Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1888-05-26
MODERN WtTCHCRAFT. .
MARVELLOUS POWERS ATTRIBUTED
TO WITCHES IN NEW MEXICO.
Many Of the Natives stin Believe In and
Fear Them-some veracious Stories Of
Uncanny EIploits-Riding with the
Witches

| many OF the Natives still Believe In and
Fear Them-some veracious Stories of
Uncanny EIploits-Riding With the
Witches.
New Mexico. acquired by the United
States in lS4S. under the treaty of Guada-
iupe Hidalgo, has q present population Of
about l75.0O0, including about 10000 In
dians and 25. 900 Americans las we use the
term in the east)- The rest are Mexicans,
with few fine old Spanish families scat
tered here and there Among the native
population superstition is practically uni
versal and has many strange manifesto
tions. Despite the laudable efforts of our
Pilgrim forefsthers to exterminate the
pestilent breed of witches. there are still
witches and to spare In New Mexico; and
the natives, almost to q man, believe in
and fear them They are generally women,
but sometimes men; usually of middle
age. but occasionally very old, and rarely
very young. 1t was my privilege the other
day to photograph three live witches
the first, l venture to say, that ever faced
camera They live in San Rafael
Our witchology Is full, detailed and
graphic Every paisano in New Mexico
can tell you their strange habits. their
marvellous powers and their baleful deeds.
They never injure the dumb animals, but
woe to the human being who incurs their
displeasurel Few indeed are bold enough
to brave their wrath. II witch ask for
food, wood, clothing or anything else.
none dare say her nay. Nor dare any one
eat what witch proffers: for if he do,
some animal. alive and gnswing. will form
in his stomach. By day the witches wear
their familiar human form; but at night.
dressed in strange animal shapes. they fly
abroad to hold witch meetings in the
mountains or to wreak their evil wills.
In dark night you may see them flying
through the sky like so many balls Of fire.
and there are comparatively few Mexicans
in the territory who have not seen this
weird sight! For these nocturnal sallies
the witches wear their own bodies. but
take the legs and eyes of a coyote or other
animal. leaving their own at home. Juan
Perea, male witch. who died here in
San Mateo some months ago. met with
strange misfortune in this wise: He had
gone off with the eyes of a cat, and dur
ing his absence dog knocked over the
table and ate up Juans own eyes; so the
unfortunate witch had to wear cats eyes
all the rest of his life.
RIDING WITH THE WITCHES.
Before they can fly. witches are obliged
to cry out: "Sin Dios, sin Santa Mariai"
without God and without the Holy vir-
ginl Whereupon they mount up into
the air without difficulty. If you are on
good terms with a witch you may persuade
her to carry you on her back from here to
New York in q second. She blindfolds
you and enjoins strict silence. Ii you ut
ter word you find yourself alone in some
vast wilderness. and if you cry God save
mel" you fall from a fearful height to the
ground-but are luckily never killed by
the fall There are several courageous
people in the territory who have made
journeys thus upon the backs of witches.
At least they are ready to swear so. and
they find 10000 believers to one skeptic-
One striking peculiarity about New Mex
leo witches is that any one named Juan
or Juana John or Jane) can catch them.
and that no one else can except priest
with holy water. To catch witch. Juan
draws q nine foot circle on the ground.
turns his shirt inside ont and cries:
"Veuga. brujal" (come. witch), where
upon the witch has to fall inside the cir
Gle and Juan has her completely in his
power. This ability to catch witches.
however, is seldom exercised. for let Juan
once catch witch and all the other
witches in the country join hands and
whip him to death
And now. having briefly outlined the
nature of witches here. let me give you
some veracious anecdotes of their exploits
-religiously believed throughout this
section Lorenza Labadie. a man of
prominence in New Mexico. once unknow.
ingly hired a witch as nurse for his baby.
He lived in Las Vegas. Some months
afterwsrd there was ball at Puerta de
Luna, a couple of hundred miles south.
and friends of the family were astonished
to see the nurse and baby there. Where
is Senior Labadie and his familyY" they
asked. The nurse replied that they were
at house a few miles distant. but too
tired to come to the ball The friends
went there next day and found the Laba-
dies had not been there. Suspecting the
nurse to be witch, they wrote to Don
Lorenzo, who only knew that the nurse
and baby were In his house when he went
to bed. and there also when he woke up.
It being plain. therefore, to the most
casual observer that the woman was
witch. he promptly discharged her.
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