Coven

I come from a matriarchy and a legacy of women healers. All the women in my family from my maternal grandmother have gifts that connect with ancestral knowledge and magic. It is a deep network of connection with nature, spirituality and healing that has been hidden for generations because my family also belong to the Catholic religion. It is as if we live in two worlds.

This photograph is painted by me on cotton paper, based on the botanical tradition of my family and the ancient heritage of the Mayan world of which we are part.

Portrait intervened.
Graphite, Chinese ink on cotton paper.

Eurinome.

My maternal grandmother is a healer. The magic gave him the gifts to cook with natural elements, all this was indicated with a snake under his bed the day of his birth. The snake is a good luck charm for her, her counselor.

Poison for the Fairies.

The women in my family prepare potions and medications to cure the family of autoimmune diseases.

Hereditary.

My grandmother's sisters have different gifts to heal the world, such as healing with natural elements, telekinesis, omens through dreams and tarot reading. His knowledge has only been inherited among women's.

The evil eye
Egg cleaning is a millenary technique to detect and absorb bad energy in your body caused by other people indicated as 'evil eye'. It is a technique that uses the women of my family to purify us of bad energies.

La quebranta huesos.

In the history of humanity for the Church, women are inferior and lascivious, and therefore prone to pleasures and revenges, are necessarily predisposed to witchcraft. Previously, in my town, some women of my family for being healers were condemned, it was said that they had a connection with the devil. This is the case of my aunt Elvia, who was burned in a forest in the village for practicing healing. Accusing her of becoming an animal to kill and seduce the men of the town, they called her 'La quebranta huesos' (The woman who broke the bones of men).

The spell of the lovers.

The women of my town make an ancient spell that serves to make their love relationships last. Sacrifice a rooster and a hen with aromatic herbs by tying them with a red thread and burying them in their house as a pact of love offered to the energies of the earth and the universe.

Eloina and the horned toad.

My aunt Eloína is a specialist in making a potion to cure respiratory diseases. It is a potion made with an herb called Eucalyptus in conjunction with the legs of a horned toad that lives in my town. This spell is very effective and has traced for many generations in my family.

Nahuales.

According to our family tradition, it is said that each person, at birth, already has the spirit of an animal, which is responsible for protecting and guiding it. These spirits usually manifest themselves only as an image that advises in dreams or with a certain affinity to the animal that took the family member as their protege.

From our Mayan cosmogony, the concept is expressed under the word "chule'l", which is understood precisely as "spirit"; The word derives from the root "chul", which means "divine."

The murmur of the butterflies.

In my family, my grandmother inherited one of my nieces the gift of predicting death. This happens when a black butterfly comes before her to announce an omen.

Internal landscapes.

Family medicinal rituals, this is a mixture as an infusion, it is an analgesic without side effects. It facilitates digestion, combats constipation, helps the expulsion of urine and breast milk. It also normalizes numerous functions of the organism, prevents anemia, improves memory and brain functions and fights arthritis and diabetes. It also prevents cough, decongests and disinfects the lungs.

Blood moon.

The women of my family take advantage of the magical virtues and the great power of the Moon, among them, the power of the Blood Moon, which they use to attract abundance, clean energy and give thanks to feminine energy.

Transfers.

The power to burn incense lies in energy vibrations and aroma. It produces an energy that depends on the herbs or essences that have been used in it, since each herb smells different from being burned - and in the case of myrrh and olives, they are pronouncedly purifying.

Victoria, the bat woman.

My aunt Victoria has suffered a lot of domestic violence since her childhood and later because of her husband. She was always punished for her knowledge of healing. But despite the violence, he has never stopped healing others, he has had the resilience of the plants he cures with.

Tosferina.

At home there is a medicinal recipe book which has passed through many generations, which is characterized by the use of plants and animals to make alternative medicine. This photograph is based on the medicine that cures fever in children's bodies.

The passage.
itches and their mystery are the magic that has kept them alive for years, a fire that is admired. Magic is something latent in human reality and that of my surroundings.
There are still witches, women who do not travel on brooms, but do whisper to the wind and learn the name of herbs. This is a tribute to all the women in my family, who with their strength, fury and wisdom have managed to disrupt my own identity.