Madalina Albu

Andreea Pirnuta

Literature of Minorities

May 26th 2022

A commentary on the rituals of “Bless me, Ultima” by Rudolfo Anaya

The following lines depict my journey through “Bless me, Ultima”, a book by Rudolfo Anaya.

My attention was focused upon moments that captured rituals or ritualistic elements, chief

presence during those rituals being the curandera or the bruja. I have commented on rituals that

surround birth, on religious rituals, on spirits that belong to rituals such as “la llorona”. Romania

also has a richness to its witchcraft culture, reason why I compared the descriptions of witches,

or brujas, from this book with stories from my childhood of similar encounters. The story of

“Antonio Márez y Luna” was a combination between tranquility and agitation, I felt motivated to

leap through the words in search of the next fight between good and evil. I confess, I was

surprised with the ending and even more surprised with the questioning the book left me in upon

finishing it, of course, in regards to the mystery surrounding Ultima’s source of power.

“And I had heard that Ultima could lift the curses laid by brujas, that she could exorcise

the evil the witches planted in people to make them sick. And because a curandera had this

power she was misunderstood and often suspected of practicing witchcraft herself” (4). One

of the first introductions to the electrifying presence of Ultima. In this context, my understanding

is that a curandera is what we would call in Western terms a white magic practicing witch? That

is in comparison to the bruja, term which I have come across before, one we would call a black
magic practicing witch? An explanation in black and white terms that I employ in the beginning

in order to begin understanding the nuances of the American-Chicano traditions.

“All linen was swept aside to be washed, but she carefully wrapped the useless cord and the

afterbirth and laid the package at the feet of the Virgin on the small altar. I sensed that

these things were yet to be delivered to someone […] And to show their hope they rubbed

the dark earth of the river valley on the baby's forehead, and they surrounded the bed with

the fruits of their harvest so the small room smelled of fresh green chile and corn, ripe

apples and peaches, pumpkins and green beans” (5). These rituals seem to be well-known

staples surrounding childbirth in the Chicano tradition. I have found that such rituals are often

mentioned in books that are meant to be revealing about a specific culture since each has

particular, often colorful, ceremonies surrounding the event of birth giving. The birth chord too

is a symbolic element that is dealt with in varied manners depending on the culture. In this case,

we witness opposing perspectives that belong to the same Chicano culture in regards to the

ceremonies conducted at birth.

“And they rubbed the stain of earth from the baby's forehead because man was not to be

tied to the earth but free upon it” (6). In this instance we do not only see that the vaqueros

wanted to “baptize” the baby in a different manner, we can also discern the disjunction between

the two kinds of families the mother and the father belong to. Thus, we are introduced to one of

the battles Antonio will go through as the action of the novel progresses. We learn that the

farmers want to take the blood after the mother gave birth and the birth chord and burry it, this is

one type of ritual, whereas the llaneros wanted to burn it all and scatter the ashes so as to free the

soul. According to the farmers, Antonio’s Luna blood embraces him stronger than his other half

and he should be destined to accomplish his mother’s dream. All of this is speculation, because
Ultima knows Antonio’s destiny and he senses that from the very beginning of meeting her as a

more grown-up boy.

I have also recognized some rituals I am familiar to, namely making “the sign of the cross”

(7,8). Antonio’s mother often prayed at an altar that she built in her home, something I also hold

as familiar since women in my family and other ones I have known practice this, especially in

times of distress. Antonio often prays himself, having been taught by his mother, the ritual of

confessing to a priest is also a ritual mentioned in this book that I am familiar with. Keeping the

idea of familiarity in mind, I would like to also bring up this quote, “That is not for us to say,

Antonio. The war-sickness was not taken out of him, he did not know what he was doing-

„ (25). When I think of modern, thus most familiar, methods of „taking out war-sickness” I

recall the psychologist or the psychiatrist, these are our most familiar rituals of preventing what

we call PTSD (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder) from impacting individuals’ minds beyond repair.

In this case, though, I am sure what should be conjured are different types of either mystical or

religious rituals. In fact, in the following lines I discovered a character that I would call a

ritualistic presence from the mystical realm I am also familiar with, having come across it in

other films that illustrate Spanish or Chicano traditions, „la llorona”.

