Bruja

(BREW-ha)

Variations: Bruja vampyre, Bruxa, Bruxae, Bruxas, Cucubuth, Jorguinas, Xorguinae

In Spain there is a living VAMPIRIC WITCH known as a bruja ("witch"). By day she is a beautiful woman living an ordinary life (see LIVING VAMPIRE), but by night, through the use of her magic, she hunts for children and lonely travelers to attack and drain of blood. The bruja is most powerful between the hours of midnight and 2

A. M. She also regularly meets with others of her kind every Tuesday and Friday at a predetermined crossroad. Once gathered together, they will worship the devil and develop their various evil powers such as use of the evil eye ("mal occhio") and shape-shifting into various animals like ants, doves, ducks, geese, and rats.

Before the introduction of Christianity to Portugal, the bruja could be warded off with iron. Keeping some nails under a child's bed or a pair of scissors in a pocket was protection enough. After the arrival of Christianity, talismans of protection against the evil eye could be purchased. There were also various incantations that could be recited as well, but the simplest means of protection was to regularly consume GARLIC. Some folks even went as far as to sew GARLIC into their clothes.

Should a child actually survive an attack from a bruja, the mother must boil the infant's clothes and jab them with sharp iron instruments. By doing so, she is actually inflicting harm upon the witch, ensuring that she will leave her child alone, but the retaliatory assault will not kill her. There is no known method of destruction for a bruja.

There are a few regional bits of lore that tiethe bruja with lycanthropy and the demonic SUCCUBUS, but that is most likely due to the witch's shape-changing ability and her beauty.

If the witch is a male, then it is called a brujo.Like his female counterpart, he can cause the evil eye but shape-shifts into a barn owl, cat, coyote, or turkey. He is also something of a supernatural matchmaker, causing one person to fall madly in love with any other. Only by having a priest offer up prayers and masses can a victim of a brujo be saved.

Source: Bryant, Handbook of Death, 99; Kanellos, Handbook of Hispanic Cultures, 228; Minnis, Chile, 276 ­77; Ramos, The Aswang Syncrasy, 5; Shoumatoff, Legends of the American Desert, 234