Different Forms of Witchcraft in
Latin America 

By Alexis Soria

In Latin America, numerous trials and testimonies involving witchcraft (Brujeria), sorcery (hechiceria), and divination through pacts with the devil were encountered by the Inquisition (Chuchiak, 293). Cases presented to the Inquisition involved various forms of magic, such as hydromancy (using water), pyromancy (using fire), aeromancy (using air), as well as the use of herbs and bones (Chuchiak, 293). Many of these cases primarily involved women from different social classes practicing love and sexual magic to attract, control, or sometimes harm men, often to escape abusive relationships. The Inquisition investigated and prosecuted individuals suspected of engaging in these practices, which were deemed heretical or contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church (Chuchiak, 293). Accusations of witchcraft often originated from interpersonal conflicts, jealousy, or misunderstandings of the practice.

Drawing from my primary source, The Inquisition in New Spain, 1536-1820, I will dive deeper into each case and the magical practices involved. 

Armenta purportedly suggested blowing dirt on her naked body to achieve this. Armenta boldly declared that she was not afraid of God and that He could not harm her (Chuchiak, 294). Perez also accused her of immoral acts, including having sex with two brothers and her cousin. Consequently, Armenta faced severe consequences from the Inquisition. To shame her, they made her wear a hat, symbolizing her crimes in front of everyone. They attempted to compel her to repent by teaching her prayers like "El Padre Nuestro," but Armenta refused. This resulted in her imprisonment and eventual banishment for her misconduct. Armenta's story illustrates how individuals in the past were accused of actions they may not have committed and were harshly punished for them, even if they refused to admit wrongdoing.

Additionally, Calderon faced accusations of casting spells to locate hidden treasures and rendering himself invisible for secretive travels between kingdoms (Chuchiak, 301). Moreover, rumors swirled about Calderon's superstitious inclinations, with whispers suggesting he wielded power over illness through his forbidden books of hearsay (Chuchiak, 300). Juan Báeza's testimony further linked Calderon to the discovery of Aztec treasures in Oaxaca, with Calderon attributing his knowledge of the Black Arts to a purported six-year stay in Italy, where he claimed to have interacted with demons who revealed the locations of hidden treasures (Chuchiak, 300). Despite Calderon's denial of these allegations during his prosecution by the Inquisition, the discovery of incriminating books was sufficient to seal his fate (Chuchiak, 301). Ultimately, Pedro Ruiz Calderon found himself accused of delving into occult practices to amass wealth and power, facing persecution by the Inquisition based on testimonies and evidence presented against him.

Gendered Perspective of Witchcraft

By Vienna Copado

Why Consider Gender When Examining Witchcraft

The study of witchcraft is influenced by a wide array of scholarship capturing various associations of witchcraft with gender. For further accuracy on the societal impacts, the analysis of witchcraft requires the interpretation of the cultural connections with the gendered outlook toward witchcraft.[1] With the generalization of female gender toward witchcraft, a false interpretation rises for the past historical lives of the individuals within the period.[2] There is a failure in recognizing how patriarchy remained a consistent factor within the dictation of social power, yet also noticing how not all men wielded the same advantage of power.[3] Yet, patriarchal power defined which individuals were labeled as witches. Hence, patriarchy was a crucial factor against men and women accused of witchcraft possession. The characterization of witchcraft as a sole female realm enacts a restricted perspective within understanding how witchcraft is not a gendered practice, but rather involved the participation of both women and men.

Gendered Duality of Witchcraft

The initial association of witchcraft as a gender-related practice derives from the societal narrative of male control and female subordination.[4] As witchcraft is heavily associated as a practice of women, there is no single explanation for supporting why women are directly tied with the practice of witchcraft. In questioning how witchcraft became gendered, Willem de Blécourt contends the difficulty of not associating witchcraft with gender connects in part to how all of society is regulated by gendered standards.[5] Practitioners of witchcraft require a reformed view beyond gender stereotypes, and instead public recognition must understand both men and women were capable of witchcraft.[6] Women were not the only individuals connected with evil, but so could male witches embody the corrupt desire for power and sex as labeled for women.[7]

