Witchcraft and Welfare : Spiritual Capital and the Business of Magic in Modern Puerto Rico

[publisher-supplied Data] This Book Makes An Important Addition To The Literature On Magic And Spirits In The Modern World. . . . In Comparison With Other Well-known Anthropological Works On Magic And Modernity, This Stands Out On Account Of Its Skill At Evocation, At Getting Inside People And Events And Not Merely Using Them As Examples Or 'case Studies.' --michael Taussig, Professor Of Anthropology, Columbia University Persecuted As Evil During Colonial Times, Considered Charlatans During The Nation-building Era, Puerto Rican Brujos (witch-healers) Today Have Become Spiritual Entrepreneurs Who Advise Their Clients Not Only In Consultation With The Spirits But Also In Compliance With State Laws And New Economic Opportunities. Combining Trance, Dance, Magic, And Healing Practices With Expertise In The Workings Of The Modern Welfare State, They Help Lawyers Win Custody Suits, Sick Employees Resolve Labor Disability Claims, Single Mothers Apply For Government Housing, Or Corporation Managers Maximize Their Commercial Skills. Drawing On Extensive Fieldwork Among Practicing Brujos, This Book Presents A Masterful History And Ethnography Of Puerto Rican Brujería (witch-healing). Raquel Romberg Explores How Brujería Emerged From A Blending Of Popular Catholicism, Afro-latin Religions, French Spiritism, And Folk Protestantism And Also Looks At How It Has Adapted To Changes In State Policies And Responded To Global Flows Of Ideas And Commodities. She Demonstrates That, Far From Being An Exotic Or Marginal Practice In The Modern World, Brujería Has Become An Invisible Yet Active Partner Of Consumerism And Welfare Capitalism. Part 1: Shifting Faces -- Part 2: The Technologies Of Cosmic And Worldly Success. Raquel Romberg. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 289-303) And Index. Persecuted as evil during colonial times, considered charlatans during the nation-building era, Puerto Rican brujos (witch-healers) today have become spiritual entrepreneurs who advise their clients not only in consultation with the spirits but also in compliance with state laws and new economic opportunities. Combining trance, dance, magic, and healing practices with expertise in the workings of the modern welfare state, they help lawyers win custody suits, sick employees resolve labor disability claims, single mothers apply for government housing, and corporation managers maximize their commercial skills. Drawing on extensive fieldwork among practicing brujos, this book presents a masterful history and ethnography of Puerto Rican brujeria (witch-healing). Raquel Romberg explores how brujeria emerged from a blending of popular Catholicism, Afro-Latin religions, French Spiritism, and folk Protestantism and also looks at how it has adapted to changes in state policies and responded to global flows of ideas and commodities. She demonstrates that, far from being an exotic or marginal practice in the modern world, brujeria has become an invisible yet active partner of consumerism and welfare capitalism. CONTENTS......Page 8 PREFACE......Page 10 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS......Page 18 INTRODUCTION: RITUAL ALCHEMY......Page 22 Part I: SHIFTING FACES......Page 48 CHAPTER ONE: GATEKEEPERS AND HERETICS: DISPUTING SACRED TERRITORIES......Page 50 CHAPTER TWO: NATION BUILDING AND THE SECULARIZATION OF SPIRITUALITY......Page 75 CHAPTER THREE: SPIRITUAL LAISSEZ-FAIRE AND THE COMMODIFICATION OF FAITH......Page 102 Part II: THE TECHNOLOGIES OF COSMIC AND WORLDLY SUCCESS......Page 128 CHAPTER FOUR: BRUJOS, SAINTS OR BROKERS?......Page 130 CHAPTER FIVE: SPIRITUAL ASSETS AND THE ENTANGLEMENTS OF POWER......Page 163 CHAPTER SIX: THE GLOBAL BAZAAR OF SPIRITUAL ENTERPRISE......Page 193 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MORAL ECONOMY OF BUREAUCRATIC PROVIDENCE......Page 231 CHAPTER EIGHT: ADVOCATES AND LAWYERS OF ANOTHER ORDER......Page 257 EPILOGUE: THE HALLOWEEN EXTRAVAGANZA......Page 276 NOTES......Page 292 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 310 INDEX......Page 326