Sensing the Spirits: The Healing Dramas and Poetics of Brujería Rituals

Authors

  • Raquel Romberg Tel Aviv University

Keywords:

Puerto Rico, brujeria, spiritism, symbolic healing, performance

Abstract

Following the path suggested by Joseph Murphy
more than a decade ago, this paper explores the sensuous spiri
tuality of healing rituals in Puerto Rican brujeria, stressing
their performative, embodied nature and significance. Carefully
crafted gestures, meticulously manipulated objects, poetically
strung words, and before spiritually inspired music and dance
create dramatic experiences. The voices of Spiritist entities,
Santeria orishas, and the recently dead reveal sources of af
flictions and solutions in a totalizing, emotional event involving
all the senses. This is where healing begins. The interpersonal,
present-oriented pragmatic space that emerges during brujeria
ritual challenges notions about the centrality of belief in healing
rituals.

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Published

2012-11-30

How to Cite

Romberg, R. (2012). Sensing the Spirits: The Healing Dramas and Poetics of Brujería Rituals. Anthropologica, 54(2), 211–225. Retrieved from https://cas-sca.journals.uvic.ca/index.php/anthropologica/article/view/882

Issue

Vol. 54 No. 2 (2012): Good Spirit, Good Medicine: Religious Foundations of Healing in the Caribbean

Section

Thematic Section:

License

Copyright (c) 2012 Raquel Romberg

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