Yessy Blue's Blog - Posts Tagged "brujo"
How to become a bad ass bruja? #TheOldWays
Brujeria, a Spanish word for witchcraft has deep roots all across Latin American and even the Caribbean. My long-time subscribers know that I spent a good amount of time and Mexico, and thus had the opportunity and privilege of exploring their amazing culture. In Mexico, there is magic in the air. However, very few people understand that underneath all the mysticism and mystery, they are destressed spirits, demons that seek to haunt and possess the people that live there. As a result of this, many people seek the help and services of a bruja to cast them out. So, in this video, we’re going to talk about Brujeria, and the making of a bruja, while analyzing The Old Ways movie on Netflix.
Understanding the Old Ways Movie
I spoke about the importance of ancestor worship in my other video, What His House taught me about removing a curse. In that video, I explained that there are many distressed refugees, who lost their homelands and are looking for a new place to call home. I also explained that colonization, civil wars, and genocides tore apart many countries in Africa. As a result, people are displaced and so are the spirits that we once called our ancestors. However, what I have yet to touch on, is the migration of Africans from Africa to the New World, in particularly Latin America.
Old Ways and the Ability to work Witchcraft
The movie The Old Ways, takes place in an old rural town, right in the outskirts of Vera Cruz. I supposed that the director, Christopher Alender understood the sacred power of some of the healing places and healing ruins in Vera Cruz Mexico. The main character, Cristina Lopez, played by Bigitte Kali Canales, was born there. And as a child, she witnessed her mother being possessed by some type of demon. A bruja is called, but the exorcism goes terribly wrong. The demon, in its efforts to escape, jumps into Cristina’s body. As a result, Cristina befalls a great deal of bad luck. She is separated from her family, placed to live in foster care, and seems to have an ongoing drug addiction.
Old Ways and Working with Ancestral Spirits
Now, what the movie does not delve into, is the background of Vera Cruz. Vera Cruz was actually a slave port, where millions of African slaves were transported. At one point of time, during Spanish rule, the number of slaves in Vera Cruz outnumbered Spanish. Also, the African Slaves, much like in the United States brought much of their culture and their knowledge of healing medicines. The brought to the America’s what many people would consider brujeria in the Latin Worlds. Now, it’s important to understand that the indigenous people of Mexico also had a vast amount of knowledge. Over time, they realized that if they worked together, they could over throw Spanish rule. So like in the United States and throughout the Caribbean, there was a synchronization of religions. Certain African gods were associated with Catholic Saints. And in Mexico, certain indigenous gods were assimilated into Catholicism.
The Old Ways and the ability to work with spirits
We understand that throughout the Caribbean and in some places in the United States, the African slaves actually met in secret to conduct their forbidden rituals. Many of these rituals were to converse with the ancestors, or to heal, or some cases, to even seek revenge. Sadly, the Spanish ruling class caught wind of these secret gatherings and then began their own smear campaign. Those who were caught worshiping old gods were deemed evil, whipped, and even burned. As you can see, these campaigns were incredibly powerful, because the stigma of being a witch is still prudent today. As result of this, a lot of people forgot about their old gods. And they lost contact with their ancestors. This posed to be a problem, because the spirits that the Africans brought to the Americas and the spirits that were already inhabiting the land, were still there. To make matters worse, many indigenous people and Africans alike would work with baneful spirits, thus making them stronger. They did this out of desperation, or to retaliate against a cruel master and unjust system. And so what you have is this huge surplus of demons, looking for a host. We saw this same concept play out in His House.
Understanding the types of spirits
However, in The Old Ways, it plays out differently. Cristina is a beautiful Latina who has worked hard to distance herself from her roots. She barely speaks Spanish, and she never even came to visit her family. Until, she is drawn back to the mystical ruins called La Boca. It is later in the movie where Cristina confides to her cousin Miranda, and she tells her that she came back to La Boca to die. Cristina is locked up and is forced to endure numerous and extremely painful exorcisms, performed by a witch who simply goes by the name of Luz. Cristina, hallucinates, while going through withdrawals, and sees the demon who had possessed her. It is an old spirit known as Postehki. It feeds on pain, and lures it victims back to Vera Cruz, in the ruins of La Boca so that it can devour their souls.
