Bujas: The Magic and Power of Witches of Color
By Lorrraine Migneult
What followes is not a book about technique but rather a social commentary about oppression. Most of the stories deal with witches of color dealing with oppression. Oppression comes in many forms. In the world of witchcraft everything is politically correct. The stories are filled with how women were suppressed or put down by. People of color have been enslaved and oppressed. Indigineous people have been subjugated in their land and colonized. Cathlalocism opresses the old pagan religions. The hetero normative society has oppress tansgendered individuals and homosexuals. The authoress's object here is to reclaim those traditions for people of color etc
The book rails against capitalism as it pits people against each other instead of having them work together. Her chapter on Abuelito magic focuses on gardening and growing your own crops and herbs. These in turn can be bartered of for other goods that other people may have. The book is in favor of creating mutual aid societies whe people can form groups and rely on eachother. This is in itself an act of resistance against capitalism. Mutual aid instead of supporting big corporations. Support each other. Capitalism has had a very negative efect on the environment. Magical items like herbs, crystal are being mined out of the land and now we are facing shortages of sage, and certtain crystals. Thanks to the big corporation like Ulta whoare making a profit off of mass market witch craft.
The authoress is very much into decolonizing the mind and magic. She advocates witches of color practicing and accessing their own ancestral religions. For the latinx community that could be studying Santeria, Mayo Columbe. For those o African descent it coul be studying, Yoruba, Voodoo or Voudou. One thing the authoress talks about is sticking to your own lane. While she loves her traditions she cautions that the ancestors who were oppressed by European settlers might not be to open to the idea of white Europeans learning their traditions, The author also cautions against appropriating practices from other culure and using it as their own. Wiccan circle which are Eurocentric have not often met the needs of people of color and in fact many people of colo felt excluded or nto properly represented.
When African's were brought over as slaves they were discouraged from practicing their ancestral religion. So different Loa from the Voodoo pantheon were given the names of saints and thei worship wnet under cover. The book discusses the how Hoodoo came about and the differences between Haitian Voudou and New Orleans Voodoo. The chapters by and large consist of narratives then conclude with suggestions for an altar, affirmations, meditations journaling prompts and finally resources for further learning. The book does cover a lot issues like racism, capitalism, LGBTQ issues and colonization.
