider what the dead at your altar may want. If they all hated traditional Mexican food, maybe make them something else. If they were Mormon, maybe don’t pour them hella tequila shots. Sometimes honoring our dead means going out of your way, or against your own personal comforts and beliefs to accommodate them. I’m not Mormon, nor am I a fan of Mormonism but that doesn’t mean that my Mormon ancestors wouldn’t love a reading from the Book of Mormon.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T: </strong>Put your needs before your ancestors.</p>
<p><strong>DO: </strong>Have educational material ready, or have a donation jar to support the Latinx community if your business is planning on throwing any sort of Dia De Los Muertos festivities. If you need catering please hire from Latinx-owned restaurants.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T: </strong>Put up a few decorations and make a lot of cash off the holiday without ever extending at least some of the money to those you are profiting off of.</p>
<p><strong>DO: </strong>Cherish the wonderful memories you have of spending Dia De Los Muertos in Mexico, if you are a non-Latinx person who is or has been able to travel to Mexico during this time of year.</p>
<p><strong>DON’T: </strong>Try to educate your Latinx friends about the holiday unless they specifically ask. Many Latinx folks living in the United States feel disconnected from their culture and having to learn about your own people and traditions from a white person is a special type of pain that most folks will never realize. Though you are well intentioned, please understand that this may be an emotional time for some, and not a lot of Latinx folks have the resources to travel, or even learn Spanish themselves if they weren’t taught in the home. These things can be very emotional for a lot of us who are culturally Mexican but are several generations American as well.</p>
<p>Please let this article be a conversation starter, and not a gate that you get mad at for being in your way. We are all humans and humans and culture and this world full of borders and racism and colonization is COMPLICATED that means that there are no easy answers when it comes to these subjects. However, if we can learn to educate ourselves without taking, or participate without influencing, we might just be able to start seeing through each other’s eyes. This is a good first step to learning a little about your Latinx neighbors, and their beliefs, culture, and traditions. Let this be a beautiful thing, and it will take you far.</p>
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<p>Interested in learning more about modern Mexican-American folk magic? My book, <a class="decorated-link" href="https://bookshop.org/books/american-brujeria-modern-mexican-american-folk-magic/9781578637454"><strong><em>American Brujeria</em></strong></a>, is available for pre-order!</p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2020/10/cross-and-crossroads-cultural-sensitivity-and-the-day-of-the-dead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.patheos.com/blogs/agora/2020/10/cross-and-crossroads-cultural-sensitivity-and-the-day-of-the-dead/</a></em></span></p> 10 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About Brujeríatag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-10-18:6363372:Topic:35447842020-10-18T18:14:10.484ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<p>Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Katrina Rasbold, author of the new <em><a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738757865&utm_source=paganismblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=rasbold&utm_campaign=paganismblog">Crossroads of Conjure</a></em>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/brujeria">Brujería</a> is the sacred practice of Mexican and Mexican-American …</p>
<p>Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Katrina Rasbold, author of the new <em><a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738757865&utm_source=paganismblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=rasbold&utm_campaign=paganismblog">Crossroads of Conjure</a></em>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/brujeria">Brujería</a> is the sacred practice of Mexican and Mexican-American <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/witchcraft">Witchcraft</a>, but how much do you know about it? Here are ten facts that lend texture and flavor to this fascinating path:</p>
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<li>Brujería embraces gender equality. Male witches are called “Brujos” and female witches are called “Brujas.” In the past, there were generally more Brujos than Brujas, but the recent surge of Brujería as an expression of feminine power resulted in more Brujas than Brujos.</li>
<li>Brujería has an unbroken lineage tracing back to the pre-historic magical practices of the Mexica (<em>Ma-shee-ka</em>) civilization that formed what we now call the Aztec or Maya.</li>
<li>Brujería did not “come to” America. It was always here in the practice of the people living in states that were once Mexico and became part of the United States through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848.</li>
<li>In addition to its Mexican and Spanish roots, Brujería absorbed components of Judeo-Christianism, European Witchcraft, Greek philosophy, <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/hoodoo">Hoodoo</a>, Haitian <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/vodou">Vodou</a>, and Arabic healing practices. It does not follow <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/wicca">Wiccan</a> concepts of harming none or the <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/three-fold+law">three-fold law</a>, but instead judges a magical work as “justified” or “not justified.”</li>
<li>People often confuse Brujería with Curanderismo. Both are Mexican healing traditions that use magic. Curanderismo closely equates to the herb witch or naturopathic healer. A <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/Curandera">Curandera</a> (female) or <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/Curandero">Curandero</a> (male) views a physical condition and wonders if there is a spiritually-based cause (such as a crossing or curse). The Bruja/o views a spiritual condition and wonders if there is a physical or mental cause (such as a toxicity or injury). Brujería views all magical work as a form of healing for the client.</li>