A larger question arises when regarding how women embody the potential image as a witch? The image of woman as a witch displaces the assumed role of wife or subordinate, thus creating a belief of women embodying the non-woman like role.[8] The considerable claims that solidified the accusations against women for witchcraft derived from male figures of authority, such as colonial priests and secular leaders.[9] Historian tame Herzig argues, within Europe women were more often associated with witchcraft because of the Malleus Maleficarum’s influence within claiming women were susceptible to heresy, and vulnerable to the temptation of the devil because of their weak minds and sexual lust.[10] In the connection with patriarchy, there were instances in which women labeled as witches were the individuals who countered gender roles, and defied male authority.[11] These women disrupted social order by challenging the socio-religious norms of male authority that were seen as crucial components for upholding moral code.[12] Yet, women also encountered the inter-social struggle of being labeled as a witch from another woman. Accusations of witchcraft relate to the struggle women faced within controlling the designated female space.[13] The intention of women who joined within adding toward accusations of witchcraft centered on extracting any deviants who threatened the male standard of female conformity.[14] The formation of stereotyping women within the role of witches derives from the concentrated patriarchal effort of limiting the sphere of limiting female agency and power.

Male witchcraft is heavily overlooked when observing the factors of who could embody a witch. Historian, Brian Levak states there is no limitation to include men within the characterization of witchcraft.[15] Male witchcraft did exist, however, but often characterized as less malevolent and infrequently prosecuted.[16] As women were associated with the social aspect of witchcraft, men were tied with the economic and judicial factors.[17] Interestingly, with the influence of Christian belief, a man could be also transformed into the image of a female servant of the devil. Further, men who were not directly accused of witchcraft were also labeled as witches through inheritance.[18] The practice of witchcraft was not limited to women, but also included the involvement of men, affirming how witchcraft is not a single gendered practice.

North America and Latin America’s Connection with the Devil and Magic

Within the Americas, Spanish inquisition records regarding witchcraft primarily dealt with the discussion of women and the involvement of sexual dynamics.[19] Connecting back to the belief of women as lustful beings, women acted as the ideal image of labeling witches as hypersexual beings. Women as witches were typically accused of malevolence (maleficium) while men were charged for heresy, demonstrating the imbalance of how women were perceived as greater threats.[20] The Spanish perpetuated the European belief of witches possessing a dependent and sexual relationship with the devil. For the Spanish, Indigenous witches used of herbs and potions for aiding sexual acts with the devil.[21]

Case Studies

Popular beliefs within a witch’s scope of magic related within the practice of love magic. These are a few examples demonstrating how women and men used magic within their lives.

Magdalena De la Mata[22]: A 50-year-old mestiza, who confessed she requested the assistance of an indigenous woman, Beatris, against mala vida (domestic violence) her husband imposed along with his tendency for affairs. Beatris recommended burying an egg pierced with straw and containing the hair of Magdalena’s husband within an area he urinated because the remedy was believed to prevent husbands from continuing love affairs. Practices of magic and remedies are reflections of how women retaliated against the behavior of their husbands.[23] As Magdalena sought out the assistance of a witch, she ultimately begged for God’s mercy and forgiveness from the tribunal.

Juana Sanchez[24]: Just as Magdalena attempted the use of magic to respond to her husband’s lack of fidelity, so did Juana Sanchez who sought the help of a witch for her marriage. To win back the heart of her husband, Juana was instructed in chewing blue corn into a paste and rubbing the paste onto the chest of her husband to win his love. Both Magdalena and Juana demonstrate how most women were sorting through marital conflicts to win back love or prevent abuse rather than causing unwarranted violence.  

Juan Manuel de Rosas[25]: In 1794, a farmer from Huehuetlán, claimed he formed a contract with the devil after he failed to marry the woman he desired. With the contract, Juan Manuel signed away his soul, and received a vision of the woman standing with the devil under a tree, to which Juan Manuel instantaneously desired beating her. Juan Manuel claimed the devil pressured him into attempting murder, but he refused, and later he confessed his wrongdoing of making a pact with the devil. The most interesting aspect of Juan Manuel’s narrative is how his pact with the Devil did not label him as a witch, when in comparison a woman would automatically be regarded as a witch.

What a Witch Should Represent

As the image of a witch consistently conjures up the image of a woman, perception of a witch requires an evolved outlook, one that supports how both women and men practiced witchcraft. The term ‘witch’ should not insinuate gender, but instead witch defines labeling the individuals who lacked the piety of rejecting evil and temptation.[26] If witches were connected with the sin of carnality and Satan’s will, then so must men be included within the characterization of witches.[27]

Chocolate's Association with Witchcraft in Guatemala
By Emely Granados

During the Colonial Period

Witchcraft began to be associated with the beverage after European encounters, during the colonial period. Europeans took note of their experiences during the Spanish Conquest, noticing the indigenous practices and preparations of the chocolate drinks. As New World foods made their way to European societies, the cultural meanings associated with chocolate began to shift (Few 674). Not only was hot chocolate a beverage consumed daily and for special occasions but it was noted that chocolate caliente was now being used for healing and sexual purposes. Since women were most known for preparing chocolate for their families compared to men, chocolate caliente began to be associated with female social disorder (Few 678). Authorities accused "disorderly" women of taking advantage of their role as women, preparing food to assert power and control the lives of their husbands. This claim was mainly aimed at indigenous and African women. 

