Brujería (broo-heh-REE-ah) is the Spanish word for witchcraft, and today it's used for the many folk magick and spiritual practices of Latin America and Latin American communities in the United States. These practices mix Indigenous, African and Spanish Catholic traditions, and they look different in every country, region and family.
Quick answer: what is brujería? It isn't one religion with a set of rules. It's an umbrella word for ancestral, often family-taught practices like herbal healing, spiritual cleansings, prayer to saints, divination and ancestor veneration. A woman who practices is a bruja, a man a brujo. Many people who do this work prefer other names, such as curandera (healer) or yerbera (herbalist).
Like hoodoo, brujería is rooted in the history and identity of specific peoples. This article explains it with respect: where it comes from, what practitioners do, and how it differs from related traditions. It doesn't teach brujería rituals. If it calls to you, the best teachers are Latin American practitioners and elders.
What Does Brujería Mean?
The word comes from bruja (witch). For centuries it was a frightening, negative label. Spanish colonizers and the Catholic Church used it for Indigenous and African spiritual practices they wanted to stamp out, and in many families "brujería" still means harmful magick or the evil eye. That's why plenty of healers and spiritual workers would never call themselves brujas.
In recent years, many young Latinas, Latinos and Latinx people, especially in the United States, have started reclaiming the word. For them, being a bruja means honoring grandmothers' remedies, ancestral wisdom and Indigenous and African roots that colonization tried to erase.
A Brief History of Brujería in Latin America
Before the Spanish and Portuguese arrived in the late 1400s and 1500s, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas had rich spiritual lives: healers, diviners, sacred plants, offerings and deep relationships with the land and the dead. Europeans saw much of this as idolatry or witchcraft.
The Spanish Inquisition, founded in Spain in 1478, set up tribunals in the Americas in the 1500s and 1600s, including in Mexico City and Lima. Accusations of witchcraft and superstition were part of how colonial authorities tried to control people's beliefs. This French magazine illustration from 1874 shows how fear of witchcraft in Mexico lasted long after colonial times.
At the same time, the transatlantic slave trade brought millions of Africans to the Americas, especially to the Caribbean and Brazil. Indigenous peoples, like the Taíno of the Caribbean, and enslaved Africans carried on their traditions however they could. Often they did it in secret, behind the faces of Catholic saints. Over generations, these influences blended with Spanish folk Catholicism and became the many living traditions we now group under the word brujería.
What Do Brujas Do? Common Practices
Because brujería is so varied, no two practitioners work exactly alike. Many learned from a mother or grandmother; others have a mentor. Here are some of the practices people most often connect with it. We describe them so you can understand the tradition, not as instructions to copy.
Ancestor Veneration
Honoring the dead is at the heart of many Latin American traditions. The best-known example is Mexico's Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 1 and 2, when families build ofrendas (altars) with photos, marigolds, candles, sugar skulls and the favorite foods of their loved ones, and visit and decorate their graves. It blends Indigenous Mexican traditions with the Catholic All Saints' and All Souls' Days.
Many Wiccans feel a kinship here, since Samhain falls at the same time of year and also honors the dead. But Día de Muertos is its own cultural celebration, not a version of Samhain. If you'd like to honor your own beloved dead, our guide to honoring your ancestors offers ways that fit your own heritage. Many brujas also keep a home altar for their ancestors and spirit guides all year round.
Healing, Herbs and Limpias
Healing has always been a huge part of these traditions. Curanderismo, the folk healing tradition of Mexico and the Mexican American Southwest, includes curanderas (healers), yerberas (herbalists) and parteras (midwives). A well-known practice is the limpia, a spiritual cleansing that may use herbs, smoke, prayer or an egg passed over the body. Not every curandera considers herself a bruja, and many see their healing as a gift from God.
Chocolate and cacao, sacred in Mesoamerica long before the Spanish arrived, also show up in the history of these traditions. Colonial Inquisition records describe women accused of using chocolate in love magick. If you're interested in cleansing within your own path, see our guide to spiritual cleansing.
Divination
People have long gone to brujas and healers for clarity about love, health and money. Some are known for dreams, visions or a strong sixth sense. Today many use tarot or Spanish-suited cards, and others read eggs, candle flames or coffee grounds. If you'd like to build your own divination skills, our tarot course is a gentle place to start.
Prayer, Saints and Santa Muerte
Catholic prayer, candles and saints are part of many brujas' practice. One figure you'll often see is Santa Muerte (Holy Death), a folk saint pictured as a robed skeleton, often holding a scythe and a globe. Her devotion has grown fast in Mexico and the United States in recent decades. Devotees, many of them people on the margins of society, ask her for protection, healing and help in hard times, and affectionately call her names like La Flaca ("the Skinny One"). The Catholic Church does not recognize her and has spoken against her devotion.
Santa Muerte devotion has its own customs and communities. If you're not part of it, it's best to learn about her from devotees rather than borrow her image for your own spells.
Brujería also doesn't follow Wiccan ethics. Ideas like the Wiccan Rede or the Threefold Law aren't part of it, and many practitioners believe protecting your family, even by turning harm back on someone who attacked you, can be justified. That's one more reason to see it as its own tradition rather than a branch of Wicca.
