Cruzita, Curandera y Lechuza
by Antonio S. Franco
October 30, 2011
When I was growing up in the 1950's, the people
around me spoke of magic and witches not as stories but as reality. My parents were very devout Catholics, and
they believed that believing in superstitions was a sin, so they would not
believe in superstitions. But what is
and what is not a superstition is a very subjective thing.
My father believed in curanderos, people who can cure diseases (medical and magical) by the use of herbs, potions, rituals, and incantations. My father did not see magic as a superstition because it was based on things he believed in as a Catholic. He explained to me once that black magic was the work of the devil and was evil and sinful. But white magic was like prayers and in fact sometimes used prayers from church to overcome the evil of black magic. To him, curanderos mainly used their wisdom about plants and other potions that cured illnesses and prayer to overcome natural illness and any ill effects caused by spells.
Some of my younger adult relatives thought that all of that was superstition and it was sinful to use the services of a curandero and that one should always go to a medical doctor to be cured of illness. For me there was this strange blurred area as to what was real, and what was superstition.
My father believed in curanderos, people who can cure diseases (medical and magical) by the use of herbs, potions, rituals, and incantations. My father did not see magic as a superstition because it was based on things he believed in as a Catholic. He explained to me once that black magic was the work of the devil and was evil and sinful. But white magic was like prayers and in fact sometimes used prayers from church to overcome the evil of black magic. To him, curanderos mainly used their wisdom about plants and other potions that cured illnesses and prayer to overcome natural illness and any ill effects caused by spells.
Some of my younger adult relatives thought that all of that was superstition and it was sinful to use the services of a curandero and that one should always go to a medical doctor to be cured of illness. For me there was this strange blurred area as to what was real, and what was superstition.
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There was a very famous curandera
named Cruzita who lived in Ojinaga, Mexico whom my parents asked to help my
brother with some ailment. I got to ask
her if it was true that witches, brujas,
became owls, lechuzas, at night to
fly around and do their evil deeds. She
told me that not only was it true, but that most nights she herself would turn
into a lechuza to go fight evil during the night. I had never heard of that before. I thought only witches became lechuzas at
night. If I was wrong about this, what
else about lechuzas did I have wrong? I asked her if she knew this other curandero
from Barstow, Texas that my father often went to for assistance. She said, “Oh yes, last night when I was out
as a lechuza I saw him and we flew together to help each other out against the
forces of a very powerful witch.”
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The Lechuza from Apple products game; app available at iTunes
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The idea that a curandero or curandera could be a lechuza
was surprising news to me. My understanding was that only brujas
turned into lechuzas; so I realized my knowledge was deficient and decided
to ask Cruzita to clarify for me other things I had heard about
lechuzas.
All the stories of lechuzas had two key points. The lechuza had to get home before dawn or she would remain a lechuza all day long and vulnerable to be harmed or even killed. The other key point was that if a lechuza was killed it would immediately turn back into its human form.
Cruzita told me that both of those things were correct, and that in fact she had had some close calls herself. I liked her and became concerned for her. So I gave her my ten-year-old’s wisdom advising her that she should always get home at least an hour before dawn so she wouldn’t have a problem. She smiled and said that it was not always possible. Sometimes evil required vigilance at all costs, so sometimes she had to take risks.
My father would never be clear on this. I sensed that he did not believe her. My father believed more in cures by plants. He would order books from San Antonio – I believe he ordered many of them from a little catalog from El Centro Comercial. He sought the wisdom of curing by plants and potions. Curanderos might not be lechuzas to him, but the idea that witches turned into lechuzas seemed to be fact.
It bothered me that a curandera behaved as a witch. Curanderos and curanderas were good, and witches were evil and sinful. But if Cruzita was fighting evil when she behaved like a bruja, then at worst it was white magic so it wasn’t too bad. But I never was sure.
All the stories of lechuzas had two key points. The lechuza had to get home before dawn or she would remain a lechuza all day long and vulnerable to be harmed or even killed. The other key point was that if a lechuza was killed it would immediately turn back into its human form.
Cruzita told me that both of those things were correct, and that in fact she had had some close calls herself. I liked her and became concerned for her. So I gave her my ten-year-old’s wisdom advising her that she should always get home at least an hour before dawn so she wouldn’t have a problem. She smiled and said that it was not always possible. Sometimes evil required vigilance at all costs, so sometimes she had to take risks.
My father would never be clear on this. I sensed that he did not believe her. My father believed more in cures by plants. He would order books from San Antonio – I believe he ordered many of them from a little catalog from El Centro Comercial. He sought the wisdom of curing by plants and potions. Curanderos might not be lechuzas to him, but the idea that witches turned into lechuzas seemed to be fact.
It bothered me that a curandera behaved as a witch. Curanderos and curanderas were good, and witches were evil and sinful. But if Cruzita was fighting evil when she behaved like a bruja, then at worst it was white magic so it wasn’t too bad. But I never was sure.
Copyright © 2011 by
Antonio S. Franco all rights reserved
Note that even today in the age of smart phones and digital games, there is an app for the Apple products for a game called "Lechuza -- Horror Point and Click."
