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Internet Book of Shadows, (Various Authors), [1999], at sacred-texts.com
Brujeria. For many, it is nothing more than the Spanish word for witchcraft. But for a growing number of North Americans, Brujeria is something much more complex--it is a religion, not unlike Wicca.
I would like to volunteer to contribute some articles to the archive on this Pagan path. Myself, I am what is known as the Roja, or Red Priestess, of a temple here in Philadelphia. One does not need to be of Hispanic/Latin descent to celebrate Brujeria--I am not.
As a sample, allow me to offer you what is known as the Rule of the Brujo. Much of Brujeria is done in Spanish or in the native language of Nahuatl, but much is being brought into English.
"The one who made the Rule known is not known, but from this person the Rule spread unto the Olmecs, unto the Toltecs, unto the Aztecs, and ultimately the Rule has come down to us. That there is one piece of the rule for every full moon in the solar year is a certainty.
The universe is a living thing (which is an idea brought into modern Brujeria from Aztec cosmology), and Brujeria is a method of interacting with the living energy of the universe.
A brujo/bruja practices what could be termed magic by attuning himself/herself to this living energy.
This living energy can seize a brujo/bruja at any time, or through the concentrated work of an impromptu and inspired ritual.
An individual enters Brujeria through a personal encounter with the living energy.
Once a brujo, always a brujo. It is something that cannot be shaken off.
Brujos are born and cannot be made, even if they do not come to realize their place in Brujeria until much later in life.
A brujo has no ethical laws or limits to restrict his magic. However, he must also assume complete responsability for his actions and be willing to submit to the consequences.
'A dead brujo is more powerful and more dangerous than a living brujo.' What exactly this means is up for interpretation.
As Mexican Presidente Beinito Juarez said, "Respect for the rights of others is peace."
Brujos are free to use their abilities for non-brujos. Example situations are healing, spiritual counselling, and the creation of hechizos ("spellwork").
Brujeria is a community bound together by the living energy of the universe, and all brujos are brothers and sisters. A brujo is pledged to assist a fellow brujo wherever and whenever needed.
Some of what makes Brujeria can be revealed to non-brujos but most of Brujeria must remain between brujos alone.
Brujeria is learned from brujo to brujo, and through interaction with the living energy."
I hope I can make a contribution that will enhance the archive.
AmberJaguar