Is Santería the Same as Brujería?
No. Santería, also called Regla de Ocha or Lucumí, is a distinct Afro-Cuban religion. It grew from the religion of the Yoruba people of West Africa, brought to Cuba by enslaved Africans, who kept their faith alive partly by linking their deities to Catholic saints. It has initiated priests and priestesses (santeros and santeras), formal ceremonies, and a community structure. Practitioners usually don't call it brujería, and many find the comparison disrespectful.
Santería centers on the orishas, divine beings who each rule parts of nature and human life, along with the ancestors.
Yemayá (Yemọja) is the mother of the sea and of all living things, often linked in Cuba with the Virgin of Regla.
Oshún (Ọṣun) rules rivers, love, sweetness and beauty, and is linked with Our Lady of Charity, the patron saint of Cuba.
Ogún is the orisha of iron, work and warriors.
Santería altars may include saint statues, candles and offerings.
Initiates also keep consecrated stones called otanes, which house the orishas' presence.
These stones are kept in lidded vessels called soperas. They're given and consecrated through initiation, so they aren't something to collect or make on your own. Santería is a closed, initiatory religion: the way in is through a house (ilé) and a godparent, not through books or online spells.
Brujería, Curanderismo, Santería and Wicca Compared
| Brujería | Curanderismo | Santería (Lucumí) | Wicca | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Umbrella term for Latin American folk magick and spiritual practices | Folk healing tradition | Afro-Cuban religion | Modern Pagan religion of witchcraft |
| Roots | Indigenous, African and Spanish Catholic | Indigenous Mexican, Spanish and Catholic | Yoruba religion and Catholicism in Cuba | England, mid-20th century, drawing on European folklore |
| How people learn | Family, mentors, community | Family, apprenticeship, a calling | Initiation in a religious house | Books, courses, covens or solitary study |
| Common practices | Ancestor altars, limpias, prayer, candles, divination | Herbal remedies, limpias, midwifery, prayer | Ceremonies, divination, offerings to the orishas | Sabbats, esbats, spells, the elements |
| Open to everyone? | Debated; learn from Latin American practitioners | Learned from healers in the community | Closed: requires initiation | Generally open |
How to Learn About Brujería Respectfully
Whether brujería is "open" is a real conversation. Because it's a broad label for family and community traditions, many practitioners see it as tied to Latin American heritage and history. Some are happy to share their knowledge; others ask outsiders to appreciate it from the outside. Initiatory religions like Santería are closed. Here's how to approach it with care:
- Start with your own roots. If you're Latin American, talk to your elders. Many families have remedies, prayers and customs that are brujería in all but name.
- Learn from Latin American practitioners. Read and listen to brujas, curanderas and scholars from these communities.
- Don't take initiatory practices. Orishas, otanes and religious ceremonies belong to initiates. Leave them to them.
- Respect devotions that aren't yours. Treat Santa Muerte, the saints and Día de Muertos ofrendas as sacred, not as aesthetic.
- Support the community. Buy from Latin American-owned botánicas and makers.
Wicca is open to everyone, and it has its own ways to honor the dead, heal with herbs and read the future. If you're exploring which path is right for you, our guide to types of witches and our article on whether all witches are Wiccan are good next steps.
Final Thoughts
Brujería is a living family of traditions shaped by Indigenous wisdom, African resilience and centuries of colonial history. It's healing, protection, prayer and remembrance, and it belongs first to the communities that kept it alive through persecution. The best way to honor it is to learn from those communities with humility and curiosity.
Did you grow up with any of these traditions in your family? We'd love to hear what your elders taught you.
Check out our other articles:
What Is Hoodoo?
Honoring Your Ancestors at Samhain
Types of Witches
Spiritual Cleansing
See All Articles
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Brujería FAQs
What is the difference between a bruja and a curandera?
A curandera is a traditional healer who uses herbs, prayer and spiritual cleansings, and many see their work as a gift from God. Bruja means witch, and for a long time it was an insult implying harmful magick. Some people use both words for themselves, but many curanderas don't call themselves brujas.
Is brujería a religion?
No. Brujería is not one organized religion. It's a broad term for many folk magick and spiritual practices in Latin America, and most practitioners combine them with Catholic faith or another religion.
How do you pronounce brujería?
Brujería is pronounced broo-heh-REE-ah, with the stress on the "ri." Bruja is BROO-hah and brujo is BROO-hoh.
Is brujería a closed practice?
It's debated. Because brujería is tied to Latin American families, history and identity, many practitioners consider it culturally rooted and ask outsiders to learn respectfully rather than adopt it. Initiatory religions like Santería are closed and require initiation.
Is Santa Muerte part of brujería?
Some brujas pray to Santa Muerte, but her devotion is its own folk-Catholic movement, mostly in Mexico and the United States. Many devotees don't consider themselves brujas at all. It's best to learn about her from her devotees.
Is brujería the same as Wicca?
No. Wicca is a modern Pagan religion that began in England and honors the Goddess and God. Brujería grew out of Indigenous, African and Catholic traditions in Latin America and has its own beliefs, ethics and practices.