<li>Whereas Curanderismo is a respected practice within Hispanic communities, Brujería is often feared and maligned due to the power the Brujas/os hold and misinformation spread by the Catholic church, which does not formally endorse Brujería.</li>
<li>Although many <a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/term/pagan">Pagan</a> people practice Brujería, it is not itself a Pagan path. Brujería has been a Catholic-based practice for approximately five hundred years, since the Spanish conquest. Technically, it is a Christian system of folk magic.</li>
<li>Brujería is a path of service to the community and to the clients who come to the Bruja/o for care. It is not about magic for personal benefit.</li>
<li>Brujería judges a practitioner by ability and results rather than ethnicity, gender, or age. Most Brujos/as generally welcome those who are called to the path provided they work with integrity and produce quality results.</li>
<li>Little written information exists about Brujería, especially in English, because it is an orally conveyed practiced learned experientially through apprenticeship rather than academically through text. As such, Brujería presents differently for individual practitioners because each apprentice is learning a non-standardized practice from their own mentor.</li>
</ol>
<p>Interested in Brujería? Check out my new book, <em><a href="http://www.llewellyn.com/product.php?ean=9780738757865&utm_source=paganismblog&utm_medium=blog&utm_content=rasbold&utm_campaign=paganismblog">Crossroads of Conjure: The Roots and Practices of Granny Magic, HooDoo, Curanderismo, and Brujería</a></em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><a href="https://www.llewellyn.com/blog/2019/01/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-brujeria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.llewellyn.com/blog/2019/01/10-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-brujeria/</a></em></span></p> Abre Camino: The Road Opening Herbtag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-10-18:6363372:Topic:35450572020-10-18T18:13:04.797ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<h2><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042078676?profile=RESIZE_180x180"><img alt="8042078676?profile=RESIZE_180x180" class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042078676?profile=RESIZE_180x180"></img></a></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Abre Camino literally translates into “Road Opener”</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;">It clears obstacles and allows you to have open roads to success and acheive your goals!! It keeps the roads clear so you can continue on your path to greatness. It helps open the doors of luck and prosperity to you. It removes things that prevent you from…</p>
<h2><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042078676?profile=RESIZE_180x180"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042078676?profile=RESIZE_180x180" alt="8042078676?profile=RESIZE_180x180"/></a></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">Abre Camino literally translates into “Road Opener”</h2>
<p style="text-align: center;">It clears obstacles and allows you to have open roads to success and acheive your goals!! It keeps the roads clear so you can continue on your path to greatness. It helps open the doors of luck and prosperity to you. It removes things that prevent you from achieving love, success, health, happiness, etc.</p>
<p class="npf_quote" style="text-align: center;">While “Road Opener” describes the blend used in spells for this use in traditions like rootwork, “Road Opener”/Abre Camino is also the folk name of an herb used in Afro-Caribbean traditional religions and magical systems.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It is a shrubby bush found in the tropics like the Caribbean and near tropic climates like lower Florida called <em>Eupatorium villosum or Koanophyllon villosum. </em>It is used in traditions like Espiritismo, Santería, Palo Mayombe, etc.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">It can be used in ritual baths, mojo bags or resguardos, candle work, etc. It is also a pivotal ingrediant in most Road Opening oils.</span></h2>
<p style="text-align: center;">This herb is used for many ailments including colds, constipation, cough, cystitis, dyspepsia, nighttime urination, peripheral blood circulation, sore throat, stuffy nose, urinary stones.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><strong>Sources</strong></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em><a href="http://santoproducts.blogspot.com/2014/10/thoroughwort-abre-camino.html?m=1">http://santoproducts.blogspot.com/2014/10/thoroughwort-abre-camino.html?m=1</a></em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.originalbotanica.com/fresh-abre-camino-plant/"><span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>https://www.originalbotanica.com/fresh-abre-camin</em></span>o<span style="font-size: 8pt;"><em>-plant/</em></span></a></p> Witchcraft in Latin Americatag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-10-18:6363372:Topic:35450552020-10-18T18:11:27.212ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042021280?profile=RESIZE_584x" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042021280?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="564"></img></a> Various types of witchcraft and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occult" title="Occult">occult</a> religious practices exist in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America" title="Latin America">Latin American</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Caribbean_people" title="Afro-Caribbean people">Afro-Caribbean</a> cultures,…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042021280?profile=RESIZE_584x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042021280?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="564" class="align-center"/></a>Various types of witchcraft and <a title="Occult" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occult">occult</a> religious practices exist in <a title="Latin America" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America">Latin American</a> and <a title="Afro-Caribbean people" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Caribbean_people">Afro-Caribbean</a> cultures, known in <a title="Spanish language" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language">Spanish</a> as <strong><em lang="es" title="Spanish language text" xml:lang="es">brujer</em></strong> (pronounced <span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a title="Help:IPA/Spanish" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish">[bɾuxeɾˈi.a]</a></span>).