Mexican Sorcery: A Field Guide to the Fierce, the Faithful, and the Forgotten
Book: Mexican Sorcery: A Practical Guide to Brujeria de Rancho by Laura Davila (Daphne La Hechicera)
Publisher : Weiser Books (February 1, 2023)
Language : English
Paperback : 224 pages
A Gloam + Pestle Review of “Mexican Sorcery” by Laura Davila (Daphne La Hechicera)
There are books that teach and there are books that remember for you.
Mexican Sorcery: A Practical Guide to Brujeria de Rancho by Laura Davila doesn’t just explain—it resurrects. It breathes life into magic carved from clay floors, whispered between tortillas, and muttered through cracked church pews. This is spellcraft of the borderlands. Brujería with dirt under its nails and saints watching from the corner of the room.
And it is not here to ask for approval.
The Dedication That Says It All
“To the ones who feel oppressed, powerless, left out, the ones who live in fear due to their immigration situation, to our community, this is for you, thank you!” - Laura Davila
This isn’t a witchcraft book for the algorithm or for the aesthetic. This is for the ones left behind. For the undocumented, the underpaid, the disinherited. It is Brujería de Rancho—not polished mysticism, but a system of survival.
It is a spellbook for the silenced—and a war drum for those ready to reclaim.
Brujería Born from Struggle
Davila opens with clarity: Brujería de Rancho is a child of necessity. It rose where the state failed and the church exploited. It’s not elite sorcery. It’s working-class, roadside altar, prayer-in-your-teeth kind of power. It was never meant to be glamorous—it was meant to be effective.
She says it outright: Mexico’s social inequity is the mother of all brujos and brujas de rancho.
This isn’t magic that asks permission. It’s a fist raised and a candle lit at the same time.
Kitchen as Sanctuary, Spice as Spell
Chapter Two is its own grimoire. The Bruja’s Kitchen is where rice holds secrets, chile becomes exorcism, and chocolate is stirred for lust and joy.
Garlic, Rue, Piloncillo, and Salt are consecrated tools. Spells for abundance, fidelity, dominance, revenge—yes, revenge—are woven through familiar ingredients. And not as some theatrical provocation, but as ancestral responses to real-world harm.
It is a chapter that says: your abuela was a Witch—you just didn’t have the words for it yet.
Tools with Teeth
The section on amulets and talismans is a masterclass in symbolic sorcery. From the Borreguito de la Abundancia (Lucky Sheep) to the Azabache stone, every item hums with lived meaning.
These aren’t mass-produced charms—they’re power objects. Tied to land, lineage, and purpose.
The Tetragrammaton, the Ojo Turco, the Hamsa—each is given historical context and practical ritual, which is rare. Davila does not throw tools at you. She teaches you how to fix them.
Saints, Spirits, and Syncretism
If you were raised Catholic and now walk the crooked path, this book might crack you open.
Davila’s work with saints—Saint Expedite, Saint Hedwig, Saint Martin de Porres, and more—is both irreverent and reverent. These aren’t sanitized devotions. They are transactional relationships. Sacred barters. Miracles with conditions.
She does not separate the Church from the Craft. And in doing so, she invites you to reclaim both the sacred and the stolen.
Real Cleansings, Real Consequences
There’s a raw practicality to her sections on Limpias and home cleansings. This is not “sage your house” new-age-fluff—it’s sweep your soul, pray with Fabuloso, light the damn candle and mean it.
From doormats to Saint George’s sword over the door, this is folk protection at its fiercest. It blends the mystical with the mundane until you can’t tell where the scrub bucket ends and the exorcism begins.
Grave Dirt, Devil Pacts, and the Ghosts We Know
Yes, there is a whole chapter on cemeteries. On collecting dirt, on love spells at graves, on burying spells for revenge. She speaks of El Charro Negro and El Chamuco without sensationalism—just clarity. Just truth.
These spirits don’t belong to Hollywood. They belong to us. And Davila tells us how to work with them properly: with respect, fear, and strategy.
Lent for Witches. Yes, Really.
One of the most brilliant chapters? Lent for Mexican Witches.
A reworking of Catholic holy days into a magical calendar. From Fat Tuesday’s abundance to Good Friday’s revenge rites to Easter’s spell to destroy what holds you back—this is how you reclaim rhythm and ritual from a system that once colonized your magic.
Also, there’s capirotada. And yes, there’s a spell in that too.