„It is Ia llorona, my brothers cried in fear, the old witch who cries along the river banks

and seeks the blood of boys and men to drink! It is Ia llorona, my brothers cried in fear, the

old witch who cries along the river banks and seeks the blood of boys and men to drink! La

llorona seeks the soul of Antoniooooooooo ... La llorona seeks the soul of Antoniooooooooo”

(26). A very fascinating depiction of this figure from Spanish tradition, „la llorona”, which came

to Antonio in his dream. La llorona is always represented as a very grim and sad feminine spirit

that comes to bring lives into her dark abyss, usually represented by a body of water. In this case
it is similar, but Antonio seems to deal with her faster than anyone I have ever seen, since he

now appears to himself as a priest whisking the spirit’s presence away with his priest robe. I have

also discerned from these related images of his dream that he is also tormented by what he saw

earlier that night, but on top of that, or rather layered beneath all his traumas is that same battle

he part-takes in, the one where he chooses what path to follow in life, to be a priest or to be a

vaquero.

“After supper we always prayed the rosary[…]. My mother had a beautiful statue of Ia V

irgen de Guadalupe. It was nearly two feet high. She was dressed in a long, flowing blue

gown, and she stood on the horned moon. About her feet were the winged heads of angels,

the babes of Limbo. She wore a crown on her head because she was the queen of heaven.

There was no one I loved more than the Virgin[…]My mother said the Virgin was the saint

of our land, and although there were many other good saints, I loved none as dearly as the

Virgin” (43,44). The Virgin is another ritualistic presence that belongs to this tradition, one we

are also familiar with in our own religious rituals. It is beautiful to learn how Antonio holds the

Virgin in his mind and endearingly innocent heart. Antonio’s story is one filled with both good

and evil and there is a duality that continues to pull him in two different directions throughout his

life, nevertheless he expresses his knowledge that good always trumps evil, which is an

important axiom to keep in mind as we continue to be introduced to the forces of evil he has to

deal with in his journey, the witches being one conglomerate of malevolent energy with which I

am surprisingly familiar with as well.

“Across the river in the grove of trees the witches danced. In the form of balls of fire they

danced with the Devil. The chilled wind blew around the corners of the houses nestled in

the dark valley, brooding, singing of the old blood which was mine. Then the owl cried; it
sang to the million stars that dotted the dark-blue sky, the Virgin's gown. All was watched

over, all was cared for. I slept” (50). Here comes our introduction to the three witch daughters

and the ritual that was a staple in their practice, the dancing fueled by the evil fire of hell. And in

contrast to that, Ultima’s owl and rival of the evil witches flies in the sky reminding us of the

power of good which embraces all of humanity, conjuring the presence of the Virgin Mary. But,

at this point the fight with the witches was only beginning.

“My mother also was unhappy. That was because one of her brothers, my uncle Lucas, was

sick. I heard them whispering at night that my uncle had been bewitched, a bruja had put a

curse on him. He had been sick all winter, and he had not recovered with the coming of

spring. Now he was on his deathbed.Even the holy priest at El Puerto had been asked to

exorcise el encanto, the curse, and he had failed. It was truly the work of a bruja that was

slowly killing my uncle! I heard them say late at night, when they thought I was asleep, that

my uncle Lucas had seen a group of witches do their evil dance for el Diablo, and that is

why he had been cursed. In the end it was decided to hire the help of a curandera, and they

came to Ultima for help” (83,84). Even this concept of an individual being cursed and

becoming wildly ill, without anyone being able to cure them is familiar to me since I have heard

such stories in my childhood. My mother lived in the country side when she was a child with her

family and she told me about cases where people had messed with evil or simply stumbled upon

it and suffered a great deal, others just died and in those cases too, priests could not ail their pain.

She also warned me about intervening in the witches’ dances, she said to turn and run back as

fast as possible, but Lucas, Antonio’s uncle did not heed such a warning. He had a great bravery

in him and an unshakable faith in God and for that reason he believed no harm would come to

him if he interrupted the ritual, casting off the evil witches with the sign of the cross and prayer.
That was not the case, since the brujas were so furious with Lucas for breaking off their spell that

they cursed him. Since all other help failed, Ultima was the last resort.

"I will go with one understanding," Ultima cautioned. She raised her finger and pointed at

both of them. The gaze of her clear eyes held them transfixed. "You must understand that

when anybody, bruja or curandera, priest or sinner, tampers with the fate of a man that

sometimes a chain of events is set into motion over which no one will have ultimate control.