<sup id="cite_ref-Herrera-Sobek20122_1-0" class="reference"></sup><sup id="cite_ref-:3_2-0" class="reference"></sup> Influenced by <a title="Native American religion" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_religion">indigenous religion</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" title="Catholicism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism">Catholicism</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-Herrera-Sobek20122_1-1" class="reference"></sup> and <a title="" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_witchcraft">European witchcraft</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-:3_2-1" class="reference"></sup> the purpose may range from benevolent <a title="White magic" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_magic">white magic</a> to evil <a title="Black magic" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_magic">black magic</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_3-0" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>A male practitioner is called a <em lang="es" title="Spanish language text" xml:lang="es">brujo</em>, a female practitioner is a <em lang="es" title="Spanish language text" xml:lang="es">bruja</em>.<sup id="cite_ref-:4_3-1" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Across the Afro-Latin diaspora, many forms of spiritual practices have emerged: <a title="Haitian Vodou" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou">Haitian Vodou</a>, <a title="Santería" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santer%C3%ADa">Cuban Santería</a>, and <a title="Candomblé" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candombl%C3%A9">Brazilian Candomblé</a> and <a title="Umbanda" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbanda">Umbanda</a>. However, what sets Brujería in <a title="Puerto Rico" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico">Puerto Rico</a> apart is the unique blend of “religiosity and spiritualized materialism”.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-0" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Isabelo Zenón Cruz made the assessment that Puerto Rican vernacular religions (and really any Afro-Latino religions) have been only studied by folklorists but not comparative religionists due to “classist and racist assumptions”.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-1" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Unlike many other <a title="Caribbean" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean">Caribbean</a> religions that derive from Africa, Brujería is not based on stable community, hierarchy, or membership. Instead, practices are more dependent on the ritual preferences of the actual participants. Because of the spontaneity of the spirits, it is impossible for institutionalized doctrines of worships to be enforced on followers and practicers of Brujería.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_5-0" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Within sacred altars of brujos, lessons of practitioners, and brujería rituals lie ties to <a title="Traditional African religions" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_African_religions">African ideologies</a>, <a class="mw-redirect" title="Catholicism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism">Catholicism</a>, and <a title="Spiritism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritism">Spiritism</a>; explaining the erasure of hierarchical order.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-2" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Before Spiritism was developed, <a title="Taíno" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ta%C3%ADno">Taíno Indians</a> and <a title="History of slavery" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery">enslaved African people in Puerto Rico</a> developed the convictions that there exists spirits and those spirits can be communicated with. This becomes mixed with the convictions of spiritual worship introduced by Catholic colonizers. Early leaders of Spiritism found interest in Brujería amongst liberal, emancipation minded groups in the late nineteenth century; begging the interest for further research of the correlation between politics and Brujería.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-3" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Early Brujería can be traced back as far as the 1500s when the archbishop of Santo Domingo and fifth bishop of Puerto Rico, <a title="Nicolás de Ramos y Santos" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicol%C3%A1s_de_Ramos_y_Santos">Nicolás Ramos</a>, recorded his recollections of ‘black brujos [male and female] who engaged with the <a title="Devil" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil">devil</a> in the shape of a goat and, every night in front of this goat, cursed <a title="God" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God">God</a>, <a title="Mary, mother of Jesus" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary,_mother_of_Jesus">Santa María</a>, and the sacraments of the <a title="Holy Church of Jesus Christ" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Church_of_Jesus_Christ">Holy Church</a>.’’ Ramos wrote, ‘‘[A]sserting that they did not have nor believe in a god other than that devil…they performed these rituals in some fields [apparently they were in a trance] ,…not in dreams since there were some people who saw them.’’ These people, Ramos continues, ‘‘tried to make them [the sorcerers] refrain from their doings through chanting and holy gifts [ dádivas ], and with all this [information they] came to me.’” This perpetual demonization of elements of African worship set up the forefront to the centuries of demonization of Brujería practices.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-4" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>From the sixteenth to the subsequent eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, slaves were shipped from Africa to Puerto Rico and <a title="Hispaniola" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniola">Hispaniola</a> and were forced to convert to Christianity by the imposing church and the overseeing <em><a class="mw-redirect" title="Hacendado" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacendado">hacendados</a>—</em>land owners. Branded slaves were baptized to be fully recognized as the property of hacendados.