You will hear stories of witches and magic in our city here and there. People say they suffered from witchcraft and for that reason face bad luck and fail in many things, such as love, money, etc.
Brujos, as we call our witchdoctors and sorcerers, are seen as a solution to many things, such as finding a cure for susto—fright or shock, and other illnesses. They also bind people together in love, what we call amarres. Of course, there are many pretend sorcerers and witches who take advantage of people’s need.
Just as people talk about witchcraft, there are also stories about the witches, male and female, which can make you shiver in fright while some stories just make you laugh.
People say that there was once a town of some 200 people who lived all their days in peace and tranquility. Not far a way lived a lady who was know by the whole town for her kindness and concern.
Suddenly people began to get sick, beginning with that kind lady, as if the entire town had fallen under some kind of disgrace or curse. Everyone was very worried and tried many different ways of solving the problem but nothing worked. One person in the town said that the problem must be witchcraft or some curse that someone had placed on the town.
They said that if there had been a witch in the town she could be the person responsible for everything that was happening. Still many days went by with no improvement in the town’s situation.
The oldest person in the town said that witches heads could loosen themselves from the body and go flying. This would be the occasion when they could find out who it was who had placed this curse on the town.
Everyone was very frightened by the idea that someone’s head could just take off flying. As a result, they all locked themselves in their houses early when dark started coming so they would not run into any head flying by.
One morning someone started shouting in the patio of a house. The person who lived there should back, asking who it was, but the other person just kept shouting as if asking for help. Since it was very early, around 4 am, you could not see well. The person decided to go outside with a stick and see who was out there, maybe a thief or some such. There he found a head trapped in the rose bushes that the owner of the house had planted.
The head begged him, saying if it would help it get free them all the evils that had afflicted the town would disappear. He helped it get loose and it flew away and returned to its body. After a few days all the sicknesses and bad luck disappeared along with two women from the town.
Everyone wondered whom the head belonged to. They said that it was the good woman who was kind to everyone. She had not placed the curse but made it go away. She had disappeared because they all had found out that she was a witch.