Understanding baneful magic
People fail to understand how destructive it is to destroy people’s cultures, religions, and their gods. When colonizers do this, they are essentially breaking those people down. And as a result, they become much like Cristina, a broken soul. And also like Cristina, broken people become very susceptible to baneful spirits. And the more pain that a person suffers through, the more the more baneful spirits they attract. So in the movie, The Old Ways, Cristina realizes that she has this demon inside of her. She thus decides to surrender and let the old bruja do her work. Luz is successful for the most part, exorcising the demon from Cristina. Only Luz, the bruja needed to sacrifice herself in the process.
Getting rid of evil spirits
In the next scene, we see that the baneful spirit Postehki, as jumped from Cristina to Miranda and thus finding a new host. Cristina doesn’t know what to do, since the bruja is dead and was the last person alive who could perform the rituals. This is when Cristina decides that she was always destined to become a bruja, and her calling was the exorcise spirits from within herself and from others. Cristina is successful. And thus the story ends with Cristina telling her boss Carson that he has a demon inside of him. She says that she’s not very good at getting them out, but with practice, she’s getting better.
The real meaning behind the word Bruja
Brujeria is all about being able to control spirits. This is why a lot of bruja are associated with death. Many of them have battled their own spirits. And like Cristina, overcame their demons, and thus are powerful enough to exorcise demons from others. While sadly, some are like Cristina’s mother, succumbing to the pain and allowing these baneful spirits to consume her soul. Others overcome their demons and become stronger as a result. Sadly, many people think that becoming a bruja is all about reading books, becoming one with nature, and studying spells. In truth, becoming a bad ass bruja is all about mastering the darkness inside or yourself as well as others. So, if you want to become a bad ass bruja, you have to master shadow work. I go over shadow work in various details in my other videos. But here, suffice it to say, that you must face the demons inside of you that are prohibiting your growth.
Becoming a bad ass bruja is all about mastering the darkness inside or yourself as well as others. This will give you the strength and the ability to control spirits.
https://youtu.be/ba7FCfg5wZ8
http://yessyblue.com/bruja/
Understanding the Old Ways Movie
I spoke about the importance of ancestor worship in my other video, What His House taught me about removing a curse. In that video, I explained that there are many distressed refugees, who lost their homelands and are looking for a new place to call home. I also explained that colonization, civil wars, and genocides tore apart many countries in Africa. As a result, people are displaced and so are the spirits that we once called our ancestors. However, what I have yet to touch on, is the migration of Africans from Africa to the New World, in particularly Latin America.
Old Ways and the Ability to work Witchcraft
The movie The Old Ways, takes place in an old rural town, right in the outskirts of Vera Cruz. I supposed that the director, Christopher Alender understood the sacred power of some of the healing places and healing ruins in Vera Cruz Mexico. The main character, Cristina Lopez, played by Bigitte Kali Canales, was born there. And as a child, she witnessed her mother being possessed by some type of demon. A bruja is called, but the exorcism goes terribly wrong. The demon, in its efforts to escape, jumps into Cristina’s body. As a result, Cristina befalls a great deal of bad luck. She is separated from her family, placed to live in foster care, and seems to have an ongoing drug addiction.
Old Ways and Working with Ancestral Spirits
Now, what the movie does not delve into, is the background of Vera Cruz. Vera Cruz was actually a slave port, where millions of African slaves were transported. At one point of time, during Spanish rule, the number of slaves in Vera Cruz outnumbered Spanish. Also, the African Slaves, much like in the United States brought much of their culture and their knowledge of healing medicines. The brought to the America’s what many people would consider brujeria in the Latin Worlds. Now, it’s important to understand that the indigenous people of Mexico also had a vast amount of knowledge. Over time, they realized that if they worked together, they could over throw Spanish rule. So like in the United States and throughout the Caribbean, there was a synchronization of religions. Certain African gods were associated with Catholic Saints. And in Mexico, certain indigenous gods were assimilated into Catholicism.
