PORTRAYALS IN FICTION

Scene from the film adaptation Bless Me, Ultima (2013) based on the 1972 Rudolfo Anaya novel of the same name
Scene from the film adaptation Bless Me, Ultima (2013) based on the 1972 Rudolfo Anaya novel of the same name

 

A famous portrayal of curanderismo in Mexican-American culture is that of Ultima, the curandera of the book Bless Me, Ultima (1972). The plot revolves around the mysterious curandera and whether or not she is using dark forces within her treatments to cure a family of a witch's curse (Pabón, 2005).

 

To rid the family of the curse she creates three dolls representing the three sisters, and as the dolls deteriorate and begin to decompose, so does the health of each corresponding sister (Pabón, 2005).

 

  

 

This leads the community to accuse Ultima of being a bruja or witch herself and a traditional test is devised to determine her status involving needles placed within a doorway that have been blessed by a priest. As in the novel, the effectiveness test is still a commonly held belief in Mexico (Pabón, 2005).

  

 " You all know the test for a bruja . . It is simple. Take the holy needles and pin them to the door. Put them in so they are crossed—and in the name of God!” he roared.     

“You all know that a witch cannot walk through a door so marked by the sign of Christ!”

 

        From Bless Me, Ultima (1972) by Rudolpho Anaya,  p. 133).  

 

 

 In traditional Mexican culture, “a bruja is someone to hate to the point of killing if at all possible” (Pabón, 2005). The large number of cuentos or stories surrounding witches and other folklore of the Southwestern region of the United States and Mexico suggests that belief in them has remained prevalent (Pabón, 2005).  

 

 

Resources Cited: 

 

Anaya, Rudolfo A. Bless Me, Ultima. Grand Central Pub., 1972.

 

Pabón, Melissa. "The Representation of Curanderismo in Selected Mexican American Works." Journal of                Hispanic Higher Education 6.3 (2007): 257-71. Web.