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-5" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>In the late 1800s to early 1900s during the early days of <a title="United States Military Government in Cuba" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Military_Government_in_Cuba">American occupation within Cuba</a>, there were established attacks to undermine the legitimacy of several Afro-Cuban institutions and organizations— including Brujería.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_6-0" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>With the growth of a single <a title="Cubans" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubans">Cuban identity</a> came a greater appreciation for conformity and deviation from “creolised manifestations”. However, the declination of faith-based practices in Cuba due to the rise in <a title="Marxism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marxism">Marxism</a> from 1959 to the 1990s lead to practitioners of Afro-Cuban religions to have to find innovative ways to survive <a title="Fidel Castro" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fidel_Castro">Castro</a>’s political informants that particularly called for the suppression of <a title="Witchcraft" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft">witchcraft</a> and Brujería.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_in_Latin_America#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup><sup class="noprint Inline-Template">[<em><a title="Wikipedia:Accuracy dispute" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Accuracy_dispute#Disputed_statement"><span title="The material near this tag is possibly inaccurate or nonfactual. (November 2019)">dubious</span></a> <span class="metadata">– <a title="Talk:Witchcraft in Latin America" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Witchcraft_in_Latin_America#Dubious">discuss</a></span></em>]</sup></p>
<p>The introduction of Spiritism in the twentieth century attracted more participants of all racial backgrounds. It also added new foundations of practice and ritualistic objects such as: santiguos (healing blessings), 19 despojos (spiritual cleansings), prayers, and spells; and an array of indigenous, medieval Catholic, and African offerings.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-6" class="reference"></sup></p>
<h2><span class="mw-headline">Modernization of Brujería</span></h2>
<p>Despite Brujería inheriting traits from Catholicism, there has been a long history of the Catholic Church demonizing Brujería, referring to it as "<a title="Evil" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil">evil</a>, <a title="Satanism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satanism">Satanism</a>", or the "workings of the devil". That being said, with the increasing rate of persecution amongst practitioners since colonization of the Afro-Latino Caribbean, Brujería has been forced into modernization to combat erasure.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-7" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>As <a title="Separatism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separatism">separatist ideals</a> begin to gain more momentum, particularly in Puerto Rico, there becomes more clings to <a title="Cultural nationalism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_nationalism">cultural nationalism</a>— including clings to aspects of Afro-Boricua and Taíno folklore. Previously (1950s–1960s), journalists in the island denounced Brujería as a way to help “educate the masses”. However, the shift in cultural nationalism from the 1980s onwards now leads to media outlets uncovering “hidden traditions” of the “endangered Puerto Rican Hispanic, Taíno, and African traditions”<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-8" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Romberg argues the practice of modern-day Brujería as "the vernacular co-optation of discourses of interest and passions, of consumerism and spirituality, commodity fetishism and morality, and welfare capitalism and magic". And also reveals that despite misconceptions, Brujería builds to social order through both “holistic or individualized types of intervention” and endorsement of positive “mainstream social values”.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-9" class="reference"></sup></p>
<h2><span id="Practice" class="mw-headline">Practice</span></h2>
<p>Brujería doesn't participate in community, hierarchical, or initiation-based practice or membership. Rituals are interdependent on the procedures, practices, and attitudes passed down by its participants and heavily depend on forces of nature and the spontaneity of the spirits. Following specific guidelines and doctrines in Brujería is possible .<sup id="cite_ref-:1_5-1" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>However, some commonalities include basic ritual gestures, communication during divination, possession, and specific components of altars. These similarities are often referred to as “a kind of spiritual lingua franca” which explains the ubiquity of the practice cross the Afro-Latino and Non-Afro-Latino diaspora.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_5-2" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>In practice, brujos stress to not believe in the ritualistic objects or hold too much pertinence in the material representations of the <a class="mw-redirect" title="Spiritual entities" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_entities">spiritual entities</a>, but rather focus on the messages and “powers of the entities that inhabit these icons” that are also used to summon ancient demons. <sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-10" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Power is sensed and manifested when the voices of Spiritist entities, <a title="Orisha" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orisha">Santería orishas</a>, and the recently deceased are brought on by “Brujería rituals, divination, trance and the making of magic works”. The spirits' abstract means of revelation include through emotions, through senses, and through healings as a means to transform the “emotional, proprioceptive and (to some extent) physiological states of participants”<sup id="cite_ref-:1_5-3" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Whereas a lot of focus within the practice of Brujería is on the technological systems, Brujería focuses mostly on interpersonal client-patient power that “emerges during healing, divination and magic rituals challenges the assumed precondition”;<sup id="cite_ref-:1_5-4" class="reference"></sup> specifically in regards to health, labor, family relations, and even career management.