Final Reflection: This Book is a Pact
Mexican Sorcery doesn’t just give you spells. It gives you permission.
To be angry. To be powerful. To be complex.
To call on saints and spirits. To bury your pain. To salt the path. To pray to the one who listens—not the one who judges.
It’s not neutral. It’s not soft. It’s not here to be palatable.
It’s here to work.
Is It for You?
This book is for:
Chicanx, Indigenous, and Latine witches seeking connection to ancestral practice
Queer and marginalized practitioners tired of whitewashed wellness culture
Witches ready to do more than read—they’re ready to remember
This book may not be for:
Those looking for squeaky-clean magic or Pinterest-perfect rituals
Anyone uncomfortable with syncretism, saint veneration, or raw cultural narratives
Readers who want their witchcraft without the politics of place and pain
Final Word from Gloam + Pestle
We don’t recommend books lightly. We recommend what’s fixed with bone and bloom.
Laura Davila has given us not just a book, but a testimony. A practical, poetic, potent act of cultural memory and magical resistance.
It belongs on your altar. Or at least beside your broom.
Brujeria de Rancho: Contents
I hope you enjoy browsing the table of contents. My wrists, my fingers, everything is about to fall off from all the typing I’ve done lol.
Introduction
Etymology: Brujeria, Hechiceria, Brujeria de Rancho
Chapter 1: BRUJERIA DE RANCHO
What is Brujeria de Rancho?
Somos Los hijos del Maiz: People of the Corn
A Guide to Working with Spirits in Brujeria de Rancho
Do not work with what you do not know
Understand that this relationship, like any other, will take time to grow and become stronger.
Some spirits require more attention and time than others.
Have a clear understanding of what you are trying to accomplish.
Mental Magical Design
Opening of the Ritual
Faith
Do your work.
Balance
Engage
Be smart
Be honest
Do not forget about the Divine Providence!
Chapter 2: THE BRUJA’S KITCHEN
Grains, Herbs, and Seeds
Talk to Your Herbs and Seeds
Powerful Rue
Blessed Rosemary
Grains and Seeds in Brujeria de Rancho
Protection Against Psychic Attacks and Witchcraft
Rapid Money Spell with Yellow Corn
Popcorn to Call Money and Abundance in Times of Need
Chocolate
Chocolate to Invoke Sexual Desire
Sweetening’s with Piloncillo
Endulzamiento: Sweetening
To Tame and Control
Chile
Chile Serrano, de Arbol, Pasilla, Cascabel, Guajillo, Piquin/chiltepi, Ancho, Habanero
Chile Magic
To cleanse yourself and harm an enemy
To keep your partner from straying
To attract a particular lover
To Spiritually Clean Your House
To Drive Away Someone Who Is Harming Your Relationship
Apples
Ven a Mi: Come to Me Trabajo
To Make a Person Marry You
Garlic, Rue, Cloves, and Rosemary
To Dominate a Specific Adversary with Garlic
Protection for Military Members
Salacion: Salting
Salt of Seven Canteens
Sal de la Viuda: Widow’s Salt
Salacion with Tears for Revenge
Chapter 3: THE SYMBOLS AND TOOLS OF TRADITION
The Huasteca Witch
The Sorceress of La Petaca
The Bruja’s Scissors
To Consecrate Your Brujeria Scissors
Hechizo Abre Caminos: Road Opener Spell
Mecate, Cords, and Knots
Divination with Natural Jute Cord
Mecate to Catch a Witch and Get Rid of a Maleficio
To Keep a Straying Significant Other from Wandering
Amarres
Amarre de las Tres Vueltas: Amarre of the Three Spins
Amarre de Miel: Honey Amarre
Bracelet of the Seven Psalms: Get rid of Enemies, Envy, and Persecutions
To Bind an Enemy
To Cross Paths with the Ideal Partner and Pull Them to Us
Chapter 4: AMULETS AND TALISMANS
Amuletos: Amulets
Abundance Amulet
Amulet to Attract True Love and Marriage
