Huasteca Bruja Stories - Part 1

Mexico is full of rich indigenous traditions and folklore stories. Today for my first blog about scary stories, I want to focus on stories from the Huasteca region of Mexico to honor my parents. The Huasteca region is made up of Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Guanajuato. My mom comes from San Luis Potosí and my dad comes from Guanajuato. Growing up, I heard a lot of scary stories they experienced, especially from my dad. Las brujas of the Huasteca region are shapeshifters that change to lechuzas (owls), animals, like black dogs. These brujas roam around the countryside at night and their favorite places are isolated villages.

People fear brujas because they know how to steal souls, can take energy when people are sleeping, and especially like to prey on newborns and children. Many people have said to see them fly at night as fireballs or as animals where they enter homes through cracks or keyholes to carry out their dark magic. People, like my family, protect themselves by hanging garlic or crosses at the doors and windows of the house.

My Tia once told my mom of a weird encounter she had with a black dog. She was crossing the river in the little town they lived in. A black dog started growling and barking at her. The dog was drooling. She thought it might have rabies since it looked like it had white foam around its mouth. Then she looked at the eyes and they were red with no pupils. It froze her right in her steps. She panicked but felt she couldn’t move. It started running up to her and luckily, she was able to run away. She looked around and noticed people looking at her weirdly. She told them what she saw, and they looked for the dog, but no one could find it. What did she see? Was it in her head? I believe something did show itself to her but what it was?

In San Luis Potosí, there is a town called Villa de Ramos, where there are stories of witches that turn into fireballs. There are many stories of moonless nights where people have seen glowing orbs traveling through the sky quickly. It is said that witches use this form to travel to villages so they can cast their spells or steal people’s energy while they sleep. People fear these fireballs because it is believed the witch can cast a spell or curse whoever stares with bad luck. To warn off any spells or bad luck, if people are traveling at night, they carry a religious item or say prayers to protect themselves.

I’m sure the fireballs don’t just stick in that town. My dad who comes from Guanajuato has seen them before. He grew up in the rancho, where his parents had a lot of land but that also meant they were secluded. They had to walk far to other villages and the city. One day he and his mom set off to walk to his grandpa’s rancho. They had to walk miles to get to his place. While they were walking, they encountered a fireball. My dad got scared and started to shake. He started to panic but his mom told him to calm down and pray. They prayed and ignored it. My dad stopped and asked her, “What is that?” My grandma said, “Do not pay attention to it. It is trying to distract you from praying.” So, my dad listened and started to pray again. He tried to ignore the fireball, but he noticed it coming closer, and the way it was moving made it seem like it was dancing. He panicked and held his mom’s hand. He closed his eyes, and his mom started to pray louder. He joined and prayed loudly too. He opened his eyes, and it was gone. He was relieved but my grandma told him to keep praying to make sure it didn’t come back. They kept walking and praying the whole way until they arrived at his grandpa’s rancho. Luckily, they were able to avoid any spells and curses.

The last witch story I want to write about for today takes place in San Martín Chalchicuautla, San Luis Potosí. The witch that lived in this town could cause illnesses and misfortune. The witch made a pact with the devil and could transform into any creature when she wanted. The townspeople claimed they saw her flying over the town at night as a large bird. It was believed she had an extreme interest in children. That caused parents to take precautions to protect their children from her. There are many endings to this legend and one of them is the brave local people got enough courage to track her down and confront her. They burned her house down to get rid of her dark presence in the town. It is said, that did not work. Her spirit still haunts the town, and she still looks for revenge.

In Salamanca, Guanajuato, witches sneak around as animals to look for their next victim. The interesting thing about these witches is they leave their legs behind when they transform. They leave their legs in remote locations such as caves, so people do not find them. If their legs are found, a person can take them, and it is believed that the legs can be burned to take the witches’ power. This will prevent the witch from returning to the original human form. The locals put garlic and holy water near their doors and windows at night to prevent anything from coming into their houses.

All these stories about witches shapeshifting into animals remind me of a quick story my dad told me that I thought was a dream and a weird story. Just a quick backstory, my dad’s family was very poor, and their house only had 2 bedrooms for a family of ten. My dad shared a bed with his siblings. Well, one night, he was having trouble sleeping. He wanted to toss and turn but he didn’t want to move so much since he didn’t want to wake his siblings. He stayed still and just stared at the ceiling wishing he could sleep because tomorrow was going to be an early day for him, helping with the crops and going to school. As he was staring at the ceiling, he heard something touching the door. He slowly sat up and didn’t see anything. He laid back down and tried to go to sleep. Then he heard something again and got up quicker to catch what was making noise. He saw and heard a baby pig running up to his bed and it went under the covers. He saw a bump walking around and quickly he got up and called his parents into the room. Everyone woke up. His parents came into the room, and my grandpa was ready to fight any intruder. They looked everywhere to find a pig or a sign of an intruder, but they couldn’t find anything. Everyone went back to their bed. ‘Till this day, it confuses my dad. He promises he heard and saw something. It is not something he wanted to experience.

In Guanajuato, there is a story about La Llorona mixed with a bruja. This is not just about La Llorona crying to look for her children that she drowned but she is a witch who casts spells on people who get close to rivers and lakes where her spirit roams. According to this specific tale, La Llorona likes to attract people to curse them with illnesses or madness. People believe that this version of La Llorona can turn into an old woman during the day to live around the townspeople so she cannot be recognized. At night, her true self comes out so she can lure victims to feed off them.

I just want to take the time, to say that these stories are hard to believe. It is easy to say that people are crazy and there are scientific reasons for this. There probably are scientific reasons for weird things to happen but we should be gentle with people and try to see their perspective. It is weird to experience supernatural phenomena because it gives a weird and unexplainable story. But if we just enjoy the stories, it at least gives the person a sign of relief that they will be listened to and not judged. There are more stories in Mexico about brujas and other supernatural stories. I love looking up these stories and sharing about them. Always remember, that talking about these stories may give power to the supernatural. Just keep yourselves protected with what has been taught to you. In my family, we use Catholic prayers and images. I have also learned to use sage and copal to protect myself and my family. Use what makes you comfortable. Along with sage, I also use my candles to make a comfortable ambiance.