The Mexican Witch Lifestyle: Brujeria Spells, Tarot, and Crystal Magic

In The Mexican Witch Lifestyle, Valeria Ruelas shares spellwork, herbalism, crystal work, tarot, astrology, and other esoteric practices to embody the Mexican “brujeria” way of living, rooted in nature, intuition, and invocation of ancestral knowledge. Ruelas identifies as a gay Chicana/indigenous “bruja/brujx,” denoting the gender-expansive intention of the term. The book defines essential verbiage used in brujeria in an easily understandable way for those who are new to the practices. Lists and definitions demystify the various applications of the craft, utilizing Ruelas’ acquired knowledge from years of study and practice, which prioritize preserving one’s safety and security.

As a student of mythology, I was fascinated by Ruelas’ discussion of Santa Muerte as a precolonial LGBTQIA+ icon, with both feminine and masculine energy that manifests in her/their presence and symbolism in Mexican brujeria. It was enlightening to understand how the persistence of beliefs in Santa Muerte underscores the indigenous perspective about the duality of death and pre-Columbian views of the afterlife.

My interest in the book comes from my fledgling curiosity about indigenous and ancestral wisdom. On my lifelong journey of decolonization, I have come to understand the benefits of learning about forgotten practices and buried knowledge. Approaching the book from outside the Mexican indigenous tradition, I appreciated Ruelas’ caution against cultural appropriation.