Nanny of the Maroons, a pioneering leader of the Windward Maroons in Jamaica, played a pivotal role in their struggle for autonomy against British oppression. The term “maroons” referred to people who escaped slavery to create independent groups and communities on the outskirts of slave societies. Nanny had escaped slavery with her brother Kojo, leader of the Leeward Maroons. Nanny had orchestrated fierce resistance, forcing the British to grant Maroons autonomy in 1738, 1739, and 1796. Recognized as a Jamaican National Hero, Nanny's legacy was in present-day Moore Town, Jamaica, previously known as New Nanny Town, commemorated annually on Nanny Day. Her leadership, rooted in natural and supernatural abilities, had defied colonial attempts to diminish her, exemplifying resilience and empowerment in the face of oppression. Maroons, who continued to pass down her stories, called her Grandy Nanny, a “great scientist” and the mother of all Maroons. “Scientist,” according to Jenny Sharpe (2003, p. 3), was in reference to Nanny’s abilities to communicate with dead ancestors to heal the sick and influence the outcome of events. 

The colonial ideology that sought to barbarize African women had informed the descriptions of her in the British colonial record as an “old hagg” or an “obeah woman” (Thicknesse and Thomas, quoted in Brathwaite 1994). In colonial discourse, these stories had sought to prove Nanny’s diabolical use of obeah, a British term for West African-based witchcraft. Maroons had described this 'sorcery' as Nanny’s oracle-like wisdom and abilities. These Maroon stories had revealed Nanny as an astoundingly gifted leader of her people, sometimes magically saving them from certain death. Three stories had been transposed from the oral tradition and published in the Daily Gleaner by the Maroon Colonel C. L. G. Harris in 1967. Although stories told of Nanny by the Maroons had tended to be exaggerated, some had been so gruesome that she must've indeed "held some extraordinary powers" (Harris). 

In the story of Nanny’s pumpkin seeds, the First Maroon War had been nearing an end, and Nanny’s people, besieged by the British, had been starving. Under the direction of a divinely inspired dream, Nanny had found three pumpkin seeds in her pocket. Planting them on what would become known as Pumpkin Hill, they had produced miraculous fruit, a manna that had vined across the earth and fed the Maroons through the end of the war. 

In the legend of Nanny’s pot, a mysterious substance that had continually boiled without fire had been contained in a cauldron and placed on a narrow pathway. She was supposed to have kept a huge cauldron, "Nanny's Pot," which had boiled without the aid of fire, into which she had lured unsuspecting British soldiers and Militiamen to a watery grave. British soldiers had been drawn to the boiling pot, and as they had peered into it, they had fallen from the edge of the precipice. In other versions, the pot had contained herbs whose aromatic effects had drugged the soldiers, and in turn, they had fallen into it. Only one soldier had been allowed to live so that he could return to his squadron and pass on the story of her pot. 

The story that had been most repeated in oral histories concerned Nanny’s ability to catch and fire bullets with her bum and hurl them back at her assailants in an effective manner—a tale that had not appeared in print until Thomas’s Untrodden Jamaica (1890). Historians had proposed that the portrayal of Nanny's buttocks as a source of power in colonial discourse had been intended to degrade her formidable authority and presence. Rather than acknowledging her holistic attributes, this narrow focus on a specific aspect of her physique reflected a form of symbolic harm inflicted upon Nanny by colonial narratives and Maroon oral traditions. These narratives had overlooked her significant leadership qualities, such as her abilities in guiding, nurturing, and healing. Conversely, some historians had argued that there had been empowering implications in women's bodily actions, positioning Nanny as a pioneer in the practice of Jamaican women asserting their authority through a deliberate emphasis on their bodies.

As a powerful Maroon leader and a Jamaican National Hero, Nanny has been celebrated in oral history, scholarship, and imaginative writing as the quintessential Jamaican woman and as the figure through which African traditions have been translated into a Caribbean setting. The powerful image of Nanny refusing to tolerate the British while nurturing her Maroon community had replaced the common image of the man in chains.