You must be willing to accept this responsibility" (84). Once done, the curse is never really

undone, it is a ritual that can be ping ponged back and forth and left and right. Ultima knew that

if she were to lift the curse from Lucas, it would have to go back and fall upon the ones that

casted it first, the witches. Ultima was preparing the family to expect the worse because it will

surely follow for that is what happens in order for the balance to be kept in the mystical plane.

"It was the daughters of Tenorio," my uncle said. "Ay! Those evil brujas!" My mother

crossed her forehead and I followed suit. It was not wise to mention the names of witches

without warding off their evil with the sign of the holy cross” (84). Making the sign of the

holy cross is a repeating ritual in this book, given the faithful nature of Antonio’s family. It is

used as protection and as a cleanser, since evil energy must not be invited in one’s home, and

even if the evil name is mentioned it should be warded off with the Holy Trinity. The following

lines that depict this family’s conversation about the nature of the Tenorio witches are as though

broken from the story book of my childhood.

“They bounded among the trees, but their fire did not bum the dry brush-" "iA ve Maria

Purisima!" my mother cried. I had heard many stories of people who had seen the bright

balls of fire. These fireballs were brujas on their way to their meeting places. There, it was

said, they conducted the Black Mass in honor of the devil, and the devil appeared and
danced with them” (87). As I have previously mentioned, my mother often told me stories

about the evils she laid witness to, or heard about when she was younger and living in the

countryside. She told me about the witches that were also present in her town, and I lived

through a deja vu moment as I was reading these lines because it reminded me that she talked

about the witches from Moroda in a very similar manner. What ringed most similar with the

story from this book was the witches’ path to their place of ritual. My mother told me that, at

night, she could feel the house shaking and if she looked, though her parents forbid her to and

told her that if she feels them she should hide under the cover, she could see bright flashes

moving swiftly across the fields. She told me she felt them as if the train was passing next to

their window, but she always emphasized that there could be no train since they lived in

secluded, rural area with no railways around.

“Ay, and there were many other forms the witches took. Sometimes they traveled as

coyotes or owls! Only last summer the story was told that at Cuervo a rancher had shot a

coyote. He and his sons had followed the trail of blood to the house of an old woman of the

village. There they found the old woman dead of a gunshot wound. The rancher swore that

he had etched a cross on his bullet, and that proved that the old woman was a witch, and so

he was let free. Under the old law there was no penalty for killing a witch” (87). This too is a

story similar to ones I have heard from my mother but also from my friends that went to the

countryside. My mother told me that they had cows at their farm and for some odd reason they

were always without milk when the farmers went to milk them. After inspection, a farmer

noticed that the cow had fang marks on their udder and thus decided to stay up all night, armed

with a pitch fork to wait for the dog or the wolf that was drinking their cow’s milk. The night

came, and so did the wolf, the farmer killed it, driving through it a pitchfork, and left it there to
go and get the others to let them know the criminal had been caught. My mother told me that

when the man returned, instead of a wolf, it was a naked woman lying in the dirt, stabbed with

the pitchfork. My friends too shared stories about the “strigoi” that roamed their country towns

and what is curious indeed is how many times those wolves or dogs turned into women once

killed.

“"When he was up close," my uncle continued, "Lucas saw that the fireballs began to

acquire a form. Three women dressed in black appeared. They made a fire in the center of

the clearing. One produced a pot and another an old rooster. They beheaded the rooster

and poured its blood into the pot. Then they began to cook it, throwing in many other

things while they danced and chanted their incantations. Lucas did not say what it was they

cooked, but he said it made the most awful stench he had ever smelled-" "The Black

Mass!" my mother gasped” (87). The devil demands sacrifice and this ritual that is often

performed by the Tenorio sisters. In this story, it was a rooster they sacrificed but even in our

times the sacrifices can be a lot viler.

“Evil begets evil," my uncle said. "His wife was known to make clay dolls and prick them

with needles. She made many people of the valley sick, some died from her curses. She paid

for her sins, but not before she delivered three brujas to carry on her work in our peaceful

valley-" (89). Romania is also known for its witchcraft culture; it is known to be a tradition

passed on through generations and the case is as such with the Tenorio family. The girls’ mother

preformed rituals that sound like voodoo, she also lived a life of evil doing and when her time is

over, I believe it was not her but the devil that made sure their foul ways live on through the

three witch sisters.