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_4-11" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Brujos and practitioners of Brujería never question the spirits. The performative methods of surrender training is the only lesson brujos aim to teach. The expectation is to have faith in the spirits and the spirits will theatrically reveal what is meant to be shown.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_5-5" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><sup class="reference">Full Wiki Entry > <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_in_Latin_America" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft_in_Latin_America</a></sup></p> Curanderotag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2020-10-18:6363372:Topic:35447822020-10-18T18:10:00.293ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042031684?profile=RESIZE_584x" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042031684?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400"></img></a> A <em><strong>curandero</strong></em> (<small>Spanish: </small><span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish" title="Help:IPA/Spanish">[kuɾanˈdeɾo]</a></span>, healer; …</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042031684?profile=RESIZE_584x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042031684?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" class="align-left"/></a>A <em><strong>curandero</strong></em> (<small>Spanish: </small><span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a title="Help:IPA/Spanish" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Spanish">[kuɾanˈdeɾo]</a></span>, healer; <a title="Grammatical gender" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender">f.</a> <em>curandera</em>) or <em><strong>curandeiro</strong></em> (Portuguese: <span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)"><a title="Help:IPA/Portuguese" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Portuguese">[kuɾɐ̃ˈdejɾu]</a></span>, <a title="Grammatical gender" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_gender">f.</a> <em>curandeira</em>) is a traditional <a title="Indigenous peoples of the Americas" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas">native</a> <a title="Folk healer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_healer">healer</a>/<a class="mw-redirect" title="Shaman" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaman">shaman</a> found in <a title="Latin America" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin_America">Latin America</a>, the <a title="United States" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States">United States</a> and <a title="Southern Europe" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Europe">Southern Europe</a>. The curandero's life is dedicated to the administration of remedies for mental, emotional, physical and spiritual illnesses.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"></sup><sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"></sup> The role of a curandero can also incorporate the roles of psychiatrist along with that of doctor and healer. Some curanderos, such as <a title="Don Pedro Jaramillo" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Pedro_Jaramillo">Don Pedrito, the Healer of Los Olmos</a>, make use of simple herbs, waters, and even mud to effect their cures. Others add <a class="mw-redirect" title="Catholicism" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholicism">Catholic</a> elements, such as <a title="Holy water" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_water">holy water</a> and pictures of <a title="Saint" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint">saints</a>. The use of <a title="Catholic Church" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Church">Roman Catholic</a> prayers and other borrowings and lendings is often found alongside native religious elements. Many curanderos emphasize their native spirituality in healing while being practicing Roman Catholics.</p>
<p>Curanderos are often respected members of the community. Believers consider their powers to be supernatural and think that many illnesses are caused by lost malevolent spirits, a lesson from God, or a curse.</p>
<p>The term <em>curanderos</em> can be traced back to the Spanish colonization of Latin America. Curanderos in this part of the world are the result of the mixture of traditional Indigenous medicinal practices and Catholic rituals. There was also an influence from African rituals brought to Latin America by slaves. <sup id="cite_ref-mrt.com_5-0" class="reference"></sup> The term stems from the Spanish word for "to heal", <em>curar</em>. Curanderos go beyond Western medicine, linking illness with evil spirits. This extends a curandero's duties to cover not only physical ailments but also psychological and interpersonal issues. Traditional communities see all of these issues as a loss of spirit.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"></sup> They believe that the curanderos can enter different dimensions where they are able to find the solutions to a person's illness or problem. Furthermore, they believe that God or the Higher Creator gives curanderos difficult and painful experiences so that they are better able to assist their patients.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"></sup> In Colonial Latin America, female folk healers, or curanderas, were often conflated with <em>brujas</em> (witches), which refers to those who cast spells; although curanderas were persecuted during such times, it is likely because they were females in positions of authority, not because of their healing methods.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"></sup> Today many women and men continue the curandero tradition in Mexico and the southwestern United States.</p>
