Laura Davila - Mexican Sorcery: A Practical Guide to Brujeria de Rancho

The incredible magia of Laura Davila's book, Mexican Sorcery, doesn't come just from her meticulous research but also from decades of lived experience. In this no-holds-barred deep-dive into the landscape of Brujeria De Rancho, Laura guides us through important history, powerful spells, and necessary truths with clear and gentle honesty. Never before has there been a brujeria book written in English that contains so much heart and soul. This is the book that will change the magical community's understanding of our magia forever.

J. Allen Cross, author of American Brujeria

Laura Davila's work perfectly reflects the Brujeria de Rancho in Mexico, one that transcends borders despite her being born on this side of the river. Her book is powerful like cacti, full of magic like the night in the desert, and spicy like the chili that burns in the candles on Good Friday. Laura is a ranch witch by birth, heritage, and will, and an excellent exponent of real witchcraft in northern Mexico.

Paola Klug, author of Relatos de las Brujas Morenas and Grimorio de las Brujas Morenas

Thank you, Daphne la Hechicera, for providing an excellent book that offers accessible magical rites, and showcases the beauty and eclectic nature of Brujeria de Rancho. Along with her diverse magical recipes, she brilliantly interweaves tales, stories, and Mexican folklore. I loved this book!

Erika Buenaflor, MA, JD, author of Cleansing Rites of Curanderismo

Folk magic is about working with what you have where you are to get what you need (and sometimes, what you want). Laura Davila's book, MexicanSorcery, shows you all this and more while maintaining a salty, sincere sense of humor that makes it a rare find on magical bookshelves. Her discussion of Brujeria de Rancho, Mexican-rooted rural folk magic, is a frank and sharp-witted introduction to her practices in their cultural context. She emphasizes how much this magic is both woven into daily life through the use of powders and prayers, and how special it is in reaching into the spiritual realm to solve problems outside the reach of mortal hands. She invokes the spirit of Chavela Vargas early on, noting that Mexican folk magic is about a sense of identity and that its power derives from the many threads of Mexican history across time. Davila gives you everything, no holds barredfrom recipes for the capirotada dessert served at Eastertide to powerful polvos designed for use in the intense love-domination spells known as amarres. This is a book and an author who hold nothing back, and anyone attempting to learn about Mexican folk magic should be eager to learn from Davila's work.

Cory Thomas Hutcheson, author of New World Witchery

Laura Davila has written an outstanding book on my favorite subject: the tried-and-true sorcery born of necessity. Magic that, like love, transcends all time and space. The souls of the oppressed live in her every word. Their presence gives a bittersweet weight to her words without weighing them down. This book is about magic, but, most of all, it is about resilience and family and the ties that bind us in eternity. There are only a handful of books I have read that permanently reside in my heart. Mexican Sorcery by Laura Davila is now one of them.

Mary-Grace Fahrun, author of Italian Folk Magic

Laura Davila manages to take brujeria, a rarely publicized topic, and make it both easily digestible, as well as detailed. Many of the workings mentioned in this book I remember seeing my abuela do growing up, although she didn't know much about where they came from. Even today if you asked her about it, she couldn't tell you why she did them, it just simply was. MexicanSorcery touches on topics of Mexican folk magic that many people, including myself, have questions about but don't know where to look. For anyone interested in Mexican folk magic, this book will become a staple.

Robyn Valentine, creator of Tired Witch, author of Magickal Tarot

A meticulously researched guide for the seeker of Mexican folk magic, Laura Davila's Mexican Sorcery explores the folk Catholic aspects of this magia (magic) from a perspective grounded in history and founded on authentic practice. With its practical approach to Brujeria de Rancho, Mexican Sorcery is a valuable resource for any modern practitioner.

Alexis A. Arredondo and Eric J. Labrado of City Alchemist, authors of Magia Magia and Blood of Brujeria

Laura Davila presents the authentic magic of our cultura in an authentic way approachable to both experienced workers of Mexican magic as well as non-Latinx folks wanting a better understanding of how we do things in the ranchos. Abundant in cultural history, Davila sheds light on this extremely effective yet often overlooked magic of our Mexican culture. Encompassing health, wealth, love, and more, Davila reveals and gives cultural insight into how the pragmatic magic of our rural Mexico can be authentically adapted by anyone who truly intends to learn its secrets.

Toms Prower, author of La Santa Muerte

This edition first published in 2023 by Weiser Books, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, llc

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

Copyright 2023 by Laura Davila

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, llc. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-57863-781-2

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request.

Cover design by Sky Peck Design

Interior photos by Laura Davila

Interior by Steve Amarillo / Urban Design llc

Typeset in Bely and Vintage Whiskey

Printed in the United States of America

IBI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book contains advice and information relating to herbs and is not meant to diagnose, treat, or prescribe. It should be used to supplement, not replace, the advice of your physician or other trained healthcare practitioner. If you know or suspect you have a medical condition, are experiencing physical symptoms, or if you feel unwell, seek your physician's advice before embarking on any medical program or treatment. Some of the substances discussed in this book can be dangerous or even lethal if mishandled or ingested in sufficient quantities. Extreme caution is advised in their handling and use. Readers are also cautioned to follow all instructions carefully and accurately for safety and the best effect. Readers using the information in this book do so entirely at their own risk, and the author and publisher accept no liability if adverse effects are caused.

To all the mothers, grandmothers, and caregivers; the ones who dreamed us into being; the ones who have kept traditions, rituals, faith, and Mexican magic alive and who keep nurturing our culture and our souls; the ones still guiding us and protecting us, some of them still weaving their magic here on earth; others like mine from another realm; to your grandmothers, the ones like me who had to emigrate to give their kids a better life, the ones who were silenced, the ones who were not able to visit Mexico again due their immigration status, those who left part of their souls over there; to the ones who had to embrace a new language and a lot of times couldn't find the words to transmit the knowledge; to the others that we didn't get to know but are deeply rooted on our collective whispering like the wind so we do not forget and keep maintaining Mexican magic alive.