The Irish Butter Witch
By Paige Naumnik 

While persecution for witchcraft in Ireland was relatively mild compared to other places in Europe, there was one common enemy for those who had cattle or produced dairy products: the feared “butter-witch”. The fear of the butter witch remained prevalent in Irish society until the early 1900s. Because of the importance of livestock and local produce to Irish people, this issue was taken incredibly seriously, and various protective measures were put into place in order to prevent the wrath of the butter witch from consuming local farmers. 

Butter witches were considered nasty troublemakers who “prevented farmer's' milk being churned into butter and stole fresh milk from cows in the form of hares,” (Sneddon 6). This is different from other cultures' perceptions of witchcraft, as these witches did not seek to physically harm any living being, but instead sought to inconvenience those who wished to harvest dairy from cattle. Beyond that, these witches did not appear in a human form- they presented as hares, so rather than persecuting individual women within Irish villages, local irishmen targeted hares that were in the areas of groups of cattle. If a hare was spotted near a group of gathering cows, it was normally killed, because locals “suppose shee is some old trot, that would filch away their butter,” (Sneddon 6). Thus, many an innocent hare was slaughtered in order to prevent the infiltration of milk and butter production. Besides the physical ritual of shooting hares to avoid butter witches, other superstitious rituals took place, such as “the burning of thatch from the roof of the victim, the driving of cattle through the ashes or smoke of May-Eve bonfires, [and] the use of magical amulets (such as witch-stones),” (Sneddon 6) were all measures put into practice by local farmers and cattle owners. The importance of these rituals happening on May-Day and May-Eve was also a highlight, as that is when the butter witches were deemed most powerful. 

The concept of the butter witch traveled to neighboring places such as Scotland as well. An 18th century Scottish song called “The Dumfries-Shire Witches” includes the verses, “If milk yielded butter in quantity small,/ Or Hodge tumbled into the ditch,/ Or cattle grew sickly, or the children did squall,/ It was truly the work of some witch,” (The Young Free-mason's Assitant). This speaks to how quickly superstition can spread within a smaller area, even from country to country. While Scots and Gaelic-Irish peoples differ in many ways, the fear of their cattle being threatened seems to be a universally found fear. 

The butter witch struck fear into the hearts of all in Ireland and carried over into the grand nation of Scotland. This superstition not only reveals the version of witchcraft these people feared the most, but also just how important dairy products were to these areas. By understanding what truly worried different peoples and what they targeted to utilize magical or physical rituals against, modern day readers can understand what felt threatening to various societies before the 21st century. By assigning a reason for the shortage of products that were essential to everyday life to farmers and ordinary people, there was a source of comfort found by putting a name to the fear. Therefore, instead of selling or slaughtering cattle which seemed to no longer serve a purpose within making milk, cheese, and butter, people were made to beware the butter witch.

Examining the Connections Between the Oversexualization of Women in Witchcraft and Misogyny: Using Images From the Sixteenth Century 

By Camiah Small

In the modern day, it is safe to say that witches and witchcraft are extremely popular. Despite its dark history, witchcraft has managed to be rebranded and become a source of entertainment in the media. On social media apps, it is not uncommon to see tarot card readings pop up or formulas for love potions to be posted. Whether it is crystals or different manifestation methods, society has seemingly concluded its long-standing witch hunt. But what if, it was never about the practice of witchcraft, but rather the people that were accused of doing it?

Considering the imagery in each painting the sexual aspect of the images are clear. However, the artist's commitment to sexualizing the women featured can be more closely understood through content. For example, painters in the sixteenth century typically drew hair on women that was curlier, more puffy, and natural as a way to display them as promiscuous. These depictions may seem like small minor details, but they reveal a lot about how some women were viewed during this time period. 

So what does this have to do with Harry Potter? One could argue that the franchise helped mitigate some of the bias that comes with practicing witchcraft. The rebuttal: why is it that magic is digestible when a white man is shown practicing? This question opens up doors to discuss the complex layers that come with sexism and racism. But a short guess it's almost as if the trials and persecutions were never about the magic to begin with, but about controlling women. One could even push the conversation further to assume that when the people who have historically been in power come into contact with something that they don't understand fully, their first instinct is to discredit it. It could be far-fetched, but if humans believed magic was real, is it unrealistic to assume the existence of white supremacy in witchcraft?