Mexican Spirituality

Jacobo Grinberg nos sumerge en un viaje revelador hacia la esencia vibrante de la sabiduría ancestral de los chamanes y psicólogos autóctonos de México. A través de testimonios, anécdotas y reflexiones, Grinberg nos invita a explorar los antiguos conocimientos indígenas que han permanecido entretejidos en nuestras tradiciones, mitos y rituales.

Algunos nacen con estrella y otros estrellados. This dicho (saying) roughly translates to "Some are born with a star, while others are born starry." It refers to the Mexican belief that good luck is a matter of fate, something you are born with or not. Mexicans attribute their good or bad luck to a greater force, to God's will, even to the stars in the sky. Being born with a star is a blessing. While some gain their luck through fate, Laura Davila believes even more in faith, virtue, and purpose.

Many scholars have come to think of the European Christian mission to the Americas as an inevitable success. But in its early period it was very much on the brink of failure. In 1576, Indigenous Mexican communities suffered a catastrophic epidemic that took almost two million lives and simultaneously left the colonial church in ruins. In the crisis and its immediate aftermath, Spanish missionaries and surviving pueblos de indios held radically different visions for the future of Christianity in the Americas.

A modern Mexican bruja is a powerful person, one who reads the tarot and performs spellwork and rituals of devotion to their spirit guides and deities. Brujeria, which translates as witchcraft in Spanish, is a unique form of spirituality that blends core elements of Afro-Indigenous beliefs. Having originated in Mexico, brujeria is now practiced in Latinx communities across the world.

Santa Muerte (Holy Death or Saint Death) is considered to be the female personification of death. This powerful and mysterious folk saint provides blessings including safe passage to the afterlife. Hailed as a potent and powerful protector, she is also the patron saint of those who live on the fringes of society as well as those who face violence and death. Santa Muerte is a complete ritual guide to working with this famous - and infamous! - Mexican folk saint. It takes us beyond the sensational headlines to reveal the truth about why Santa Muerte is so beloved by so many.

This is the story of Santa Muerte, the so-called cult of crisis, a red-hot combo of a kermesse (Mexican carnival), Catholicism and New Age; a hedonist practice but involving bodily sacrifice too. It is an expression of economic, psychological and social forces, bigger than perhaps any of her acolytes suspect. This book looks at the folk saint and the manner in which her cult grew. You will learn about Santa Muerte like never before.

Discover all the different practices and beliefs of brujeria that make it so popular. Brujeria has been a worldwide phenomenon that has managed to change over the years. Mexican culture has always been greatly influenced by Latin American culture and traditions. It forms an integral part of what we know as Latin America. Brujeria's origins and its long-lasting impact has shaped Mexican society in more ways than one. From being a beacon of hope for women in society to carving out a niche for Latinos, brujeria has always been much more than just witchcraft.

American Brujeria is about the fascinating blend of American and Mexican folk magic currently used by those living in the US but whose roots are steeped in Mexican culture. This type of Mexican American folk magic, which the author calls “American brujeria”, features its own unique saints and spirits as well as familiar ones, such as the infamous Santa Muerte.

Esta es la historia de la Santa Muerte, culto de crisis; remix de catolicismo, kermesse y New Age; un culto hedonista pero también de sacrificio corporal; reflejo de fuerzas económicas, psicológicas y sociales más amplias de lo que tal vez ninguno de sus acólitos sospecha.

I believe the best way to describe the Mexican Martyrs, the Martyrs of Poland and Ireland is with the Spanish word for Martyr which is mártir. When you pronounce mártir in Spanish you hear the word tear. The Catholic Church in Mexico has been bought with blood and tears.

Mexican witchcraft, or brujeria, has long been an integral part of traditional Mexican culture that permeates all strata of social hierarchy, ethnicity, or level of education. "Brujeria de Rancho" refers to brujeria as it is practiced in the rural areas of Mexico. There, the brujos de Ranch offer their healing and divinatory powers, acting as advisors, and even meting out justice through the use of cursing and hexing for people who are often not able to pay lawyers' fees.

We live in a world of extreme polarization. We are constantly bombarded with opinions and arguments. As a result, church culture can become segregated from the rest of the world. But Jesus walked on both sides of the dividing line. He spoke with religious people, and he ate with town rejects. What if God's truth is somewhere between the division?

At a time in antiquity when most of Europe was covered with forests and wandering tribes, Mexico had already developed complex civilizations, beginning with the Olmecs and followed by the Maya, a civilization with advanced knowledge of medicine, engineering and astronomy. The Maya calculated the precession of the equinoxes and cycles of the Pleiades, on which they based their year, since they believed they had come from that constellation.

The winners of the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting tell the astonishing story of Mary Clarke. At the age of 50, Clarke left her comfortable life in suburban Los Angeles to follow a spiritual calling to care for the prisoners in one of Mexico's most notorious jails. She actually moved into a cell to live among drug kingpins and petty thieves. She has led many of them through profound spiritual transformations in which they turned away from their lives of crime, and she has deeply touched the lives of all who have witnessed the depth of her compassion.