Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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Two Tales of Superstitions In Baja...Know Any?
SUPERSTITIONS IN BAJA
Here's two true stories about superstition and brujas (witches) in Baja.
A young guy named Victor worked for me for many years and worked hard and well for his money. I had picked him up on the highway hitchhiking north.
Spoke fairly good English and said he was from Guatemala, having lived there with some missionaries. He liked our area of Baja and wanted to stay, so
stay he did. He grew to be very energetic & industrious, but remained single. Over the years he helped me with countless projects. Victor is
second from the left in this 1988 photo from Playa Escondido in the Bay.
One day he asked me if I believed in the power of 'brujas'? (witches) I said "Well, most every wide-held belief has some basis in fact..and maybe even
the power of a bruja's magic. Why do you ask?"
He said he had fallen in love with a beautiful goat herder's daughter in a nearby mountain valley and wanted to marry her. (Ah gawd! I had to hide
my face and grit my teeth when he said 'a beautiful goat herder's daughter'...ah, jeez, to be 18 again!)
He went on to say that so far she showed no interest at all in his courting.
"So what's on your mind with this witch, Victor?", I asked. he said he had heard that the bruja could make a love potion for mucho pesos that would
magically make that gal love him. 'Hoo-boy', I thought I should deter him, but didn't want to burst Victor's bubble.
I took a little trip with him to the rancho to check all this out...and she was a beauty for sure. (I noticed he got just a tad wary of my presence
on that trip.)
In the next few weeks Victor was determined to spend as much time as he could pursuing his dream of marrying the goat-herder's daughter. Every time I
looked for a missing Victor, he was taking my Jeep up to that rancho to woo the daughter ...and to visit the bruja. Love will find a way, I hoped,
without the witch's brew.
Well, you guessed it, Victor, being in rut and hopeless, spent a lot of his savings on that bruja's love potion. AND IT WORKED! After he had gotten
her to drink the concoction, she swooned and accepted his marriage proposal.
I'd like to say they got married and lived happily ever after. I'd like to, but I can't. I fear the love potion was diluted with some 'reality' and
things went back to normal within a month or so. I do believe it set some kind of local record.
Soon after that, Victor left Baja for good....and the last I heard was that he is in some far north Canadian Hutterite commune. I know of a far north
custom that requires holding hands and jumping over a fallen log. Better luck norte, my young friend.
2nd story about superstitions.
Another time a good friend of mine had been camping at Playa Escondido in Conception Bay for a few months and liked it so much, she wanted to build a
permanent home there. Well, that was, and still is, a favorite camping beach for many winter visitors. My friend knew this, of course, because she
had been camping herself in the same palapa at nearby Burros Beach for about 3 years at that time. So, no stranger to Baja by any means.
She came over to the house one day and asked what I thought of building a home using the old rubber tire method of a foundation. "It's an old custom
and about as cheap a way to go as you'll find." I said, "but it's not the best looking thing either Why, is that what you are planning?"
"Yes", she said, "I've already got a line on the tires....and some guys to dig them in on the side of the beach."
"Hmm...well, are you sure it's okay to build there and all that? Your new neighbors and all?" I asked.
"I have spoken to the ejido guys who run the beach concession and they're okay with it. A couple of the regular campers are a bit off about the idea,
but I think I can win them over."
"Well, you should know the ropes around here by now, so you do what you gotta do. Rubber tires and all. Ugly as they are, they do beef up a loose
hillside. I'll stop by and take a look in a couple days.", says I.
Well, I went by that beach a couple days later ...and found this sight awaiting me.
Unfortunately, it seems a lot of those regular campers didn't like the idea of a 'house' being built on what is normally a campsite beach. The perps
who placed that 'voodoo' rabbit doll on the tires confided to me on the spot that they did it. Yes, in fun, but they wanted their feelings to be
known.
But in fact their 'prank' was dead serious to the workers who came that morning to continue work on the 'tire house'. 'Carumba! What is this! A
curse! Surely the work of a bruja..and means bad luck to any who work here! We're leaving!'
With all that information, I went back home, feeling sorry for my amiga, but couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing. A bit later, I was in the
kitchen and through the windows noticed my tire-home amiga walking up to my doorway. Her head was hanging down and I could see she was weeping a
little. "Oh-oh", I thought and went to the doorway to greet her and console her.
She put her head on my chest and sobbed.."Oh, Roger...I've been voodoo-ed!"
Hot damn! I almost lost it right there! My stomach still hurts from holding it in!
We spent the better part of the afternoon healing her feelings with the help of a couple stout drinks. I drove her home mollified...and fortified,
too.
Well, the next weekend we all got together at a patio bbq at mi casa and shared a good laugh at all this business of a tire house where it shouldn't
be..and the power of superstition.
What a time that was! Ain't Baja fun?
So there we have it...Superstitions in Baja.
All of these beliefs are reality in Baja, but can be found in a lot of other locales as well.
Over the years I've often listened to and talked about these beliefs with friends and their families.
Have you ever heard any of these?
Put soiled underwear and wheat strands into a box and you will produce a mouse. Hah! Spontaneous generation? The Cause and Affect basis can be
deceiving. We seek patterns out of random events.
A garbage can cannot create a raccoon.
Pregnant women should not cut or dye their hair. By doing so, it would be like cutting the umbical cord or causing harm to the child.
A quick bloody nose solution is said to be solved by licking a penny and placing it on your forehead. Once the penny dries it can be removed and the
blood flow will have stopped.