<p>Historically, in the United States, curanderos were only found in concentrated Amerindian populations. It was largely thought that Curanderos mainly practiced along the US/Mexico border. Recent historical research shows however that the practice of Curanderismo was not relegated to the American Southwest. The practice of Curanderismo was prevalent in the 1880s in Northeastern Tennessee.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"></sup> In the mid- to late 1970s the rise in ethnic minority and immigrant populations grew in tandem with the public presence of curanderos in areas outside of the historical geographic regions of the United States which had large Indigenous populations.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"></sup> Since the 1990s, it has become more commonplace to see curanderos in northern-tier cities in the United States.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042032267?profile=original"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8042032267?profile=RESIZE_710x" alt="8042032267?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600"/></a></p>
<h2><span id="Types" class="mw-headline">Types</span></h2>
<p>There are many different types of curanderos. <em>Yerberos</em> are primarily herbalists. <em>Hueseros</em> are bone and muscle therapists who emphasize physical ailments. <em>Parteras</em> are midwives. <em><a title="Oracionista" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracionista">Oracionistas</a></em> work primarily through the power of prayer. Other types include <em>sobadors,</em> who are masseurs, and <em>brujas</em>, who are witches.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"></sup></p>
<p>Among these broader terms there are several subspecialties. For instance, <em>yerberos</em> who work primarily with <a title="Nicotiana rustica" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicotiana_rustica">tobacco</a> to heal patients are known as <em>tabaqueros</em>. Healers who work primarily with <a title="Ayahuasca" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayahuasca">ayahuasca</a> are known as <em>ayahuasqueros</em>. Healers who work with peyote are known as <em>peyoteros</em>.</p>
<p>Although many curanderos do have a specialty and may identify with it, that does not mean that these healing modalities are necessarily strict and do not overlap. As an example, an oracionista may also be a yerbera, and so on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Full Wiki Entry > <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curandero" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curandero</a></p> Things About Day of the Dead That You Need to Knowtag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2019-11-02:6363372:Topic:34826982019-11-02T23:24:46.043ZCarmen Elsa Irarragorri Wylandhttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/CarmenElsaIrarragorriWyland
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Día de los Muertos,</em><span> or Day of the Dead in English, is a Mexican and Central American holiday celebrated during the first two days of November. While certain aspects of the holiday — such as sugar skulls and bright decorations — are familiar to the rest of the world, many people conflate the Day of the Dead with Halloween. The truth is that this holiday is entirely separate, with its own unique and incredible history dating back several thousand…</span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Día de los Muertos,</em><span> or Day of the Dead in English, is a Mexican and Central American holiday celebrated during the first two days of November. While certain aspects of the holiday — such as sugar skulls and bright decorations — are familiar to the rest of the world, many people conflate the Day of the Dead with Halloween. The truth is that this holiday is entirely separate, with its own unique and incredible history dating back several thousand years. Here are seven things you should know about the Day of the Dead:</span></p>
<div class="list__content-title-container"><h1 class="list__content-title" style="text-align: center;">It's Recognized by UNESCO</h1>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2019/10/day-of-the-dead-festival.jpg" alt="It's Recognized by UNESCO"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">In<span> </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/indigenous-festivity-dedicated-to-the-dead-00054">2003</a>, UNESCO put the Day of the Dead on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The<span> </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://ich.unesco.org/en/what-is-intangible-heritage-00003">Intangible Cultural Heritage</a><span> </span>segment of UNESCO focuses on identifying and protecting traditions, festive events, cultural knowledge, and rituals that may otherwise die out and be lost over time.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">To qualify for this status, cultural heritage must be both contemporary and traditional, blending beliefs and actions from the past into modern-day behaviors. Additionally, the heritage must be community-based, acknowledged and valued by living members of the community in question. In this case,<span> </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.traveltrivia.com/most-beautiful-unesco-world-heritage-sites/">UNESCO</a><span> </span>specifically focused on the Day of the Dead because of its long history, its importance to indigenous Latin American groups, and its demonstration of the fusion of Aztec and Catholic beliefs.</p>
<h1 class="list__content-title" style="text-align: center;">People May Spend the Night in Cemeteries</h1>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2019/10/day-of-the-dead-cemetery.jpg" alt="People May Spend the Night in Cemeteries"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>Day of the Dead celebrations often culminate in cemeteries, where people collect around the graves of their loved ones. This does not cause the celebration to take on a dark tone, however — families and friends eat, </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.traveltrivia.com/countries-without-drinking-age/">drink</a><span>, laugh, play games, and tell stories about the people whose graves they're visiting. It is not uncommon for families to make the favorite food of the deceased, and either leave it on the altar or bring it to the grave site. And once it has gotten late, some families may choose to sleep in the cemetery, spending the night by their loved ones' graves.</span></p>