"I know when and where the curse was laid," Ultima continued. "I know when Lucas came

to your shop for a drink and to have his hair clipped by your evil shears. I know that your

daughters gathered the cut hair, and with that they worked their evil work!" (94).

Fascinating to learn how Ultima unravels the mystery that surrounds Lucas’ suffering. Pieces of

our biologic humanity, especially our hair have often been shown to be instrumental pieces of

curses and spells and this case is no exception. This shows that the three sisters did not only

curse Lucas with their words, they put much more into it, concocting a plan and releasing a much

more powerful curse.

“She muttered as she stirred her mixture and I did not catch all of what she said; but I did

hear her say, "the curse of the Trementinas shall bend and fly in their faces. We shall test

the young blood of the Lunas against the old blood of the past-" (97). As previously

mentioned, I was expecting that Ultima will revert the curse back to the ones who cast in in the

first place.

“When she was done she stood the three dolls around the light of the flickering candle, and

I saw three women. Then Ultima spoke to the three women. "You have done evil," she

sang, "But good is stronger than evil, "And what you sought to do will undo you ... " She

lifted the three dolls and held them to my sick uncle's mouth, and when he breathed on

them they seemed to squirm in her hands” (101). It seems that these dolls are another staple of

magic rituals, the girls’ mother used them, I am sure that her daughters use them, though it is

surprising to see Ultima in this situation. Yes, she was undoing their curse but even though she

conjures the power of good, she fights evil with the same means evil fights good. I consider that

Ultima is very mysterious in her ways because they do not seem entirely good spirited, they

cannot be called holy. Rumors about her being more than just a good curandera swarm around
her, and despite Antonios’ family’s disregard of those rumors, I feel as though there might be

some truth in them which Ultima chooses to elude.

“Let the evil come out!" Ultima cried in his ear. "jDios mfo!" were his first words, and

with those words the evil was wrenched from his interior. Green bile poured from his

mouth, and finally he vomited a huge ball of hair. It fell to the floor, hot and steaming and

wiggling like live snakes. It was his hair with which they had worked the evil! (103). Yet

another surprise that illustrates how connected these rituals are. The fact that this moment came

full circle is very satisfying to read about, and it signaled to me that the curse was about to

change its course again. The family got to rest for a while after this hardship and we went back to

being with Antonio’s more childish demeanor. The silence did not last too long because, as

Ultima explained, one cannot mess with another’s destiny without generating consequences.

“Are these needles holy?" he asked the man. "Si," the man answered, "blessed just last

Sunday by the priest." He wiped the blood on his lip. "I call you fools because you all know

the test for a bruja, and yet you did not think to use it. It is simple. Take the holy needles

and pin them to the door. Put them in so they are crossed-and in the name of God!" he

roared. "You all know that a witch cannot walk through a door so marked by the sign of

Christ!" "Ay si!" the men exclaimed. It was true[…]” (133). The consequences that were

brought on by reversing the curse culminated in battles between good and evil that were very

captivating and enticing. During every war, each side learns more about the enemy, no matter

who wins or loses, both sides get more accustomed to each others’ strengths and weaknesses,

and we are often not analytical enough about such things so as to protect our weaknesses more

and diversify our strengths in the next fight. This instance was a win for Ultima and Antonio’s

family, however, because Ultima had Tenorio’s eye gouged out, he realized that her owl was no
simple animal, thus targeting her spirit, the owl, in the next fight that ultimately killed Ultima.

The lines about the holy needles left a mark on me and they are my favorite part of the novel, I

was really surprised.

“ I followed, but paused at the door. A faint glitter caught my eye. I bent down and picked

up the two needles that had been stuck to the top of the door frame. Whether someone had

broken the cross they made, or whether they had fallen, I would never know” (135). I was

not expecting to have my impression of Ultima questioned in this way, but the author was

brilliant in this instance. I feel as though there are a couple of clues in the story that nudge us not

to be mystified by Ultima’s power so much so as to consider her the end-all-be-all of power.

Perhaps no force, not Ultima’s, or religion, or other gods, were meant to be favored over the

other in this book if we are to take a more distant and ominous perspective. Ultima stepped

outside, but was it because her nature was holy, or because she destroyed the holy sign? The

priest was not able to lift those curses, he does not have a power like the brujas nor like the

curanderas, but Ultima has a power that can undo bruja magic, it could be because her power is

just like theirs but her intentions are different, which would also be difficult for other people to

understand given the fact that they are so hateful in their current stances.