Never scratch an itchy palm. The significance of an itchy palm is a sign of money coming your way. Scratching only drives that wealth away. You are
to, instead, place money, either coins or dollar bills, in the palm and squeeze until the urge to scratch fades.
When a woman is pregnant she is to protect her unborn child from diseases, loss, and even deformation from a full moon. To protect her unborn child
she must place a safety pin as close to her belly as possible.
Imagine asking for someone to pass the salt shaker but not being able to receive it in hand? Or how about, cleansing an inconsolable baby with an egg
rub down?
I imagine a few of us grew up doing some crazy things, but to them they weren’t so crazy. There are many superstitious beliefs in all walks of life.
Many of these beliefs come from deep in family roots and are still present in many everyday households today.
See how many of the superstitions listed below you’ve heard of or even believe in...surely you'll acknowledge a few.
The Evil Eye
A baby being admired and not touched can leave them with that desire to haunt them. This is known as the Evil Eye or "Mal de Ojo". The baby becomes
sick with a fever and cries unable to be consoled. To cure, a ritual with a raw egg is performed on the baby. The egg is then disposed in a glass of
water to expose the evil.
Pass the Salt or Not
Asking to have the salt passed to you in hand is seen as asking for another’s bad luck. In Spanish "La Mal Sal" means the bad salt or used as slang
for bad luck. Instead, believers of this superstition must ask for the salt to be placed down before they can take possession.
Don’t Leave Your Purse on the Floor
Putting your purse on the floor or ground is seen as bad luck. It’s thought of as you giving your money away. It is best to keep the purse near you
and guarded.
Don’t Go Sweeping The Single’s Feet
It is said that sweeping a single (non-married) person's feet is giving back luck. The bad luck is bad relationships or never being married. In other
words you are sweeping any luck of marriage away.
Buzzing Ear
A buzzing or ringing ear is said to mean that someone is talking about you. Some believe the right ear means good and the left is bad talk. If your
left ear is buzzing then you are to bite your tongue in hopes of the person biting their tongue as punishment for talking bad about you.
Share Your Nightmares
Having a nightmare must be shared especially when involves people you know. Sharing the nightmare is said to break any chances of the nightmare from
happening in real life. The nightmare must be spoken out loud and not just shared.
[Edited on 12-20-2013 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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mike odell
Nomad
Posts: 267
Registered: 12-17-2002
Location: La Ribera BCS
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Roger,
My past co-pilots have assured me that since I am wealthy and own a refrigerator
placed in my house, that when I have the Grippa, and open the door to this device.
I will surely die from the cold air, I therefore do not temp fate, but will ask in a
pleasing fashion, Amor, Please give me a cold botella of Pacifico por favor,
Which is met with the logic that this too, is equally a death wish on my part.
I then will ask for a room temp Single malt glass of whiskey. Head shaking and
rolling of eyes ensues. If this happens in the warm months of July or August I
must also wear socks and long pants till the Grippa passes. I now do not sneeze
Or blow my nose in the presence of people, lest they think I have the dreaded
Grippa. Can you say Salud in Goat?
latrinidadrvranchrestaurant.com
Everybody knows Murphy\'s Law.
Martinez Law; Murphy was a damn optimist!
Quote by: Jimmy Smith
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AndyP
Nomad
Posts: 116
Registered: 12-8-2009
Location: Eugene, OR
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Not Baja, but I spent a couple months in Guatemala and recorded a number of creencias, all told to me in total earnestness:
If a stray dog pees directly in front of you on the street three times in one week, you’re probably going to die soon.
Moza beer (a better than average dark brew, definitely alcoholic) is specially formulated to be safe for pregnant women to drink.
In many places doctors are disdained in favor of curanderos, or healers, who use medicinal plants and traditional wisdom and methods of healing. They
are definitely sought out to treat broken bones, and multiple people incredulously explained to me that regular doctors would only use casts, which
apparently are not a respected form of treatment.
I explained to one of my teachers how the days get longer or shorter during certain parts of the year at higher latitudes. She told me that in her
hometown, sometimes, randomly, the sun will come up half an hour or so earlier or later than usual.
The men in San Pedro la Laguna are physically incapable of experiencing fear or cowardice. They’re just born that way. A woman told me this, after I’d
made some little self-deprecating joke about how something had scared me.
My wife was sick to her stomach one day and her teacher almost fainted when she saw her start to drink some water to stay hydrated. “You have cold in
your stomach, cold water will make it worse! Drink hot tea.”
Cloudy days can cause diarrhea.
It’s very bad luck for a pregnant woman to grind corn.
Eating raw chicken ovaries will cure menstrual pains. We heard this from a friend we met who learned a vivid and bad tasting lesson about not
complaining about menstrual pains to her host family.
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DawnPatrol
Nomad
Posts: 357
Registered: 11-19-2013
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I wanted to see how my Mexican friends would react when I told them I had a very vivid dream one night that I was inside a house and suddenly at the
window a very large white owl was beating its wings and scratching its claws on the ventana trying to get in!
I told them that as soon as I got up to confront the owl all of a sudden the owl turned in an ugly old woman's face which promptly then dissapeared in
a puff of smoke!!
Man you should have seen their faces!!!
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64848
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Does anyone here remember Feather (later known as 'M' for Michelle) on Amigos de Baja. Dead batteries, voice amplification, preserved animal organs,
ghosts, and more!!??
M had quite an experience with another Nomad at EL TOMATAL (Baja's E.T.)... So fascinating that I made one of my first web pages to tell her story...
from way back, over 12 years ago!: http://vivabaja.com/et
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