MOCHE: A PERUVIAN COASTAL COMMUNITi'— GILLIN 



12i 



nudicine it is not surprising that cures take place 

 ini'Ier this type of treatment. 



1 ! we may grant that the cure may be at least tem- 

 porarily beneficial to the individual, we nevertheless 

 have to admit that it is unhealthful for the society in 

 w liich he lives. The results of these divinations often 

 serve to reinforce the aggressions and divisions 

 V 'lich, unfortunately, are too frequent in Mochc 



iety in any case. Moreover, the brujo is in a posi- 

 tion to foment various aggressions which otherwise 

 might not exist. This is illustrated in the following 

 case told me by several informants and typical of a 

 number of similar cases. I set it down as told by one 

 informant, in translation. 



Our good friend and compadre S. was the only son of his 

 parents and inherited all the goods of his father, some land, 

 house, cattle, yoke of oxen, donkeys, a horse, etc. His wife 

 was comiiletely healthy and robust, weighing about 80 kilos. 

 We must believe that there are in this life envious persons 

 and characters of bad faith, but this case took place in the 

 bosom of a family and involved a person who was receiving 

 favors from that family. .AH right. The Sra. S. was a 

 person of good humor, loving, amiable with her friends. The 

 couple had been several years married and were educating 

 their children. The Sra. enjoyed life, but with no one more 

 than a female relative of the house, the daughter of one of 

 her sisters whom she had invited to live with her. This niece 

 knew how to make herself prized by preparing good causas 

 and food, and, in short, the family was very happy. Suddenly, 

 after New Years the Sra. S. became sick with acute liver 

 colic, which became so bad as to endanger her life. It was 

 at this time that our compadre S. began to dispose of some of 

 his property in order to attend to the serious illness of his 

 woman. Very just of him. The best doctors of Trujillo 

 could do nothing to cure these colics which were frequent and 

 painful. Finally they diagnosed the case as an incurable 

 illness and the Sra. remained sentenced to death. By this 

 time the weight of the Sra. had declined to only 46 kilos, 

 she could not walk, and was bedridden. Then arrived the 

 .■\ngel of her salvation. Our friend C, propagandizer of this 

 art of bujeria, visited S., and learned of the illness of his 

 woman. He succeeded in convincing the sufTcring husband 

 that a brujo was needed and offered to bring one immediately 

 who was his compadre. Since the case seemed to S. to be 

 lost, he agreed. Previous to this S. had never believed in 

 the occult science, but the upshot was that he and the brujo 

 agreed on the fee to be paid and the work of cure was begun. 

 They had to go to a secluded part of the campiiia where a 

 mesa de brujcria was prepared. Then the human cargo was 

 carried there and the seance took place. The ne.xt day the 

 sick woman was better and gave signs of life. It was neces- 

 sary to prepare a second mesa, which started work the night 

 of the following Friday. As luck would have it, this second 

 mesa was raided by the police, because, as you know, the 

 brujos are knocked about and persecuted by the authorities, 

 because it is believed that they needlessly take away the 

 money of the poor people. Bueno. But to S., in the midst 

 of his affliction, appeared the Virgin, as they say, for the 



chief of the police party turned out to be one of his best 

 friends. S. offered to pay the fine if his friend the chief 

 would allow the brujo to continue and then told the sorrowful 

 story of his wife. The chief reminded S. of the dangers 

 which might ensue, but finally allowed himself to be con- 

 vinced, if S. would agree to take full responsibility. Pocket- 

 ing the fine, the police party left. The brujo, relieved of his 

 anxiety over the affair of law, proceeded with his treatment 

 with such success that the Sra. ?. was completely restored 

 to health following this second mesa. As is usual, the brujo 

 told the Sra. (patient) that in order to be permanently cured 

 she should "see" the person who had caused her the harm 

 (daiio). Of course, the Sra. was an.xious to know. A third 

 mesa was organized and during the seance he showed her a 

 form in the glass plate covering the picture of the sacred 

 image and near this image a plate of food which she recog- 

 nized as one of her favorite dishes prepared by the niece 

 who lived in her house and by means of which the harm had 

 been transmitted to her. The surprise of the Sra. was great 

 to recognize the face of her niece in the glass, she with 

 whom she had shared her moments of pleasure and whom 

 she had befriended economically. This bad friend, this 

 ungrateful niece, upon learning that her plot had been imcov- 

 ered, fled from the community and is at present in Lima. 



No one to whom I talked seemed interested in 

 further evidence regarding the culpability of the un- 

 fortunate niece. The evidence of the seance seems 

 to have been sufficient to satisfy all. 



MESA DE BRUJERIA 



In plate 22, upper and lozvcr (left) and upper and 

 middle (right), the process of setting up a mesa de 

 brujeria has been photographed, and in figure 8 the 



3 



o 



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I |48 49 



Figure S. — Explanatory (liat^ram of a vicsa de brujeria. 



