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Brujo is an exploration of shamanism and curing among the Mazatec Indians of
Oaxaca, Mexico, and among two groups of Maya Indians in southern Mexico and
Guatemala. The film is divided into three sequences. The first, filmed in
Chichicastenango (Guatemala), shows Diego, a shaman, cure a woman on whom a
spell has been cast. The cure takes place partly in a church and partly in the
mountains, where a sacrificed chicken is used to bring back the ailing woman's
spirit.
The second sequence moves to Oaxaca, where a Mazatec shaman, her husband, and
her patient consume hallucinogenic mushrooms. The cure, which takes place in
darkness, involves a simple song (the mushroom's "voice") and dance, flowers,
and the rubbing of tobacco on both the patient and the shaman's husband.
The final sequence takes place in the Chiapas highlands of Mexico, site of
the festival and film Tajimoltik. The filmmakers encounter shaman Miguel, who
brings them to his family home in a mountain hamlet beyond Chenalho. There he
undertakes to cure filmmaker Claudine Viallon of a migraine, using candles,
eggs, and incense. Miguel also discusses conceptions of the soul, death, and
transmigration.
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