The witchcraft at the end of the 17th century: the case of "La Chuparratones" in Queretaro, Mexico

In this article, we analyze the characteristics of the witches from the New Spain, who in fact belonged to the “genre of witches from Spain”, unlike those of Mesoamerican tradition. Based on the record of the proceedings against Josefa Ramos on charges of sorcery and witchcraft, we study, on the one...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Canuto Castillo, Felipe, Serrano Sánchez, Ángel
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:México
Institución:UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA DE BAJA CALIFORNIA
Repositorio:Culturales
Idioma:español
OAI Identifier:oai:culturales.uabc.mx:article/629
Acceso en línea:https://culturales.uabc.mx/index.php/Culturales/article/view/629
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Colonial era, collective imagination, Inquisition, sorcery, witchcraft
Brujería, época colonial, hechicería, imaginario colectivo, Santo Oficio
Descripción
Sumario:In this article, we analyze the characteristics of the witches from the New Spain, who in fact belonged to the “genre of witches from Spain”, unlike those of Mesoamerican tradition. Based on the record of the proceedings against Josefa Ramos on charges of sorcery and witchcraft, we study, on the one hand, the representation of the witch in the colonial imaginary, which was a replica of the representation known in Europe; on the other, the status that acquired the person considered as such and the actions and supernatural powers that were attributed to her. Josefa Ramos’ story shows how the accused, at least at a discursive level, took the assigned roll and started to act as a witch; therefore, it is considered that as a result of the ideas inculcated by the friars, the accused of witchcraft began to reproduce similar realities to those registered in Europe.