Borreguito de la Ambundancia: Abundance’s Lucky Sheep
Ocote Cross Amulet
Azabache Stone
The Lucky Elephant Spirit
Colmillo de Siete Elefantes: Seven Lucky Elephant’s Tusk
Talismans
Tetragrammaton
La Herradura: The Horseshoe
Rancho’s Horseshoe Consecration
The Fixed Horseshoe of Saint Martin of Tours
Horseshoe Prayer for Business
Horseshoe Prayer for Home
Creating the Horseshoe Talisman
Ojo Turco: Nazar Eye
Hamsa
All-Powerful Hand
Powerful Hand to Vanquish an Enemy
Chapter 5: WORKING WITH SAINTS
Working with Estampitas: Prayer Cards
Saint Expedite and Addictions in Mexico
Ritual to Make Someone Hate Alcohol
To Find a Desired Job
To Overcome Financial Violence
Saint Hedwig: To Help Build Credit and Repay Debt
Saint Martin de Porres: Protection for Hate, Intolerance, and Discrimination
Prayer to Saint Martin de Porres
Working with Saint Martin de Tours to Bring Clientele
To Cut Witchcraft Against Your Business
Saint Elena’s Nails: Dominate Feelings and Make Someone Love You
Saint Sylvester Prayer
San Antonio: To Find a Spouse
San Pancras and Parsley: To Attract Good Things in Life
To Ask Saint Charbel for a Miracle
Saint Cucuphas’s Testicles: To Find Something Lost
San Marcos de Leon to Dominate and Tame
Chapter 6: ENSALMOS AND REMEDIES
Ensalmos
Ensalmo to Cut the Evil Eye
Ensalmo to Get Rid of Bad Shadows
Ensalmo to Get Rid of Bad Air
Rancho Esoteric Soaps
How to Use Magical Soaps
Aloe Vera
Donkey’s Milk
Honeybee
Jabon-Zote
Maja
Rosa Venus
Sulfur
Soap Spell to Diminish an Enemy
Rancho Remedies for Spiritual Diseases
Susto
Susto Remedy with Two Bolillos
Remedy for Ency
Remedy for Gluttony
Chapter 7: LIMPIAS AND HOME CLEANSINGS
Sweeping: Saint Martin de Porres’s Magic Broom
Floor Washes
Pine-Sol Floor Wash
Prayer of the Beautiful Wood Cross
Fabuloso Lavender
Tips for Magical Home Cleaning
Limpia with Candles
Limpia with Seven Archangel Prayer Candle
Seven Archangel Limpia Prayer
Sahumerios
Sahumerio Against Envy
Resguardos: Home Protections
The Magic Doormat
Saint George’s Sword Door Protection
Cedula de San Ignacio de Loyola
Saint Peter’s Door Enchantment
Chapter 8: LA IGLESIA Y EL CAMPOSANTO
La Iglesia: The Church
Sacramentals
Sympathetic Magic: Dolls, Fetiches, and Pictures
Sacrament of Baptism
Requiem Mass
To Cause Frigidity in Women
To Send Mal Aire
El Campo Santo: The Cemetery
La Tierra de Panteon: Cemetery Dirt
Collecting Cemetery Dirt
Entierros: Burials
Trabajos de Amor y Domination: Love and Domination Spell with Burial
Plantain Spell to Take Revenge on a Man Who Cheated on You
To Cause Paralysis or Thrombosis
To Cause Alcoholism and/or Drug Addiction
Chapter 9: THE PACT
Prayers and Conjures
The Devil in the Ranch
To Ask El Chamuco a Favor
El Charro Negro: The Black Charro
Prayer to the Black Charro
Prayer to Justo Juez Negro: The Black Just Judge
To Fix a Court Case in Your Favor
Los Polvos: Powder
To make your base powder
To prepare the powder
Separation Powder
Retiro, Alejamiento: Retreatment Powder
Love and Lust Domination Powder
Chapter 10: LENT FOR MEXICAN WITCHES
Fat Tuesday o Dia de Carnaval
Ash Wednesday o Miercoles de Ceniza
Palm Sunday o Domingo de Ramos
Holy Thursday
Protections and Guards for Passion’s Days
Good Friday
Nail Cross for Protection
Prayer of the Three Nails
Via Crucis: Representation of Stations of the Cross
Good Friday Spell to Recover Something Stolen
The Prayer to the Good Thief
Easter Eve: Holy Saturday
Personal Judas Spell
Domingo de Resurreccion: Easter
Capirotada
Capirotada Recipe
Piloncillo Soaking Syrup
Capirotada
APPENDIX: MAGICAL CORRESPONDENCE
Velacion/Candle Burning
Colors
Dressing
Moon Phases
Days
Hours