<h1 class="list__content-title" style="text-align: center;">It Isn't Meant to Be Scary</h1>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2019/10/pan-de-muerto.jpg" alt="It Isn't Meant to Be Scary"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><span>Due to its proximity to Halloween and its focus on death, people unfamiliar with the Day of the Dead may assume that it's supposed to be frightening. Actually, this holiday </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/what-s-el-d-de-los-muertos-it-s-not-n815966">isn't meant to be scary</a><span> at all — instead, it is a celebration of life, and a time to reconnect with lost loved ones. Families set out beautifully decorated </span><em>ofrendas</em><span>, or alters, to honor and remember their family members who have passed on. People may paint their faces, bake a sweet bread called </span><em>pan de muerto</em><span>, and congregate in cemeteries to picnic and play music. Families may also choose to leave their front doors open during the celebration so that spirits can easily enter the home.</span></p>
<h1 class="list__content-title" style="text-align: center;">The Holiday Originated in Aztec Culture</h1>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2019/10/aztec-pyramids.jpg" alt="The Holiday Originated in Aztec Culture"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The first recorded instance of a celebration similar to the Day of the Dead occurred in the<span> </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://stmuhistorymedia.org/the-aztec-origins-dia-de-los-muertos/">1500s</a>. Initially, the holiday wasn't about remembering loved ones — instead, it was a time to worship Mictecacihuatl, the queen of the underworld who was thought to protect the dead. In its original form, the Day of the Dead actually lasted for the entire month of August, during which time Aztec people would leave food out as offerings.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The holiday changed as a result of colonization by Spanish conquistadors, who attempted to convert the indigenous Aztecs to Catholicism. This forced blending of cultures led to the Day of the Dead traditions being held on the first two days of November — All Saints Day and All Souls Day in the Catholic calendar.</p>
<h1 class="list__content-title" style="text-align: center;">Marigolds Are Thought to Guide Spirits Home</h1>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2019/10/marigolds-altar.jpg" alt="Marigolds Are Thought to Guide Spirits Home"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Although the heavy use of flowers during Day of the Dead may surprise people unfamiliar with the holiday, it makes perfect sense. After all, Day of the Dead is a time to remember, honor, and celebrate loved ones who have passed on, and flowers are often placed on graves and alters.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://lajollamom.com/the-role-marigolds-play-in-dia-de-los-muertos/">Marigolds</a><span> </span>are the flowers traditionally used as decoration during this holiday for a number of reasons. They can be locally grown in Mexico, and their vivid color and strong scent are supposed to act as a guide for spirits trying to find their way home to visit. These flowers are also thought to represent the fragility of life. Marigolds are such a common decoration for the holiday that even if real ones aren't available, families often make bright marigolds out of paper and hang them around the house.</p>
<h1 class="list__content-title" style="text-align: center;">People Write Humorously Macabre Poems to Celebrate</h1>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2019/10/writing-poetry.jpg" alt="People Write Humorously Macabre Poems to Celebrate"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">These poems, known as<span> </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-latino-center/2018/10/23/literary-calaveras/">literary<em><span> </span>calaveras</em></a><span> </span>(skulls) or<span> </span><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.mexican-folk-art-guide.com/calaveras.html#.XZjbwC2ZMWo">Day of the Dead rhymes</a>, have their roots in Mexico City during the late 19th century. At that time, a publisher named Antonio Vanegas Arroyo teamed up with lithographer Manuel Manila to publish a series of satirical poems decorated with skeleton illustrations. These poems were a way to poke fun at political figures and draw attention to contemporary socio-economic problems — their use of satire enabled the poems to be published at a time when discontent was frequently censored in the media.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">In modern times, these poems are still written during the Day of the Dead. They are playfully tongue-in-cheek, often discussing the shortcomings and hypothetical deaths of living friends, family members, or public figures. These poems are published in Day of the Dead newspapers, and schools frequently hold contests to see who can write the best<span> </span><em>calavera</em>.</p>
<h1 class="list__content-title" style="text-align: center;">It Is Presided Over by La Calavera Catrina</h1>
<p><img src="https://blog.assets.traveltrivia.com/2019/10/la-catrina.jpg" alt="It Is Presided Over by La Calavera Catrina"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a rel="nofollow" target="blank" href="https://www.theyucatantimes.com/2017/10/la-catrina-mexican-representation-of-death/">La Calavera Catrina</a><span> </span>— which translates to "the elegant skull" — is generally referred to as just "La Catrina" in modern times. Sometimes known as Mexico's "Grand Dame of Death," La Catrina first appeared in her present form in an etching by José Guadalupe Posada in approximately 1912. This etching featured a smiling skull dressed in a European-style hat, and was meant to deride indigenous Mexican women who imitated European fashions.</p>
<p><img src="https://www.theyucatantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Catrinas.jpg"/></p>
