Word: brujas
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...cure children of espanto (nightmares caused by fright), the bruja uses a kind of primitive shock treatment. The child is set in front of a container of water in which bougainvillea blossoms-or some other red flowers-are floating. When the child's attention is caught by the flowers, a relative squirts a mouthful of alcohol on the back of the child's neck, and the bruja claps a red cloth over its head. The treatment for clubfoot is simpler: the curandera rubs the afflicted foot with gourds filled with "magical" water containing wine and vinegar...
Free, she lighted a cigaret, stared into the distance, fingered a half pound of religious medals and denied the whole business. "I am not a bruja [witch]," said she. By week's end many of her clients disappointedly agreed: the district attorney had not yet suffered from cramps, colic, or cast in the eye, had apparently felt no overpowering urge to eat glass or stick his head into an airplane propeller...