The Old Ways and the ability to work with spirits
We understand that throughout the Caribbean and in some places in the United States, the African slaves actually met in secret to conduct their forbidden rituals. Many of these rituals were to converse with the ancestors, or to heal, or some cases, to even seek revenge. Sadly, the Spanish ruling class caught wind of these secret gatherings and then began their own smear campaign. Those who were caught worshiping old gods were deemed evil, whipped, and even burned. As you can see, these campaigns were incredibly powerful, because the stigma of being a witch is still prudent today. As result of this, a lot of people forgot about their old gods. And they lost contact with their ancestors. This posed to be a problem, because the spirits that the Africans brought to the Americas and the spirits that were already inhabiting the land, were still there. To make matters worse, many indigenous people and Africans alike would work with baneful spirits, thus making them stronger. They did this out of desperation, or to retaliate against a cruel master and unjust system. And so what you have is this huge surplus of demons, looking for a host. We saw this same concept play out in His House.
Understanding the types of spirits
However, in The Old Ways, it plays out differently. Cristina is a beautiful Latina who has worked hard to distance herself from her roots. She barely speaks Spanish, and she never even came to visit her family. Until, she is drawn back to the mystical ruins called La Boca. It is later in the movie where Cristina confides to her cousin Miranda, and she tells her that she came back to La Boca to die. Cristina is locked up and is forced to endure numerous and extremely painful exorcisms, performed by a witch who simply goes by the name of Luz. Cristina, hallucinates, while going through withdrawals, and sees the demon who had possessed her. It is an old spirit known as Postehki. It feeds on pain, and lures it victims back to Vera Cruz, in the ruins of La Boca so that it can devour their souls.
Understanding baneful magic
People fail to understand how destructive it is to destroy people’s cultures, religions, and their gods. When colonizers do this, they are essentially breaking those people down. And as a result, they become much like Cristina, a broken soul. And also like Cristina, broken people become very susceptible to baneful spirits. And the more pain that a person suffers through, the more the more baneful spirits they attract. So in the movie, The Old Ways, Cristina realizes that she has this demon inside of her. She thus decides to surrender and let the old bruja do her work. Luz is successful for the most part, exorcising the demon from Cristina. Only Luz, the bruja needed to sacrifice herself in the process.
Getting rid of evil spirits
In the next scene, we see that the baneful spirit Postehki, as jumped from Cristina to Miranda and thus finding a new host. Cristina doesn’t know what to do, since the bruja is dead and was the last person alive who could perform the rituals. This is when Cristina decides that she was always destined to become a bruja, and her calling was the exorcise spirits from within herself and from others. Cristina is successful. And thus the story ends with Cristina telling her boss Carson that he has a demon inside of him. She says that she’s not very good at getting them out, but with practice, she’s getting better.
The real meaning behind the word Bruja
Brujeria is all about being able to control spirits. This is why a lot of bruja are associated with death. Many of them have battled their own spirits. And like Cristina, overcame their demons, and thus are powerful enough to exorcise demons from others. While sadly, some are like Cristina’s mother, succumbing to the pain and allowing these baneful spirits to consume her soul. Others overcome their demons and become stronger as a result. Sadly, many people think that becoming a bruja is all about reading books, becoming one with nature, and studying spells. In truth, becoming a bad ass bruja is all about mastering the darkness inside or yourself as well as others. So, if you want to become a bad ass bruja, you have to master shadow work. I go over shadow work in various details in my other videos. But here, suffice it to say, that you must face the demons inside of you that are prohibiting your growth.
Becoming a bad ass bruja is all about mastering the darkness inside or yourself as well as others. This will give you the strength and the ability to control spirits.
https://youtu.be/ba7FCfg5wZ8
http://yessyblue.com/bruja/