<p style="text-align: center;">Accordig to<span> </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" href="http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/" target="_blank">El Universal,</a> the “Día de Muertos” in Mexico has become one of the most iconic festivities of this country and has even managed to cross borders and oceans – most prominently – in the figure of the elegant skeleton lady of La Catrina. Yet where does she come from?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The Calavera Catrina was born in 1912 from the imagination of Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada, but that wasn’t her name back then. Posada published the first illustration of this great dame of death under the name of La Calavera Garbancera as a social criticism of the indigenous Mexican women who rejected their roots and tried to pass as European.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">The engraver was famous for his satirical rhymes, illustrated with skulls and skeletons, which he used to describe the political and religious matters of Mexico, as well as aspects of daily life. Then how did she became La Catrina?</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It was Mexican painter Diego Rivera who took the work of Posada and gave it a body. Literally. In his mural “Sueño de una tarde dominical en la Alameda Central” (1947) (“Dream of a Sunday Afternoon along Central Alameda”), Rivera painted the full-bodied skeleton lady as the central piece of his mural, and called her La Catrina, the feminine version of the Catrin, a bon vivant dandy in Mexican culture.</p>
<a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.theyucatantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/La-Catrina.jpg"><img class="wp-image-72181 align-center" src="http://www.theyucatantimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/La-Catrina.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="326"/></a><br/>
<p style="text-align: center;">In his mural, Diego Rivera featured the Catrina at the center, with a young version of himself on the left, and her creator, José Guadalupe Posada, on the right.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">It is due to the merger of Mexico’s Prehispanic ideologies, the Mexican people’s historical focus on death – that is, their willingness to both laugh at it and embrace it with a loving familiarity – and the classism prevalent in the Mexican society, that the Catrina became the embodiment not only of death as a neutralizing force between the rich and the poor, but also, a powerful symbol of what the Day of the Dead in Mexico is all about. And it is becoming famous worldwide.</p>
</div> Did you know the story behind the Cempasúchil the Flower of Día de Muertos?tag:templeilluminatus.ning.com,2019-10-27:6363372:Topic:34813902019-10-27T21:57:51.562ZSunKathttps://templeilluminatus.ning.com/profile/SunKat
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3683209112?profile=RESIZE_710x" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3683209112?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="564"></img></a> Not all Mexican legends revolve around wars and male gods, some of them are beautiful love stories, even with their tragic ending. </span></h5>
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Among petals of cempasúchil flower, tamales, tequila, papel picado, candles and copal, the altar of the dead is built as a tribute to the loved…</span></h5>
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3683209112?profile=RESIZE_710x" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3683209112?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="564" class="align-center"/></a>Not all Mexican legends revolve around wars and male gods, some of them are beautiful love stories, even with their tragic ending. </span></h5>
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Among petals of cempasúchil flower, tamales, tequila, papel picado, candles and copal, the altar of the dead is built as a tribute to the loved ones that inhabit the world of the dead, but also as a way to heal the pain they cause the absences among the living. ? What almost nobody knows is the story that comes behind these beautiful flowers and is that the legend behind this endemic flower of Mexico is announced in the same name. “Cempasúchil” is composed of the Nahuatl words: cempohualli, which means “twenty” and xóchitl which means “flower”. The “twenty petal flower” has bright yellow and orange colors that color the fields of Puebla, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Oaxaca and San Luis Potosí after the rainy season. </span></h5>
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Like any great love story in the mythologies of the world, the legend of the cempasuchil flower is tinged with the loss and pain of death. It is said that Xóchitl and Huitzilin were two children who used to play together in the country. As they grew, a love that surpassed the earthly was born among them. Each afternoon, they climbed the mountain to bring flowers to Tonatiuh, the Sun god; who sent his warm embrace and blessed the couple. Between the rays, Xóchitl and Huitzilin swore to love each other forever.</span></h5>
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Unfortunately, when Huitzilin was old enough he was called to fight in the war and defend his people. Soon news arrived that the young man had been wounded in the battle and, finally, had died. Xochitl could not contain his pain; He ran to the top of the mountain and implored Tonatiuh to reunite her forever with Huitzilin. The god was moved and sent a ray of fulminating sun that Xóchitl turned into a flower of intense color, such as the light that had bathed.</span></h5>
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The flower remained closed, until one day it flew over a curious hummingbird. The bird landed in the center of the flower and it opened immediately, displaying 20 petals and a strong unmistakable scent. It was the young people who finally joined together forever, for as long as the flower of cempasúchil and the hummingbirds exist, the love of Xóchitl and Huitzilin will live.</span></h5>
<h5><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Thanks to the smell of the petals of the cempasúchil flower that is placed on the altars, the spirits can guide themselves and find their way to the space that will receive them with their favorite drinks and foods; and, of course, with the immense love of their relatives and loved ones who miss them. Undoubtedly, the iconic cempasúchil flower is one of the symbols of the Mexican identity and its traditions; It not only represents a habit that remains alive in our days, but carries a burden of our pre-Hispanic past and our roots.</span></h5>
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<h5 style="text-align: center;"><em> <a href="https://beautifulmesoamerica.com/cempasuchil-legend/">https://beautifulmesoamerica.com/cempasuchil-legend/</a></em></h5>